I think I have skin fungus...

[Hayden91]

I have many splotchy, round, red areas on my legs and back. They do not itch and are not raised or bumpy. I remember having this same problem many years ago, and the docter I saw told me it was skin fungus and gave me something for it (I don't remember what it was, but it was a topical treatment, I think it was some kind of cleanser, similar to Phisoderm but different).
I noticed these spots about a year ago, starting around my groin and spreading to my upper thigh area. I applied Lamisil cream to the spots and they faded and were gone in a few days. But now the condition is back and much more widespread.
Is this really skin fungus? I have read many posts here and most people report their reddish spots itch, but mine do not. What can I do to get rid of these spots and hopefully prevent them from coming back?

[Diddy0907]

One year ago I was dating a guy and he came to me after getting out of the shower saying he had a strange "cut" directly below the head of his penis, for lack of better words, right below the back of the mushroom.  Anyway, my birth control at the time would cause me to continously get the itchy uncomfortable feeling of a yeast infection right before my period, typical of birth control pills.  Much against my better judgment he would want to have sex unprotected and I was always scared of a posibility of giving him some sort of a yeast infection for some reason though it started getting worse each time, infact I didn't completely stop getting them until after we stopped having sex.  Well, he showed me this thing and at first I thought it was for sure Herpes.  I was so upset, of course the only thing I could think to do was google it.  When I saw it, it was a raw spot and it was shiny (he had just put polysporin on it) it was redish pink in color and unless he had blisters before that he had not noticed, we did not see any.  We researched and researched and unfortunately the second I would see a picture of a male yeast infection that resembled what he had I see a picture of herpes that slightly does too.  I started thinking and remembered I had some of that doctor prescribed external yeast infection cream (niacin maybe, something like that, I can't remember, it comes in a tube) anyway, I gave it to him thinking that if it were fungal (yeast) this would clear it up and if it were viral (herpes) it would probably do nothing and he should go to a doctor to get tested.  He started using it and sure enough it started getting better.  It probably took about a week maybe a little more but the results were instant probably by the end of the day it did not look as red and oozey(any cut that is pretty thick looks oozey from the body trying to protect the open skin).  It was still red and had dry looking skin on top of it where it healed.  There was about two times during sex that it would sting from sexual fluid getting in it and this was usually after he was at work all day sweating (I know his boxers would catch on it sometimes while it was healing and the moisture from sweat would dry to his pants and would slightly pull skin with it if that makes sense.) but it never got bad like it did that one time ever again. It healed completely in fact.  You could slightly see a pink mark when he was hard but the whole thing only reached about a half an inch long.  I wonder, could we have passed a yeast infection back and forth.  Should I be worried that it was herpes. He never had the other sypmtoms.  I was reading the symptoms of herpes to him and of course he was like "Oh the back of my leg hurts so bad" but he had severe knee problems anyway and ended up having to take a leave of absence from work for his knee and back injuries.  So other than that one symptom of severe pain in the back of the leg upon your first outbreak, he had nothing.  absolutely nothing.  I think if I would have told him a syptom was to turn green he would have said he swore his ears were green that morning.  I don't know though am I in denial? We did not have sex after he found that for quite awhile after he started treating it with the creme and the healing looked pretty substantial.

[arbindo]

Sounds like your girlfriend may have a fungal(yeast to be exact) infection called tinea versicolor caused by Pityrosporum orbiculare. Once confirmed it is easily treated with a variety of skin shampoos, creams and in stubborn cases oral antifungals but there is a high chance of recurrence, hence maintenance 'shampooing' may be needed.

[moe luv]

I have a discoloration on my upper lip,I've had it for 3weeks, i've tried coco butter, like the doctor said, but it's still there,one side is dark the other side is light, have anyone heard of this, PLEASE HELP.

[MAD07]

MY GIRLFRIEND HAS THESE LIGHT IN COLOR SPOTS OVER HER BACK SPREAD OUT PRIMARILY AROUND HER SHOULDER BLADES AND A FEW ON THE CENTER OF HER CHEST JUST BELOW HER BREAST. THEY DONT ITCH BUT WHEN IN THE DIRECT SUN ( SUN BATHING OR AT THE BEACH) THEY TURN BRIGHT RED AND ARE SOME WHAT RAISED. THEY APPEAR TO HAVE A REAL SOFT VELVET LOOK TO THEM WHEN RAISED. THE RAISED AND REDNESS GOES AWAY AFTER GETTING OUT OF THE SUN. COULD THIS BE A SKIN FUNGUS?

[arbindo]

jte777 is right. treatment needs to be continued for sometime otherwise fungus will recur. lamisil is fungicidal(kills the fungus)and therefore more effective while the azoles and other treatments are fungistatic and need to be continued even longer. btw it has to be a fungus(a dermatophyte) if it responded in days to Lamisil like jte777 pointed out. There u have the diagnosis. In recurrent or widespread disease oral treatment with itraconazole or terbinafine(lamisil again)will solve the problem. Also make sure your feet esp.toe webs are free of fungus as this may be the cause of recurrent disease.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Yes, it might be a skin fungus, but it also might be eczema or some other rash.  I advise you to try an over-the-counter anti-fungal cream like clotrimazole 1% (since the Lamisil wasn't completely effective) and to set up an appointment with a skin doctor to see what's going on after 2-3 weeks.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[jte777]

Sounds to me that if the lamisil eliminated them then they may be  a fungus (doctor will of course know better than I). Perhaps you just needed to use it after the spots faded to make sure that the fungus was truly gone. I know they say when you use antibiotics you need to keep taking them even though you begin to feel better in order to make sure the disease is completely killed. Perhaps that is the same with the lamisil. Just a thought.