Terbinafine: An alternative treatment for tinea faciei

Abstract

Tinea faciei may be subdivided into tinea barbae and fungal infection at other facial sites. The correct diagnosis of tinea faciei should be established and the causative organism(s) sought. Successful treatment response is linked to concomitantly detecting and controlling the source of infection. Oral therapy is more likely to be needed in tinea barbae than in tinea infection at other sites of the face, since topical medications do not adequately pentrate terminal hair follicles. Our positive experience with terbinafine suggests that it may be an alternative therapy to griseofulvin and ketoconazole, which have been first-line therapies for this condition.