Red rashes in groin

[vize]

A little background... I've been dating a girl who has genital HSV-1 for about 6 months and I've been tested as being negative for both HSV 1 and 2 about a month ago.  We've been having sex for months now, always using a condom.  About 2-2.5 weeks ago I noticed some itching right in the crease of my groin where my thigh connects to my scrotum, basically out of the way of skin-skin contact during sexual activity.  The itching was pretty intermittent (itched for about 20 mins or so every 6-8 hours, roughly), and I basically just vigorously scratched the area when it itched for a good week before I realized that maybe scratching it was making it worse.  The scratching/rubbing of the area seemed to make it itch more, so I stopped.  Never any pain or any other systemic symptoms except maybe a runny nose that I attributed to the cold weather.  Anyway, another week goes by and it still is periodically itching.  So I take a look in the bathroom with light and I notice that the area seemed like a white/gray film was there that didn't look anything like the other side of my groin, and it would kind of slough off whenever I rubbed at it.  So I go see a PA at my school's clinic (since it is free) and tell him my girlfriend has HSV-1, no outbreaks, etc. but he says it doesn't look like herpes and looks like jock itch and tells me to use the miconazole cream and powder after showers.  I'm basically just worried that maybe he misdiagnosed it and it may be herpes?  I ask because there's like 3 small rash looking circles or sores in the area that I scratched at for a week, that I can only see when I stretch the skin to look closer.  I'm not sure how long the circles/sores have been there since for the first week of itching I just noticed that the skin looked whitish/dry and I never pulled the skin to look for sores.  Anyway, I'm basically wondering what you all think about the PA's diagnosis, or if I should go to Planned Parenthood and have someone else take a look?  I just started the cream/powder a couple of days ago.

[vize]

Thanks for your response.  The time I posted the question (this past Tuesday) was basically the day I started using the cream.  By Friday night (last night), the rashes were all gone and there was maybe just a slight hint that the area was infected at all.  The itching was basically non-existent.  The only time it itched was when I applied the cream.  So I'm continuing to apply the cream and feel pretty encouraged that the symptoms almost completely went away after 3 days.  I assume this means that it wasn't herpetic, since the cream worked in comparison to the 2 weeks of not using anything and having the itching/circular rashes getting worse?

By the way, it's ironic you mentioned that I should not share towels, because there's so many towels thrown around my apartment that me or my girlfriend often times just grabs one and uses it.  So yeah, no more of that.  I'm not sure if this matters, but I started having symptoms about the same time my girlfriend was taking antibiotics for her UTI.  She informed me that she often gets yeast infections when taking antibiotics.  We were still having sex, using random towels, etc. so maybe that contributed to the fungal infection.  I'll be checking this board often to see if you have another response.  Thanks again.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it looks like fungal infection of tinea capitis. Wash your groin daily and then dry thoroughly by pat drying, not rubbing. A hairdryer is useful if you have hairy groins. The damp groin is an ideal site for fungi to multiply. Also wear cotton underwears and change them twice a day. and do not share other people’s towels. Application of local antifungal cream(terbinafine, clotrimazole, econazole, ketoconazole, miconazole) and oral antifungal drugs are the mainstay of treatment.

If the symptoms persist then please consult a dermatologist and get eczema and STD’s(less chances) ruled out.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[vize]

Just wanted to add that when I don't stretch the skin, the red rash/sore seems to be in a straight line down the crease of my groin.  It turns into seemingly 3 small circles when I stretch the skin.  Throughout the 2-2.5 weeks I've never noticed any bumps.