The Greatest Beauty Lesson of All: Don’t Touch Your Face!

Hello Lovelies! 

It’s been awhile since I posted and boy do I have a story for you. As you can recall from my last post, I was gearing up for my birthday since the 25th is a milestone. About a week before, I woke up and noticed a particular cluster of bumps on my lower right face. It seemed to be cluster-like enough to make me believe it was a rash. Worried about my looks, I began to attack it with everything I had: alcohol, witch hazel, and mario badescu drying lotion.

I texted a picture of it to my mother, in which she wrote back that it might be ringworm. Alarmed and fully worried, I googled for the next hour everything possible about ringworm. How could I get it and why the hell was it smack dab in the middle of my face. After playing doctor and diagnosing myself, I promptly ran to my local CVS and bought the most potent cream I could find with the ingredient, clotrimazole, one of the ingredients used in fighting fungal infections.

The next day I went to work and it was there but at this point it was still looking like a cluster of bumps. I called my dermatologist and begged for the next available appointment, but the next available slot was a week away. The next day I went to work with a noticeable ring around my face. I knew I had to get to a dermatologist asap. I asked the director of my lab if she knew anyone. We work at a cancer research institution full of doctors, so I knew someone should be able to help me. Lucky for me, one of her close friends happened to be a reknown dermatologist, and within an hour of speaking to her I had an appointment with a dermatologist that same day.

The first thing he said after he introduced himself was, “wow, it’s just erupted on your face!” He then proceeded to ask me if the dermatology fellows could sit in on my appointment. Apparently I had a aggressive case of Tinea faciei. He was able to treat me by prescribing a topical cream and a anti-biotic (specifically anti-fungal). Who knew it would take three weeks before it went away.

At this point, the skin began to scab, harden, and dry up.

What I learned:

• Ringworm/Tinea facei is a pretty common phenomenom and it’s very easy to get. The most common ways to get it are from pets, children and anyone who had it that  you may have come in contact with. 
• Beacause it’s sometimes associated with uncleanliness and I was horrified. That was before I knew all the information I posted in the previous bullet. The most probable way I got it is through a child. The previous day I volunteered in my community to help out for a Princess Day that we hold every year. I volunteered to do nails for the little girls in attendance. I easily came in contact with about a hundred little ones. Unfortunately, I probably touched my face after coming in contact with an infected girl without washing my hands, and boom there it was. Also, this was the likely cause because I had no trace of the fungus on any other part of my body. Regardless of who gave it to me it might have been avoided had I not touched my face. Ringworm can spread easily once you have it in one part of your body. 
• Biggest lesson: DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE. The only times you should touch your face is in the morning and night when you’re washing it. After that, don’t try it. 
• Wash your hands after you come in contact with anyone. I work in a setting where I am interacting with tons of people on a daily basis when they drop off samples, so cleansing frequently is a must.
• I had to be very careful not spread the fungus to other parts of my body. Forget once a week, I changed my sheets and pillowcases DAILY. I didn’t even touch my face to wash it. I used disposable sponges and cotton balls. 
• In the case of a skin rash, the best course of action is to see a doctor immediately and to follow his/her instructions. Because ringworm is a common phenomenon there are a lot of remedies reported throughout the internet. However, you should not use bleach on your face! Just because your cousin pookie knew a friend of a friend and diluted some bleach and sterilized a penny to scrape off their ringworm does not mean you need to do that. Follow the advice of a professional. 
• It’s not the end of the world to wear a bandaid on your face.
• Another big lesson: Stress compromises your immune system. That’s a fact. I don’t have scientific evidence that weeks of stress on my body compromised my immune system which made me more susceptible to this infection, but it’s a definite possibility based on the literature out there and I can guarantee  you that I’ve been pushing my body to the max stress-wise.
• You have to keep on chugging despite things falling apart. It was hard to keep up with the things I enjoyed doing (i.e. blogging). I also became very depressed, especially since it was my birthday and I should have been out partying. The medicine took a lot out of me. I was forewarned about some of the side effects, such as a possible rash and extreme tiredness but I didn’t fully understand the ramifications until those side effects affected me! About five days into taking the medicine, I got a rash on my arms and part of my back. However, I chose to keep on taking the medicine because I saw it was effective (call me vain but my main priority was dealing with my face).
• It’s not the end of the world to have ringworm. My main purpose of sharing this was to keep it real. If I had gotten ringworm on another part of my body I definitely would have never written this post. But because it was on my face and I’m a beauty blogger, I figured this is a great lesson that should be shared. 

Here I am today, basically 3-weeks later:

 The infection is pretty much gone, the skin there is flat except for a few pimples. I also learned that it’s common after a fungal infection for bacteria to build up and possibly cause a few pimples. The reason for that is we naturally have bacteria and fungi with us all the time. However when the balance is off due to medicine, acne can form caused by a build up of bacteria.  I will talk about my healing process in future post as well. 

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The day I found out I had ringworm I was on suppose to post the round-up for The Beauty Blogazons group I am apart of. It definitely fell to the wayside since I have not logged into my blog for 3 weeks. The ladies of the group are so supportive that I still want to share:

Beauty Blogazon Round-up 10/7/12

Makeup Demon: Tips for photoshoot makeup – simple, but important steps to improve your photoshoot makeup.

Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog: If you are seeking the perfect vampy lip gloss, then Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog thinks you will love Le Métier de Beauté Uma Paro- it’s a real stunner!
Amber Did It!: Amber shares a sparkly sapphire blue rhinestone manicure.
Creatively Yours by Ro: Cleanse your skin and soothe irritated skin with Shea Moisture African Black Soap Wash & Scrub
TheFabZilla: It’s giveaway time at TheFabZilla. Win a DYO (Design Your Own) fabulous magnetic bracelet from ULINX worth $75
The Science Of Chic: Find out what products made it to be TSOC faves this month!
Jamegackie: Monster Week! This week starts with some super cute Mummy nails to be followed with Franken-nails, and Count Dracula Nails.
Peace Love and Glitter: Having trouble finding that perfect coral lipstick? Or maybe you want to tone down a red. No need to buy a new product, just mix your lipsticks. It’s easy!
Lacquer Buzz: Have you got the Monday Blues? This blue by H&M will literally blow your mind!
Passion for Polish: Check out one of my very favorite glitter polishes … OPI’s Excuse Moi!
Lipgloss Break: Lipgloss Break has teamed up with Playboy to give away two of their newest scents, Playboy VIP for Him & Her – enter to win!
Addicted to OPI-yum: Lovenailpolish at Addicted to OPI-yum takes you to the Sonoma Coast with her Beach Day Nails
Polarbelle: Polarbelle honors Breast Cancer Awareness month with this fun pink manicure
The Beauty Think Tank: Sometimes you just wanna haul! See what makes the cut from Illamasqua’s Generation Q release.
Blush and Beakers: In which this beauty blogger compares vampy lip options from MAC and Revlon
Embellished nails: betsey johnson-inspired stamping with a fun scented lacquer