What is Tinea Versicolor?
Tinea versicolor is the overgrowth of yeast on the skin. Yeast normally lives on our skin; it is believed that the following occurrences cause tinea versicolor:
- Hot, humid weather
- Lots of sweating
- Oily skin
- A weakened immune system
Your dermatologist may tell you that you have a fungal infection on your skin. You cannot get tinea versicolor from another person, and you cannot give it to another person. It is one of the most common skin diseases in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. People who live in tropical areas may have tinea versicolor year round.
What Does Tinea Versicolor Look Like?
The first signs of tinea versicolor are often spots on the skin; other signs and symptoms are:
- The spots are lighter (sometimes darker) than the surrounding skin. The color of the spots can be white, pink, red, tan or brown.
- The spots can be anywhere on the body.
- Spots can be dry and scaly.
- The skin may be itchy where the spots are present.
- The spots may become more noticeable as the skin tans; the yeast prevents the skin from tanning
- Spots grow slowly.
- As the yeast grows, the spots can combine and form patches of lighter (or darker) skin.
- The spots may disappear when the temperature drops and return in the spring or summer when the air gets warm and humid.
- Sometimes the spots are so faint that people don’t realize they have tinea versicolor. If tinea versicolor causes white spots on the skin, it can often be mistaken for vitiligo. Vitiligo is a skin condition that causes the skin to lose its color.
How to Diagnose Tinea Versicolor?
A dermatologist can often look at the skin and tell whether a patient has tinea versicolor. If there is any doubt, the dermatologist will do one of the following to make an accurate diagnosis:
- Gently do a scrapping of the skin and examine the sample under a microscope.
- Do a routine biopsy and send the specimen to the lab for analysis.
Treatment for Tinea Versicolor
What a dermatologist prescribes depends on the area, how much of the skin is affected, how thick the spots are and the climate. Treatment usually consists of a topical medication such as antifungal cream/ointment or a shampoo. If the patient lives in a hot and humid climate chances are tinea versicolor will return; a medicated cleanser used once or twice a month is recommended to prevent the yeast from overgrowing again.
If the tinea versicolor covers a large portion of the body, spots are large and thick or the infection returns often, a pill form of antifungal medication may be prescribed. The downside to an oral antifungal are the unwanted side effects. A dermatologist will have to monitor you closely if this treatment is necessary. If tinea versicolor is mild, you maybe able to use over the counter products to treat the area.
These include:
- A shampoo that contains selenium sulfide.
- Antifungal cream or ointment that contains miconazole, clotrimazoleor terbinafine.
When using these products dermatologists recommend the following:
- Wash and dry the affected area.
- Apply a thin layer of the antifungal cream or ointment. Do this twice a day for at least 2 weeks.
- When using a shampoo wait at least 5-10 minutes before rinsing/
With treatment, the yeast is easy to kill. The skin may stay lighter (or darker) for a few weeks or months but will return to its normal color. To help even out the skin tone you should protect your skin by using sunscreen.