That's definitely not ringworm, unless you had a ringworm infection and decided to drive a nail into the centre of it.

...

This is in a directory of wonderful things?

Edited by author 08-18-2003 07:37 PM
I think the product Phillip refers to is "Tea Tree Oil". It's used deluted in mouthwashes and is a pretty strong anti-fungal that's shown effectiveness against resistant staph infections.
 Google up tea-tree oil; you'll find lots of stuff. If you can find the full strength stuff it works wonders; my BF used it to get rid of "Yellow Toenail" jungle rot he got in Panama.
It also knocks out ring-worm fast.

Looks like you've caught MBlaster. Didn't think Microsoft products could lead to lesions did you?

Seriously, good luck with that nasty thing. Sorry we've been of little help.

Unicorn-horn jabs have been known to fester up like that.

I'm with Ernie, I think we all do know you should see a doctor, so if you combine all of that knowledge, and actually see a doctor, I'm certain the mystery will be solved! :)

I traveled a year in the Coral Sea ,Torres Straits, New Guinea and these sores were something that one had to treat on a regular basis. This is what worked for us: There's a liquid antiseptic that's sold in Australia and NZ that is used topically and diluted as a mouthwash (the name escapes me)..not unlike Lysterine but stronger.. we used it "straight" from the bottle topically. I would notice an itch about a day after having been bit by a mosquito. If you scratched it, the skin would fall away revealing the ulceration. This is gonna hurt: you take a toothbrush soaked in the antiseptic and scrub the site thoroughly, then use the neosporin. However, don't cover it up. If you wait too long to treat it, it will be almost too painful to do the toobrush scrubbing ritual. This treatment never failed. I did know someone that didn't treat his sores and had his legs covered in them within a couple of months and had to be treated at a clinic. Quick treatment is essential.

NOT A COLD. PROBABLY NOT LUPUS.
(I realize few of us are experts in tropical skin diseases, but if we swarm tiny bits of what we DO know, we may be able to solve this mystery.)

I refuse to link to any of the pics I found when searching for 'brown recluse bite' on Google, but my first thought, after "He should go see a doctor" was "spider bite."

Do you have any other symptoms? Swollen glands, flulike symptoms, fever? Are you in an area with a high preponderance of mosquitos, of ticks, of spiders? Does it hurt? Is it dry or oily? Have you seen a doctor?

in the link from /m27

"Leishmaniasis is not found in Australia or Oceania (that is, islands in the Pacific, including Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia)."

I guess that rules that one out...

Z.

Frankly, looking at all of the wonderful pictures people have posted...

It looks to me like a spider bite...

It doesn't look like ringworm to me (our dogs have had ringworm and it didn't look like that)... But it does look like a spider bite, I've had some that acted like that...

Still, it would worry the heck out of me.

Z.

douhh!!!
I'd say from my experience in tropical ecology, looks like you got the lesh..... no not the grateful dead bass player but leishmaniasis;
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/leishmania/default.htm

Although, you're not in a hot spot now, if you ever traveled asia,africa, s.¢ral america it could be it. you also get lots of alarming pictures if you google 'leshmaniasis'.

welcome to the tropics!

My guess from very limited data: ringworm which is a fungus that you can treat with whatever you have for athlete's foot or jock itch. Another possibility is bite of something creepy, e.g. spider.

xparxy = board-certified emergency physician, NOT a dermatologist.

Tis but a scratch.

word to the wise:

don't try google image searching for "rash" unless you're ready to lose your appetite!

http://images.google.com/images?num=100&hl...&q=rash&sa=N&tab=wi

Hard to find good pictures of syphilis ulcers. While on stds,
it doesn't look like shingles. :^)

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/shingles/photos.htm