Dermoscopy – a simple and rapid in vivo diagnostic technique for tinea incognito

Tinea incognito resulting from corticosteroid abuse is becoming very common in the tropics. Its diagnosis is tricky owing to its confusing morphology, as well as practical and technical issues associated with mycological tests. Dermoscopy has now evolved as a novel diagnostic tool for diagnosing tinea incognito in such challenging situations, since the typical hair changes such as Morse-code hairs, deformable hairs, translucent hairs, comma and cork screw hairs, and perifollicular scaling may be seen despite steroid use, irrespective of mycological results.