# Strange skin discoloration-help!



## OldFashionedMama

I am getting weird spots and splotches on my skin, particularly in places where there is friction (bra line, panty line, etc...). The spots start out red, then fade to brown in a few days. Heat and sweat seem to make them worse, and they get bigger. It's gotten so bad under my bra line that almost all of the skin there is discolored a light coffee-colored brown  I scheduled an appt with a dematologist but they couldn't get me in until mid Sept  

My biggest concern about "The Spots" is that my husband has had them for a long time, ever since I've known him. I didn't have them before and just started getting them this year. Are they contagious or something??? His also show up in high-friction areas, particularly along his waist where his pants sit. I've scoured the internet and still can't find out what this is. Anyone have any clues???


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## Canadian

Visit your doctor. See if you can get your specialist appointment moved up. Or see if there is another specialist you can see. Also bring your husband with you to the appointment. Chances are you have the same condition and should both be treated in case it is transmittable. If one of you is cured the other one will just re-contaminate the other. Could be fungal. That's transmittable. Also worse with humidity. 

Is there any type of medication that you both are taking? Changes in diet? Weather? Fabric softener or detergent? Soap or shampoo?


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## DenimBlue

I am not a doctor, nurse or anything, so this is just telling you my experience.

This sounds a bit like something I had several summers ago along my bra line and under my breasts - I am big breasted.

I ws told it was a fungus (eeeewwww!) and given a powder for it.

It was a red raised thing, almost like a diaper rash? I didn't let it get past that. If both of you have the spots where sweat would collect and the area does not have a chance to dry out during the day, especially if there is elastic or other synthetic fiber there, it is a real possibility.

If you think this is a possibility, clean the area and dry thoroughly a couple times a day and consider using something like Gold Bond Medicated powder. I ended up putting a cotton sock between the elastic band under my breasts and changing it for a dry one any time it got even slightly damp for a few days. I also made darn sure to thoroughly ws my bras evey time I used them.

sorry if this was too much information...but trapped heat and damp can be very unfriendly to your skin.


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## OldFashionedMama

Canadian said:


> Visit your doctor. See if you can get your specialist appointment moved up. Or see if there is another specialist you can see. Also bring your husband with you to the appointment. Chances are you have the same condition and should both be treated in case it is transmittable. If one of you is cured the other one will just re-contaminate the other. Could be fungal. That's transmittable. Also worse with humidity.
> 
> Is there any type of medication that you both are taking? Changes in diet? Weather? Fabric softener or detergent? Soap or shampoo?


We had a hot and humid streak here that hasn't quite ended. My husband's spots look exactly like mine. I did find something online finally, and the condition is called tinea versicolor. It's a fungus (yuck), and unfortunately it can be made worse by certain medications like birth control, which I take for hormone therapy currently. I just use plain Ivory soap, and every once and a while a shower gel from Bath and Body Works, but I've used these things for years without any problems. We use Purex free and clear detergent, again no problems with that.


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## Canadian

Get your appointment bumped up and get the STRONGEST anti fungal possible from your doctor. Get way more than you think you need. Fungus is incredibly hard to get rid of. Keep using it even after you think you're fine. I've had fungus before and I speak from experience. Make sure your husband uses it too. He's probably had it for years and it will never go away unless properly treated.


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## OldFashionedMama

Bumping my own thread.... I missed that appointment because of my college schedule. The spots have faded now that cooler weather has arrived, but it is still spreading and now its itchy and flaky. I am going to try and reschedule the appointment as soon as I can. In the meantime, I am being careful and washing all towels in hot water with bleach and wearing a clean bra every day. This seems to have helped a little, but I really just want to get rid of this whatever it is.


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## NaeKid

If it is a fungus, you might want to try an athletes foot powder which is an anti-fungal product. Another thing to try would be UV light - the kind that you can get at a tanning salon - use the UV light while naked (based on the place that you describe the issues) in order to try to kill off the fungal spores.

It could also be cross-contaminating - coming from your husband. You might also want to do a vinegar soak of all the bed-sheets used, place a plastic bed-cover over the mattress and have anything else possible dry-cleaned.

I believe that you can also purchase anti-mold products for cleaning the house - mold being a form of fungus might be in your house. A washing of the houe with those products (I believe available at Home Depot) might also help.


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## Canadian

+1 on cross contamination. Both of you have to treat the fungus or you will just re-infect each other daily. If you look at normal anti fungal creams you can buy off the shelf they only have a very small amount of the active chemical in them. Getting a super STRONG anti fungal from the doctor for both of you will work better. 

Also a big +1 on cleaning the house. The whole house. It is worth it. Take a weekend and get it done. Clean the furnace paying close attention to the humidifier. Also clean up any mold with a bleach solution. Make sure showers and tubs including shower curtains are spotless. A de-humidifier would be a good thing for the house. It'll make it hard for mold and fungus to grow. It likes humidity. It does not do well if things are dry. 

Get to the doctor soon. I know it seems annoying and superficial but if the fungus goes into more private areas it will become painful to the point that you will not be able to concentrate on anything. Also once in those areas it is incredibly hard to treat. It can be transmitted to your mouth and other mucous membranes so treat it now before it spreads.


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## TechAdmin

Could it be a metal alergy? I'm alergic to metal, and it will spread in places that metal hasn't touched. Under wire and Button on your pants could do it.


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## OldFashionedMama

Problem Solved!!!

I got some anti-fungal spray along with an anti-fungal powder. Within a few days of using the stuff, my spots are almost completely gone now! I also invested in some new bath towels so I have enough to use a new one every day. I hate the extra laundry but I'm not taking any chances. And I made sure to get white towels that can be bleached. But its nice not to have patchy skin anymore!


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## Canadian

Make your man use the anti-fungal stuff as well. If he does not use it he'll simply re-infect you in a matter of days. Also use the anti-fungal stuff for far longer than you think you need to. It can seem to be gone only to re-appear very quickly. If the fungus is not cured on the first treatment it can become immune to the anti-fungal and it won't work the second time. 

Good luck and be very thorough when treating yourself and your man. Glad you're feeling better.


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## smithgerry

Go to doctor.Up to this try this 
1. Do not use hard soaps while bathing.
2. Get a sun bath in the early hour for 20-30 minutes.
3. Avoid cosmetics like cream, powder and other triggering agents.


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## JeepHammer

OldFashionedMama said:


> I am getting weird spots and splotches on my skin, particularly in places where there is friction (bra line, panty line, etc...). The spots start out red, then fade to brown in a few days. Heat and sweat seem to make them worse, and they get bigger. It's gotten so bad under my bra line that almost all of the skin there is discolored a light coffee-colored brown  I scheduled an appt with a dematologist but they couldn't get me in until mid Sept
> 
> My biggest concern about "The Spots" is that my husband has had them for a long time, ever since I've known him. I didn't have them before and just started getting them this year. Are they contagious or something??? His also show up in high-friction areas, particularly along his waist where his pants sit. I've scoured the internet and still can't find out what this is. Anyone have any clues???


What you are talking about is probably a fungus related to 'Athletes Foot' or 'Jock Itch'.

As skin gets older, abrasion will bring some blood to the surface, causing a reddish/brown patch that will fade over time since the skin effected will 'Sluff Off'...

The brown discoloration is from a minute amount of red blood cells that come to the surface when the skin is abraded.
-------------------------------------

If the patches turn red when you get hot, it's probably a skin fungus from the 'Tinea Versicolor' family.
VERY common for people that work outdoors and get hot regularly.
https://health.google.com/health/ref/Tinea+versicolor

Using a selsun based shampoo as a bath wash will keep everything in check on a long term basis.
Every day for the first week, then once a week after that should keep everything in check.

Virtually all the jungle based troops contract Tinea so I've VERY familiar with it!


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## mtlad

Change your soap this is likely what is causing your problems, you should have a balance of bacteria on your body, if you use the wrong antibacterial practices, you could open up your skin for a fungi / yeast utopia - the harder you scrub the more they are going to like it, the harder you itch the more it will itch and they will love it!

Don't ever think that you will sterilize your home (this is still a good idea - it will help you focus on something other than the itch), this would be impossible with all the spores in the air. many people live in environments that are much more hostile than yours and they don't have problems! you likely suffer from an imbalance on your skin caused by incompatibility with something in your environment - likely something that you are applying to your skin

tea tree oil products are commonly available and act as a fungicide, you will be shocked the effectiveness of this. look this up and inform yourself - in fact the oils that the human body excretes act as fungicides and antiseptics. 

Anti-bacterial is NOT anti fugal, in fact once the bacteria is gone, you are only eliminating the fungi's enemy.

since you, in your environment, is prone to yeast infections, be very aware and inform you doctor of your dermal condition when you use an anti-biotic. this can open up your body for a significant yeast infection.

SIK fought reoccurring topical fungi / yeast infections, for years until I recommended tea tree oil she has not had one occurrence in years since she started using tea tree oil body wash and tea tree oil body lotion - neither should you .

PROPER bathing techniques could eliminate the need for any pharmaceuticals. you should educate yourself on proper bathing techniques and intervals etc.

If you do not consider this advice to educate yourself appropriately you WILL have continual re-occurrences of this infection and endless costly visits to the doctor for unnecessary fungicides that ultiamtly may be no more effective than OTC.

Eliminating a fungal infection is a way of life, it is changing your skin environment to eliminate a reoccurrence.

I guess it would could be far more likely that you contracted a "habit" from your husband that contributed to your fungial infection than the actual fungial infection per say.

Discuss these things with a qualified dermatologist or and inform yourself appropriately, there is so much more information available from your doctor or on the internet than simply what I regurgitated here.


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