Spots all over the place?

[kevohyuh]

Looks kind of like the chicken pocks. Red spots in all sorts of different shapes in sizes. Slightly raised bumps, red in color, with dry peeling skin in the center. They keep coming and going, so far I have had them for 4 months. They pop up in large numbers and are everywhere from my shoulders to my feet. Hands and everything. I went to the doctor, and he said it was a yeast infection. Prescribed me Terbinafine 250mg tablets, and Nystatin and Trimacinolone Acetonide cream. This has not helped one bit, and I am starting to get really anxious about it. Not only do I have these spots all over my body, but they leave white spots from my tan when they go away. So I have tons of red spots, and tons of white tan spots everywhere. Please help me, its summer time and I would really like to go swimming with my friends. =/

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Since the bumps are on face and upper trunk, it is less likely to be fungal infection which presents as red patches instead of bumps. these can be due to irritated and infected hair follicles causing folliculitis skin. Avoid any kind of cosmetics. Topical antibiotics such as mupirocin or neomycin containing ointment and oral antihistaminics like Benadryl or Zyrtec are also useful if there is any itching. In case the symptoms persist then oral antibiotics may be needed. Please consult a dermatologist in that case.

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 doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[DrEmilyAltman]

Several comments on yeast infections on the skin.  Presuming we are talking about tinea versicolor, a common skin infection with Malasezzia furfur, a yeast that normally lives in our hair follicles, it normally affects the trunk and proximal extremities, not hands or feet usually.  In some very extensive cases it may do that, but exceedingly rarely.

Tinea versicolor can have redness in and around the lesions, but more often it is either darker than skin color or lighter than skin color patches with fine, powdery scaling.

Also, terbinafine treats fungal but not yeast infections so one would not expect a yeast infection to get better from it.  Strangely enough, by the way, topical terbinafine can sometimes be helpful in tinea versicolor but is not an ideal treatment for it.

There are a number of skin conditions that can behave the way you describe, like scabies, eczema, psoriasis, pityriasis lichenoides and many others.  I recommend a consultation with a board certified dermatologist for proper diagnosis and treatment.  

Scabies, an infestation with a mite, Sarcoptes scabii, for example, is very itchy, looks like small red bumps with a linear scale (burrow), can spread all over and often involves hands, feet, underarms, waistline, genital area.  Burrows can often be seen between the fingers and on the wrists.

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