Tinea Versicolor

What is tinea versicolor?

Tinea versicolor (also called pityriasis versicolor) is a fungal infection that affects your skin. It’s caused by the fungus Malassezia, which already lives on the skin of most adults.^[1] Tinea versicolor happens when this fungus spreads more than usual, often due to exposure to hot weather or sweating, which leads to it interfering with your skin’s pigmentation.

Tinea versicolor is purely an aesthetic condition, so it doesn’t affect your health – just your appearance. It’s characterised by discoloured, scaly patches on your skin, and it’s sometimes confused with vitiligo – a similar looking skin condition. Some people find that it makes them feel self-conscious, or affects their body image, which can cause distress.

Who gets tinea versicolor?

Tinea versicolor can affect anyone, but you might have an increased risk of developing it if you’re in a warm environment, sweat excessively (sometimes known as hyperhidrosis), wear tight clothing or have a weakened immune system.

It’s not contagious, so you can’t get it from someone else, and if you have it then you don’t have to worry about passing it on.

How common is tinea versicolor?

Tinea versicolor is a common infection, but it can be seen more in warmer climates than in cold ones. It’s estimated to affect up to 50% of people in hotter areas, and as few as 1.1% in colder ones.^[2] It’s also more common in teenagers and young adults, which is thought to be because you have more sebum (an oily, waxy substance) on your skin when you’re this age, which makes it a more inviting environment for the fungus to grow in.^[2]

It’s also been shown to equally affect both men and women, as well as people of different ethnicities.^[2]

What causes tinea versicolor?

Tinea versicolor is caused by a fungus that normally lives on most peoples’ skin without causing any issues. In certain conditions it multiplies more than usual, but it’s not fully known why this happens to some people more than others.

When you’re in a warm moist environment, and your skin isn’t able to ‘breathe’ very well, it creates an environment where this fungus can multiply more, and cause the fungal infection which affects your skin’s appearance.

What are the symptoms of tinea versicolor?

Tinea versicolor usually affects your back, chest, neck and upper arms. It causes patches of your skin to become scaly, dry and discoloured. It usually makes lighter or darker coloured patches of your skin compared to your normal skin tone, but the patches can also appear red, brown or pink.

Can tinea versicolor lead to other problems?

Not usually, no. Because it doesn’t affect your health, you won’t feel physically unwell from tinea versicolor, and it won’t lead to any other physical conditions. But it can cause emotional distress in some people if they don’t like how it affects their appearance.

It can also recur (keep coming back) in many people, even after they’ve treated it. And sometimes the discoloured patches can last for many months at a time.