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Fungal skin infection - body and groin - Management
How should I diagnose a fungal skin infection?
- Diagnosis is usually made on the basis of clinical appearance.
- On the body:
- The rash typically presents as one or more red or pink, flat or slightly raised, patches of skin which enlarge to become ring-shaped lesions with red, scaly borders with a clear central area.
- However, more rarely, the lesions can appear as:
- Numerous overlapping concentric circles (tinea imbricate).
- Herpetiform subcorneal vesicles or pustules (bullous tinea corporis).
- In the groin:
- The most commonly affected areas are the inguinal folds and proximal medial thighs. The perianal skin and buttocks may be affected, but in men the penis and scrotum are often spared.
- The clinical presentation is variable, but the lesions are commonly red to red-brown, flat or slightly raised plaques with active borders (pustules or vesicles). They often itch, and in some cases there is uniform scale without central clearing.
- Fluorescence is not seen when the rash is examined with a Wood's light.
- Exclude other skin disease that look like a dermatophyte infection of the body or groin.
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