Skin and musculoskeletal symptoms are among the most common complaints you’ll hear from patients — ranging from a rash or an unusual mole to joint stiffness or swelling. In this Medical Spanish Review of Systems lesson, join Luis and me as we walk through the essential vocabulary and questions you need to describe and ask about these symptoms with confidence in Spanish.

🔹 LEVEL – BEGINNER

Skin and Musculoskeletal Symptoms

01:41 

Before you start asking questions, it helps to have the right words for what a patient might be describing — swelling, a rash, a bruise, a fracture, or a change in a mole. Review the vocabulary below to recognize and use these terms confidently during a patient encounter.

la hinchazón – swelling
el enrojecimiento – redness
la comezón, la picazón – itching
las ronchas – hives
la quemadura – burn
la rozadura – abrasion, chafe
la cortada, la cortadura – cut
la mordedura, la mordida – animal bite
la picadura – insect bite
el nódulo – nodule
el bulto – lump
el chichón – bump
la verruga – wart
la arruga – wrinkle
el sarpullido, el salpullido, la erupción – rash
el ardor – burning
la secreción, el flujo, la supuración – discharge
el líquido – fluid, liquid
el pus – pus
la rigidez – stiffness
la fractura – fracture
la herida – wound, injury
la lesión – lesion, injury
la llaga – sore, ulcer
la úlcera – ulcer
la ampolla – blister
el cambio de color – change in color
el cambio de tamaño – change in size
el cambio de aspecto – change in appearance
el moretón, el cardenal – bruise
la cicatriz – scar
la mancha – spot
la zona de piel irritada – area of irritated skin
el lunar inusual – unusual mole
las pecas – freckles
los granitos, los barritos, las espinillas – pimples
los granitos – little bumps, pimples
la espinilla – blackhead, shin
los calambres – muscle cramps

Use TENER to Ask About Symptoms

08:54 

Now that you know the vocabulary, let’s put it to work asking about skin and musculoskeletal symptoms in Spanish. The verb tener (to have) is one of the simplest and most useful ways to ask a patient about the symptoms above. Just follow the pattern: ¿Tiene + síntoma + en la parte del cuerpo? — swap in whichever symptom and body part apply, and you have a ready-made clinical question.

¿Tiene + síntoma + en la parte del cuerpo?

¿Tiene un sarpullido en la espalda?
Do you have a rash on your back?

¿Tiene rigidez en las articulaciones?
Do you have joint stiffness?

¿Tiene ampollas en los pies?
Do you have blisters on your feet?

¿Tiene una quemadura en el abdomen?
Do you have a burn on your abdomen?

¿Ha tenido úlceras en la boca?
Have you had ulcers in your mouth?

¿Ha tenido una (alguna) herida en la pierna?
Have you had an injury to your leg?

¿Ha tenido una (alguna) fractura en el brazo?
Have you had a fracture in your arm?

🔎 Una vs alguna

Una herida / fractura asks about a specific injury you already have in mind — for example, one you can see or one already mentioned in the chart. Alguna herida / fractura asks more broadly whether the patient has ever had any injury, ever, with no particular one in mind — useful when you’re screening generally rather than following up on something specific. 

¿Tiene comezón en los pies?
Do your feet itch?

¿Tiene ardor en las manos?
Do your hands burn?