@contentandwell sorry for the delayed reply and thanks for your ideas. I do need to focus in on what's going on immediately preceeding these "flare-ups". So far it's (still) only happened twice. It has only seemed to be a superficial/dermal issue, but it's proximity to my hip issues always get me paranoid after all I've been through with the hip infections. My leading hypothesis is that it's a skin irritation brought on by the fact that that we let our dogs sleep in the bed with us and, like dogs, they shed hair and/or dander -- but we do change & wash our bedding very frequently. Kicking the dogs out of the bed might be harder than the 5 hip surgeries, though. Haha.

@debbraw you are sooooo spot-on with the suggestion that fatigue might have something to do with the timing of these issues. With the hip infections that kept popping up in the past...it ALWAYS seemed like troubling symptoms would manifest on a Friday when it was diffucult to get in with the regular docs. I tended to think that it was just a Murphy's Law kind of thing, but your work schedule theory is right on the mark. My (mostly office) job isn't anything wildly out of the ordinary, but for the most part anyone's work schedule would lead to times when you're more stressed, tired, and more susceptible to health issues. That could make an interesting thesis/research project for someone (perhaps it's already been done).

I'm hoping that it's just some weird hyper-sensitivity brought on by the (repeated) surgeries and the scars they left behind...and that it will become less of an issue as time goes by.