Tinea Versicolor Archives

Tinea Verscicolor (Help!)

Hi, I am a 21 year-old male living in sunny Los Angeles. Since I was 18 I visited tanning salons weekly and tanned all of the time during the summer. I stopped going tanning 8 months ago when I found that white spots on my body were starting to spread. These spots however had been present probably for months before I stopped tanning (12/01). I went to my dermatologist who told me that the extensive amounts of white spots (on my upper arms, entire back, chest, and abdomen) were due to tinea versicolor. However, my dermatologist found no evidence of tinea under the microscope two times since 12/01, yet he still insists its tinea. I bathed in Head and Shoulders for two weeks and also applied Ketoconazole. Since then, I have bathed in the H&S occasionally and still apply Ketoconazole, Elidel, and an aloe vera called WipeOut. It has been 8 months and my skin has gotten lighter yet the contrast still exists the same. New white spots seem to appear every week and I haven’t been in the sun for 8 months. I went swimming once on the 4th of July and my dark areas got dark and my light areas got 0 color even thought my doc says that he can't detect tinea under the microscope! I exercise (at an indoor gym) and suffer from excessive sweating. I try to buff and am a sort of mini-expert on the fungus. This disease has consumed my life, causing me to become a hypochondriac of sort (I have gotten AIDS tested to see if my immune system is bad, stopped smoking marijuana, worried myself to death about my disorder being Vitiligo, etc.) I am a model who has put my career on hold because my skin is VERY unsightly - I am sooo pale, yet still have blotchiness everywhere. My doctor insists on me waiting another 6 months, but I think that is ridiculous because my disorder is getting worse. I am going to see a pigment specialist name Dr. Grimes her in L.A. but she is so well-known I can't get an appointment until October. I am super-frustrated, and my social life/career is hurting. I'm asking your opinion on this issue, I want to tan to even things out, but am scared to make things appear worse. Can some cases of tinea take longer than the few months you and other docs keep describing? Can the problem lie in my sweat? What else can I do? Can I go to the salon and try tanning? Any help would be greatly appreciated. -Nick

Follow Ups:

• Re: Tinea Verscicolor (Help!) Daniel 03:56:37 8/16/02 (0)
• Re: Tinea Verscicolor (Help!) (Archive.) Walt Stoll 09:47:35 8/15/02 (0)

In Reply to: Tinea Verscicolor (Help!) posted by Nick Chin on August 14, 2002 at 19:53:50:

Hi, Nick.

IF this is TV, tanniing will only make the contrast in color worse.

I usually tell people to not expect the color to even out until a year after the TV has been totally vanquished. If you have read the archives you know that takes at least a month of whatever is working for you.

There are stains that can be used as a cosmetic to perfectly match the depigmented spots with the rest of your skin. If you have someone professional to help you with this you will be able to continue your profession while you are resolving this.

Let us know how you do.

Walt

In Reply to: Tinea Verscicolor (Help!) posted by Nick Chin on August 14, 2002 at 19:53:50:

Well I had to respond to you Nick because I have had this over 10 years as well. Dr. Stoll gives EXCELLENT advice on all aspects of TV, but I do disagree strongly with one point of his due to personal experience. If you REALLY want to be have the spots gone then you could try the stain he mentions, wait it out a year, OR...use your choice of topical application for at least 6 weeks with the daily buffing of skin and then after that you can tan and it should work. But this is where almost everyone will think I am crazy...If you are going to be in LA you can't really go outside and get a tan in about 6 weeks, but you could tan daily in a salon (VERY bad for your skin), and it WILL get rid of the uneven tone. Just make SURE to use maintainence therapy once or twice a week to keep in check. I use Nizoral Shampoo about 5x a week, tan in summer and don't let it bother me in winter if it shows a little (it actually gets hard to even see it if you keep up the daily buffing...and I mean EVERY day). Don't let it consume your life....sure its irritating and cosmetically bothersome, but thats all it is. It can be cured and tolerated. Lets be thankful we don't have something REALLY serious (knock on wood!!) Good luck!!
Dan in the Bay Area