The condition of the skin as a mirror reflects the general condition of the body. Among the symptoms of many diseases, there are all kinds of skin manifestations, and this allows you to notice the problem in time and cure it as quickly as possible. For example, if you have a spot with a red rim on your skin, this requires a mandatory visit to a dermatologist. The fact is that this symptom is characteristic of a number of diseases that require different types of treatment, and the longer you delay a visit to the hospital, the more difficult it will be to fix the problem.
Possible reasons
A spot with a red rim that appears on the skin is a characteristic sign of diseases, and in most cases, infection with some type of fungus is diagnosed.
Here are the most common causes of skin lesions in the form of spots with a pink or red border:
- fungal;
- infectious and viral;
- allergic
- endocrine and other.
It should be noted that in different people the symptoms of the same disease can be stronger or weaker. For example, psoriasis can begin as quite pronounced spots with a clear border of a contrasting color, but it quickly acquires characteristic additional signs. The affected surface of the skin begins to peel with powdery flakes, somewhat reminiscent of oatmeal.
Skin monitoring
If the reason for the visit to the dermatologist was a spot with a red rim that appeared on the skin, you should carefully monitor the accompanying symptoms. You may have noticed that new spots appear, the skin has begun to peel off, already fixed marks are constantly increasing, itching or changing color. What does the skin look like inside the spot, is there a recess or an inflamed wet surface? If a spot appears in the scalp, will the hair fall out? All these are important additions that will help to make the correct diagnosis.
Fungal diseases
Often fungal skin diseases are called by one common word "lichen", but this is not entirely true. For example, pink lichen belongs to inflammatory diseases of presumably viral origin, although the pathogen has not yet been identified, and its similarity to the same ringworm is very distant. An inexperienced look will not reveal any special differences, but it is precisely for fungal diseases that a clear boundary is characteristic - a spot with a red rim on the skin, and the form of formations is round or oval.
An important nuance: with a fungal infection, you will notice that after washing there are many new spots. This is easily explained: the causative agent of the disease is not washed off with soap, but simply spreads to untouched areas of the skin. Therefore, at the very beginning of treatment, it is not recommended to take a bath or shower, so as not to aggravate the situation.
Multicolored, ringworm, or lichen planus - all these diseases are caused by fungi. In most cases, doctors prescribe a comprehensive treatment, which combines external means in the form of ointments or sprays, and tablets of antifungal drugs of systemic action. Lamisil, Clotrimazole, Fluconazole and similar drugs.
Viral diseases
Some viral diseases have such an expressive symptom as skin rashes. For example, herpes familiar from time to time manifests itself in the form of grouped vesicles filled with a clear liquid, which soon becomes cloudy and thick. However, this skin manifestation does not have a pronounced red border with a relatively pale middle .
Often a bright spot with a red rim on the skin appears after a tick bite. This is a sign of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes, which cause Lyme disease. So called tick-borne borreliosis. Recognizing such a bite is simple, it looks like a schematic target. Red and bright circles can alternate, but a pronounced red spot, the middle of the “target”, remains at the site of the bite.
Only special tests can determine what caused the skin manifestation. Antifungal drugs are ineffective in the treatment of viral and bacterial infections. Therefore, before buying an ointment at the pharmacy on the advice of the seller, it is better to find out from the dermatologist which pathogen is guilty.
Allergic reactions
Urticaria is a skin reaction to an allergen. This reaction is purely individual, but if a spot on the skin with a red rim itches, it can really turn out to be a common allergy. Most often, the spot is not pronounced rounded, but more blurry, can be placed anywhere, it depends on the substance that caused the reaction. A reaction to different allergens can appear on different parts of the skin, while a pronounced rim is quite rare, but such symptoms are not excluded.
Why do I need to go to a dermatologist?
Visual self-diagnosis is rather unreliable, you can mislead yourself and take on a long and hopeless treatment of symptoms. Sometimes you can guess by chance, and then the treatment will work, but is it worth it to arrange a lottery out of your own health?
For the diagnosis of fungal diseases, for example, a comprehensive study of scraping is carried out under a microscope, and the material is also checked in the rays of a fluorescent lamp with a Wood filter. In severe cases, the culture of the fungus obtained by scraping is sown in an artificial nutrient medium - this allows you to determine the type of pathogen with a high degree of accuracy and choose an effective treatment.
Yes, at first glance, a white spot with a red rim on the skin resembles some types of lichen, sometimes young psoriatic plaques look like this. But the final diagnosis with the selection of drugs should be made by a specialist in dermatology.
Traditional medicine recipes
If you have a round spot on the skin with a red rim, in this case, traditional medicine recommends using natural remedies. With ringworm, the spots are abundantly moistened with vodka infused with crushed garlic. In various combinations, alcohol and garlic are used to treat any skin manifestations.
Natural birch tar is part of many medicines. It is possible to lubricate depriving plaques, both with pure tar, and mixed with egg white. The same remedy is used for weeping eczema, which is sometimes mistaken for lichen. But nicotine resins from the smoker's pipe, which are also called medicinal, can actually only cause a severe allergic complication. Resins received a drug reputation solely because of their resemblance to tar.
Of medicinal herbs, lotions from decoction or infusion of a string, pharmacy chamomile, calendula are recommended. You can use freshly squeezed juice of viburnum, garlic, celandine, sea buckthorn oil.
Pharmaceuticals
Given that many folk remedies have a pungent odor or stain clothes, it makes sense to turn to pharmaceutical preparations specially designed against dermatological diseases. If the doctor has confirmed that a pink spot with a red rim on the skin is actually the result of a fungal infection, it is better to give preference to antifungal agents.
Ointment or spray "Lamisil" acts quickly enough, it helps well from almost all types of lichen. The traditional "Clotrimazole" works better at the initial stage of the disease. If the situation is running, then systemic treatment is prescribed, when in parallel with external agents it is necessary to take antifungal drugs in tablets. In some cases, it is recommended to combine the use of "Fluconazole" or "Clotrimazole" with hepatoprotectors, which will reduce the risk of an inhibitory effect on the liver.
Red spots of an infectious nature are treated with antibiotics, and if they are caused by a virus, antiviral drugs for systemic use are prescribed. Allergic reactions are primarily a symptom, therefore, antihistamines that affect the very cause of the disease state are necessary, although not sufficient. First of all, you need to eliminate contact with the allergen. Finally, if an endocrine cause of a skin reaction is found, then the root cause must be treated, rather than focusing on cosmetic problems.