Suggest Remedy For Itching On Inner Thighs And Groin Area Caused By An Infection

Posted on Sun, 6 Dec 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 7 Dec 2015 Answered on

Mon, 4 Jan 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello Doctor ,
I am a 22 year old male.
About 3 months ago, I had some kind of infection ( or something else not sure ) in my inner thigh and groin region which caused a lot of itching. After a week or two I noticed that area under my belly also started to itching. I didnt pay much attention to it and thought that it would heal on it own and was embarrassed to see a doctor for it.
Now the itching is lesser than before but the skin where the itching occurred has got discoloured and skin is now dark as compared to skin of surroundging area . there is a visible change in skin color at boundary of the affected skin and the normal skin of other area.
I still sometimes feel itch and have to itch to get rid of itching. I afraid if it will spread to other areas as well .

I have applied itch guard on the area but it didn't help much.
I have applied Vaseline skin moisturiser on the area as it used to be become very dry after taking a bath.

Please suggest me what the problem is and what should I be doing for treating the itching and skin discolouration and if you need pics of the affected area or any other details.

Thanks.

Answered by Dr. Asmeet Kaur Sawhney (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
You are having ringworm infection, start oral & topical antifungals

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for being at healthcaremagic
I have gone through your history and reviewed the attached photographs.
You are suffering from ringworm infection which is a superficial fungal infection of the skin.
You should keep the affected areas as dry as possible, avoid sharing of soaps and towel, wear loose cotton clothes including the underwear and stay in cool airy environment.
As far as treatment of this infection is concerned I suggest my patients to start with oral and topical antifungals. If I was your treating doctor I would recommend you to take capsule itraconazole 100 mg twice daily along with application of luliconazole cream on the affected areas once daily. For itching you should take antihistaminic like tablet levocetrizine 5 mg once daily at bedtime. Continue this for 3 weeks and revert back.
You will notice the improvement but don't stop the medicines on your own otherwise there will be recurrence.
I hope to have answered your query.
I would be happy to clarify any further doubts
Wish you good luck.
Regards
Dr Asmeet

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Asmeet Kaur Sawhney (8 hours later)

hello doctor,

I have few more questions regarding the application of cream and darkening of the skin.

Should the cream be just placed over the region or i have to rub it till the skin absorbs it ?

I have to apply the cream only at the boundaries where the skin is red and shows sign of infection, or all over the other skin also which seems to be fine apart from being dark in color ?

Is the dark skin fine (apart from the color). I mean is that also infected ? or only the skin which is red and itchy is effected ?

I wanted to know if the darkening of skin also because of this ringworm infection or is it because of something else ?

Is a permanent damage or Will the skin color get back to normal on its own and if yes how much time it will take approximately ?
Do i need any treatment for the skin ? If yes then what ?

One more thing i wanted to ask can i apply Vaseline moisturizer over the skins my skin get dry after the bath or it will have any negative effects ?

Thanks once again.

Answered by Dr. Asmeet Kaur Sawhney (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Both red and dark areas are infected, avoid vaseline

Detailed Answer:
You need to apply the cream over the entire affected area : the red as well as the dark area as both are infected with the ringworm. You take a small amount of medicine and rub over the area till it gets absorbed.
Darkening of the skin is because of ringworm infection.It is temporary and will return to normal once the infection gets cured. It may take 2-3 months.
Avoid using vaseline on the affected areas as it will increase the moisture and will further hasten the spread of the fungus. Instead to avoid dryness use mild soap like moisturex syndet bar or nusoft soap.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Asmeet Kaur Sawhney (4 days later)

Doctor,
recommend me a drug which has stopped coming to market. I have tried 4-5 medical stores but all the chemist have told me the same answer that the drug isnt available in the market anymore.I was able to get the capsules but I was not able to get luliconazole cream, the chemist told me that it used to come under the name Lulifin from sun pharmaceuticals but it is no longer available.

Please suggest me alternative drug which would be compatible with the capsules you had mentioned earlier.

Answered by Dr. Asmeet Kaur Sawhney (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Instead of luliconazole cream apply terbinafine cream twice daily

Detailed Answer:
Instead of luliconazole apply terbinafine cream on the affected areas twice daily. It is equally effective. It comes under various brand names like tyza cream, terbest cream, terbicip cream. You can buy any of them.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad