I have a red ring, very slightly itchy. The ring isn’t quite closed, but it is a ring.
I’m treating it with prescription cream, it doesn’t seem to be getting better. But I dunno.
What I want to know is…does anything *** other than ** * ringworm look pretty much exactly like ringworm? Because if not, i won’t worry about it and just keep treating it.
Actually, to be more to the point, the question is: Does anything deadly, incurable, and likely to kill or disable me look like ringworm?
Because if not I’ll just keep treating it and not worry about it.
Is it a slightly raised ring, or is it just a round itchy spot? When I had ringworm, it was more of a raised spot.
If you’re using a prescription cream, didn’t the doctor tell you when you should expect results? If not and it’s been more than a week or two, maybe it’s time to call the doctor back, or at least ask your pharmacist.
Other fungi cause ringworm-like rashes, but they’d most likely be treated with the same stuff, IIRC.
RMSF does start with a rash, but I think it’s an all-over rash rather than a ring. It’s also accompanied by flu-like symptoms. I think you’re thinking of Lyme disease, which does start with a bullseye rash at the site of the bite. But as you say, this isn’t really the season…
you’re describing a target lesion, which may be a sign of ringworm, or of a large number of other things. If the lesion is not responding to an anti-fungal agent, a skin scraping should be taken to culture for fungus and/or examine under the microscope. If the diagnosis is in doubt after this, other things should be considered, like eczema, atopic dermatitits, lupus erythematosis, Kawasaki’s disease, lyme’s disease, erythema multeforme, and a host of others, some trivial, some not so. Statistically, the likelyhood of your lesion having a trivial (ie non-life or health threatening) cause is upwards of 95%, just cuz most rashes are not caused by bad diseases. No great comfort, however, to the other 5%, and I’m not saying the rash shouldn’t be taken seriously, only that the odds are in your favor
Eh, Stoidela speaking from experience, skin fungus things like ringworm can take weeks, even MONTHS, to clear up. Just make sure that you’re talking to a competent dermatologist and hang in there.
Also, don’t laugh, but good nutrition definitely helps. I’m not some kind of health food nut, but it is a fact that your body can fight this thing with only a little bit of assistance from the pharmaceutical industry. Don’t expect Pfizer to carry the whole load.
[anecdote]
Many years ago my body became covered with small round scaly patches, most of which had a raised red ring. I was sure I had ringworm (as was my boyfriend at the time).
I went the dermatologist, and he diagnosed me with eczema. He was nice enough to test for ringworm when I insisted, and that showed clean.
He then spent about 20 minutes (but it seemed like an hour) informing me (in a very monotone voice) that eczema was an allergic reaction but it wasn’t possible to determine what the allergen was.
Oddly enough, although I still get the odd patch occasionally, I have never gotten more than one or two patches since that outbreak went away.
[/anecdote]
