I've got tea tree oil in the medicine cabinet--I've used it on zits in the past. Which just gives me one other thing to be tempted to use now and not wait till Monday, because this shit ITCHES.

would using the tea tree oil be at cross purposes with your doctor's visit? I'd use it, and then tell the doctor that you did, and what the results were. It may help her to rule stuff out, even.

Susan, you just put a little on a cotton ball and dab it on the affected area. It should itch much less w/in 15-30 minutes.

would using the tea tree oil be at cross purposes with your doctor's visit?

She told me not to treat it, because the prescription antifungal/steroid cream my NP gave me was healing the outbreaks so quickly that by the time I got in, the rash was nearly gone and she couldn't judge what it was. (She doesn't think it's fungal, because she can't think where someone like me would've picked up something like ringworm--I still think my NP was right and it was. I mean, this stuff first appeared not too long after Annabel's birth, which IMO makes it not beyond the realm of possibility I picked it up at the hospital, and that it was able to gain a foothold then because my immune system kinda sucked for a few months there.)

She doesn't think it's fungal, because she can't think where someone like me would've picked up something like ringworm

Could it be a topical yeast infection? I've had 'em. They suck.

Could it be a topical yeast infection? I've had 'em. They suck.

Possibly. You'd think I'd have a regular yeast infection to go along with it, though, and I haven't.

Could it be a topical yeast infection? I've had 'em. They suck.

See, that's what I was thinking.

Possibly. You'd think I'd have a regular yeast infection to go along with it, though,

Not necessarily.

That sounds like a good possibility.

I wish I trusted this dermatologist more. She seemed 90% sure it must be a form of eczema, and that I needed to moisturize more and so on, which just made no sense to me at all. I mean, wouldn't eczema show up on the driest parts of my skin, say my hands or my shins? (Does anyone else get dry shins, or is that just a personal weirdness?)

That sounds like a good possibility.

I wish I trusted this dermatologist more. She seemed 90% sure it must be a form of eczema

The thing is, it's in (or has been in the past) areas that are warm and can get moist -- that's why athlete's foot is, well, a foot thing. Because you got socks and shoes making things nice and warm, and if your feet sweat at all, you have a perfect environment for yeast/fungi.

My little brother just got himself a job and is moving to Boston.

Ahh, the paralyzing fear of my own slackerhood, she is arisen.