hello Jennifer. am sorry to hear what you had to go through in life. although nothing can be done about the past, I hope to help you with your current issue. I have read your question and understand your concern. recurrent red raised painful knots mainly over lower legs are quite suggestive of erythema nodosum. and they do leave marks. there are a multitude of causes for erythema nodosum, but nothing related to your past. they usually occur after a bacterial or viral infection. but since yours is recurring we will have to think about a chronic cause like may be tuberculosis. I suggest you see a dermatologist when the lesions are present, so that your Diagnosis can be confirmed. if in doubt you can get a skin biopsy done. to find out the cause for erythema nodosum you need to get a thorough examination of full body to look for clues. once a diagnosis and cause are established, you can treat the cause and take anti-inflammatory medicines like diclofenac or oral steroids for erythema nodosum. hope this helps. for any further questions please get back to us. thanks.