I really appreciate the concern, and I do plan on discussing this injury with my doctor later this week. I don't think that I was bitten or scratched (the skin wasn't broken; those partially-healed red spots, especially closer to my neck, were older/unrelated) but it's still worth double-checking just to be safe.

The injury itself actually felt, looked, and healed much more like a sunburn. I think that the bumps were blisters...but I hadn't considered that hives can sometimes look more like blisters, which is an important possibility to consider. It may help me to figure out exactly what happened. So I'm really glad that you brought that up.

Thanks!