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About A Week Ago I Noticed A Rash On The
Question: About a week ago I noticed a rash on the left side of my left breast. I had been itching the area earlier in the day but then when I was changing I saw that there was a rash. It was raised somewhat with bumpy areas. I put Neosporin on it and then tried Hydrocortisone, neither of which seemed to help. After 3 days I went to the urgent care clinic to see a doctor. He said he felt it was a fungal infection but not sure what caused it. He gave me some cream, Clotrimazole Betamethasone Dipropionate, which I have been using twice a day, and some pills, Hydroxyz HCL, which I have been taking at night because it makes me sleepy. I have been doing this for 4 days and the area is still itchy and sore. Blood blisters have formed on the areas where there were bumps and I am not sure I received the correct diagnosis.
Brief Answer:
The rash seems like shingles, betamethasone may be contraindicated. Please upload more pictures (explained below)
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to "Ask a Doctor" service,
I carefully read your query and also checked the uploaded image.
The rash at the moment seems similar to the rash that happens with zoster infection (shingles). I would recommend you not to use steroid locally (betamethasone) as it may make the infection worse. You may use the oral Hydroxyzine HCL to help with the itchiness and also local cold compresses to reduce pain and inflammation (do not use ice directly on the skin, if you use ice it has to be wrapped with a cloth).
You may take ibuprofen 600 mg every 6 hours after food to help with the pain and you should be better in the following 3-4 days if this is shingles.
On the other hand, I am not able to distinguish the nipple in the breast you have the lesions so I would need to have another picture of this breast where the nipple is visible and also a picture of the other breast (with the nipple visible) so that I can compare both breasts. A rash on the breast may be due to a rare condition called Paget disease of the breast and I would like to have better images of both breasts to better examine you and be sure.
I am waiting to hear from you soon.
Kind regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General and Family Physician
The rash seems like shingles, betamethasone may be contraindicated. Please upload more pictures (explained below)
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to "Ask a Doctor" service,
I carefully read your query and also checked the uploaded image.
The rash at the moment seems similar to the rash that happens with zoster infection (shingles). I would recommend you not to use steroid locally (betamethasone) as it may make the infection worse. You may use the oral Hydroxyzine HCL to help with the itchiness and also local cold compresses to reduce pain and inflammation (do not use ice directly on the skin, if you use ice it has to be wrapped with a cloth).
You may take ibuprofen 600 mg every 6 hours after food to help with the pain and you should be better in the following 3-4 days if this is shingles.
On the other hand, I am not able to distinguish the nipple in the breast you have the lesions so I would need to have another picture of this breast where the nipple is visible and also a picture of the other breast (with the nipple visible) so that I can compare both breasts. A rash on the breast may be due to a rare condition called Paget disease of the breast and I would like to have better images of both breasts to better examine you and be sure.
I am waiting to hear from you soon.
Kind regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General and Family Physician
Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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