What are these brown patches?

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a few years ago a flat brown fairly small patch appeared on my stomach and eventually went away. however they keep popping up over and over again, last year I had many all at once: on my stomach, legs, chest etc, within a few months they disappeared. at the moment I have 2 on my chest, and i've just noticed a large one on my thigh. they are not dry or itchy or painful, however if I scratch them dry skin appears where it wasn't before and sometimes one might turn a little red. I do not go out in the sun very often and they appear in places that are not exposed to the sun. I'm a 25 year old woman, does anyone know what they are?

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    It may be Pityriasis versicolor which is caused by a yeast. its not catching or anything to do with poor hygiene. The particular yeast is present on everyones skin but some people seem to have the ideal conditions for it to flourish.

    You can try treating it by replacing your usual shower gel with a dandruff shampoo. If you can find one with Selenium Sulphide as the main ingredient that seems to be the most useful. Work it into your skin all over and leave for 3 minutes before showering. Do this every day for a week and then alternate days for a further week. Then weekly. Then you can also try applying one of the many fungal creams which you can buy..ask your chemist/pharmacist. clotrimazole is good. Even when its clear ,the rash may come back occasionally.

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