Medical Professionals of DL... please help..

The nurses on here helped me before and they perfectly diagnosed it.

So I thought I would try for him. He’s the nicest guy in the world and has done so much for others.

Hate to say this, but that sounds like it may be a melanoma/ skin cancer. He needs to get to a doctor FAST and get it sorted before it is too late. I have no medical knowledge/training though

He needs to go to a doctor NOW

You should... er, I mean, "your neighbor" should go to the doctor's, OP.

I asked him if had been a bump before it turned into what it is. He said no that it was a smaller version of the same thing, started out about a dime size and now size of the quarter.

He says it seemed to appear out of nowhere.

It doesn’t look like ringworm to me. He agreed. And it’s not a perfect ring.

Tell him to go to a pharmacy and show it and see if the pharmacist can recommend something first. Doubt it's anything serious.

It’s impetigo.

He is too scared to go to the pharmacy or really leave his house at all. But I will suggest it.

Didn’t think about skin cancer. Yeah I agree I think he’s going to have to see a doc. Thanks for the suggestions.

You’re going to have to amputate, OP.

Um, OP, your neighbor really needs to stop being scared and go to the doctor. Every single symptom is screaming melanoma skin cancer. Irregular borders and larger than a dime sizes are hallmarks of melanoma. Tell him that he doesn't have to worry if he gets removed ASAP. The longer that it's on his skin, the longer the cancer (IF it's cancer) can spread. If he gets to it early, all he would need to do is get a biopsy where the doctor uses a device to remove the patch. That's it. Tell him how simple and fast it is, but please tell him how badly he needs to go. His life may be at stake.

It’s likely basal cell skin cancer - not really dangerous just disfiguring. The dangerous skin cancer - melanoma - is brownish, less circular and probably would have killed him already. I have had a ton of them as I am super light skinned and burn easily.

He should have it taken out sooner rather than later. It’s not deadly. Only problem is they will have to cut it all out - so the larger it grows, the more disfiguring it will be. Very common - any very light skinned person has these removed on a regular basis as we age.

Not ringworm?

Over the phone appointment with his doctor, or a dermatologist?

Try sucking on it. And around it.

It could be something simple like impetigo OP, (though more common in kids) or something serious like basal cell carcinoma, so he'd best get it at least looked at by a professional.

Doctors are now interacting online, so he should schedule a Zoom meeting with his doctor and upload a photograph of the lesion.

Seconding ringworm. Can he take a photo and upload it to one of the photo sharing sites so we can see the thing? He'll need to photograph it for the zoom doctor anyway. Google ringworm under Google images. Does it look anything like that?

Ok well he is going to be seeing a doctor now so thank you once again DL! This place can be a life saver.

he is going to urgent care today.

It does not look like ringworm. It’s more craterish, but very shallow. Ringworm is more convex than concave, no?

Generally speaking non uniform lesions are likely cancerous.

A third for ringworm. Go to pharmacy. If unidentifiable, pharmacist will suggest whether doctor is needed.

He's going to turn into a grup, just like Louise on "Starv Trek"! The sore is the first sign!

My mom got these little convex things, some several millimeters and the dermatologist said they were from aging and harmless (like skin tags)

Ringworm can become inflamed and then convex.

[quote]he is scared to death to go into a doctors office right now.

Why doesn't he make an online appointment and just use video to show it to the nurse or doc and find out whether it's something that needs urgent attention? Does he not have internet access?

It’s concave, like craters. But very shallow.

OP, do you promise you will come back and let us know what the doctor says?

R16 - I second this comment. I had swelling and redness that developed suddenly on my face after a medical treatment the doc was able to diagnose it from pictures I sent. Supplied me a scrip for 7 days of antibiotics. Issue was resolved thoroughly. Have him make an Zoom appt, or have him arrange to send photos of the skin marking to the doctor.

It’s a tumor.

I have something similar on my leg. But it's convex so probably a hypertrophic scar. Which can form after a pimple. If it's pitted it can sometimes be cancerous.

R28 it's naht a tumah!!

Does it look like this?

Can you please report back to update us?

Where do you live that he's so afraid to go out? Is the virus still bad there?

Ok we got him to the urgent care. Only a PA on duty. She shays she is pretty sure it is fungal because it has a clear center and crusty edges.

She gave him Rx and instructed him to follow up with derm. Will update but it might be a week or so. Does the fungal thing sound right to the DL med crew?

Is telemedicine an option?

I think he assumed they needed to scrape something off and test it. Considering that did not happen, in hindsight, he could have used the online service afterall.

But as for the derm they will probably need to be in person to get a sample, I assume. He is taking it from here but I’m sure he will tell be the final outcome.

Is ring worm fungal? That's what we all thought it was.

No, it did not look like r31. I didn’t want to ask to take a pic but the cancer word was enough of a scare to get him motivated so thank you for that suggestion because that got him moving, if nothing else.

I will update after the derm not sure when that will be.

Want to add one last thing that I really don’t think it was ringworm. It didn’t really have a ring shape to it. If I were to bet right now, I think was something else.

OP, you are a wonderful friend. You are also a dependable DLer, and your efforts to update us are appreciated.

Another vote for ringworm.

Granuloma annulare

The good news is that if it fungal OP, the med will likely clear it up very quickly. If not then he should go back and get it checked again. I'm so glad he went and had it looked at, you're a good friend.

My learned diagnosis is that the man has erysipelas.

As my grandmother famously said: "If that's not gone by Wednesday, I'm going to call the doctor."

Any updates OP? Can we have his stuff?

yes, ringworm is fungal.

Op, can I have your neighbor's stuff?? Sounds like he won't need it much longer.

And Team Ringworm wins again! Suck it, OP and OPs neighbor for not listening to us, and getting freaked out over fucking RINGWORM. So, what are our fabulous prizes?

I believe Team Ringworm (aka Team Fungus), are now only second behind Team Hemorrhoid for correct guesses about what ails ye.

It's Leprosy.

R41 for the win!!!

OK, here is a sort of update... neighbor could not get into derm until the end of the month. Soonest available (He Is on a cancelation list, though, so fingers crossed.)

In the meantime, the fungal rx is not making it go away after 5 days of treatment. Maybe it is fungal, and the rx needs longer to work. Or maybe it’s not fungal, and the PA was wrong.

Will update after the derm and final diagnosis.

Hopefully he will get in sooner but, if not, I will update at the end of the month when he is scheduled.

He should take a photo of it now, because the symptom might go away, but the disease might get worse,

My doctor thought this is a spider bite.

Ok so it turns out it was a fungal rash after all. I would have never guessed that without the wise owls here at datalounge.

He appears to be on the mend.

Thanks for the status update, OP

R53 isn’t the OP, I am. I still have the rash. It appears to be a birthmark, or maybe and old scar that I only just noticed? I can’t tell.. but it’s unchanged.

Cool story R55, except it was the OP's neighbor who had the rash.

Oh, sorry, R55 and everybody, I messed up. I was referring to my photo in R52.