Discolored patches of skin on inner thigh.

[someguy222]

I'm a 23 year old white male and about a year ago i noticed a small discolored patch of skin on the my right inner thigh on the right side of my pubic bone i guess you could say. It looked sort of like the skin was dry so I didn't think anything of it. Well over this time it has spread over my pubic bone and i think there are spots showing up on my chest right above my sternum. The new ones are only pencil eraser in size but the old ones now look like birth marks. They seem to be brown with kind of a red tint kind of like a birth mark but it seems to be spreading. Any ideas?? I'm a little concerned.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Your symptoms are suggestive of tinea versicolor. Tinea versicolor is caused by a fungus that lives in the skin of almost all adults. Factors that can cause the fungus to become more visible include high humidity and immune or hormone abnormalities. Treatment involves topical and oral antifungal medicines.

Most cases of fungal infection respond to over-the-counter products, which contain any of several basic ingredients: miconazole, tolnaftate, terbinafine,ketaconazole and clotrimazole. You can consult a pharmacist and get any cream or lotion containing these ingredients. Some of them are Lamisil, Monistat derm, Mycelex, and Nizoral.

If the symptoms persist then please get it evaluated from a dermatologist. Psoriasis has to be ruled out.

Hope it helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries. Kind regards.

[someguy222]

By the way none of these patches are raised and sometimes fade in color but never go away.