ringworm?

[dfwtheatreguy]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 10:48pm

i noticed a bright red circle on my forearm last night, it was a bit scaley but not itchy at all - has a center the same color as the rest of my arm. webmd, wikipedia, and my pharmacist all said it was ringworm (a fungus, not a worm) and so i've been smearing it with lotrimin ultra. the upper half has disappeared, but now my upper arm is really sore. should i be concerned that after playing cards with my family i contaminated them? should i be concerned that i contaminated my cats? where the heck did i get it? i've been in my apt all week long.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 10:49pm

Yes, yes (well, could you have gotten it from your cats?), and see a doctor!

Updated On: 10/14/07 at 10:49 PM

[dfwtheatreguy]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 10:53pm

im going to the dr on monday, my cats never go outside (we live on the 3rd floor of a condo) - im kind of freakin out here.

[futurenala]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 10:56pm

Sounds like it. I had it before. Dont freak out.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 10:58pm

Don't freak out. It isn't serious. It's more of an inconvenience than it is something to worry about. I've had it.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 11:19pm

I had it when I was 8. I was a total hypochondriac and worried it would spread (do you know if you get it on your scalp, it forms a bald spot?), but as long as you wash your hands after you touch it to put on medication, I'm sure you'll be fine.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 1:06am

Have you had unprotected anal sex recently with someone whose HIV status is different from your own?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 1:17am

That was my first thought too, but really, who does that anymore? That's so 90's...

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 1:33am

Really, namo? I had no idea...

but don't freak out. It's actually quite common, Lotrimin should take care of it. Use for the two weeks to make sure it goes away. It is easy to spread, especially if you go to the gym.

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 3:01am

I thought i had ringworm a few yrs ago, even the pharmacist thought so (and about 7 pediatricians who glanced at it during a wedding I attended) but it turned out to be Schamberg's disease.

also ringworm must be treated w/ an oral medication to totally get rid of it, it's in your system, not just at the lesion.

then again it could be Schamberg's.

[kelzama]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 9:19am

Ringlike rash is also a symptom of the potentially debilitating but treatable lime tick disease.

go see your MD, who has 6+ years of post-college training to diagnose.

Wikipedia? for medical diagnoses? Seriously?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 10:17am

Usually folks don't even go that far. Usually it's the off-topic board for medical diagnoses and that's it.

[Stewpot]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 10:21am

From San Francisco Chronicle:

San Francisco doctors have reported a cluster among gay men of unusual cases of Kaposi's sarcoma, the cancer-like skin disease whose disfiguring purple lesions were a terrifying signature of a bygone era of the AIDS epidemic.

All 15 patients under treatment for the condition are long-term survivors of HIV whose infections are firmly under control with antiviral drugs. So far, none of them appears to be in any danger.

The new cases of Kaposi's sarcoma have not been aggressive, invasive or lethal - the way the disease behaved in patients with uncontrolled HIV during the 1980s.

Still, the lesions are unsightly, difficult to treat and raise uncomfortable questions about what weaknesses might lurk in the immune systems of thousands of aging survivors of the epidemic.

The re-emergence of this classic AIDS illness in these outwardly healthy patients is an unsettling echo from the past and a warning that this 26-year-old plague still has the capacity to surprise.

"This could either be the canary in the coal mine, or it could just be a collection of rare events that will continue to occur when people are given what appears to be effective treatment," said Dr. Jeffrey Martin, a San Francisco General Hospital epidemiologist and Kaposi's sarcoma expert.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 11:12am

years and years ago I had ringworm on my arm. What I remember is getting a prescription, and then trying to find an all-night pharmacy, which in San Diego at that time was rare.
It was a cream....I don't remember taking a pil, but maybe I did.

I cannot believe you would use wiki for anything medical. At least you spoke with a pharmacist......your doctor will know exactly what to do

[Chita1933]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 5:40pm

Google ringworm images.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 7:31pm

I do that just for fun^^^^^^^^^^

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 7:35pm

If it is ringworm, you should see a doctor. Lotrimin won't quite get it. Your doctor should give you something like Exelderm and maybe a few cortisone shots. In the mean time, try to keep that part of your skin away from your animals and your scalp. Try to keep the area away from moisture and heat.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 7:39pm

[kelzama]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 8:51pm

lyme tick? Updated On: 10/15/07 at 08:51 PM

[dfwtheatreguy]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 11:20pm

woo hoo! it aint ring worm, the doctor said it is a contact dermatitis rash from the truck we are using in "Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music" that we got from the junkyard on Saturday.

phew!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 11:24pm

Anybody else suddenly reminded of sugar cookies at Christmas?