Here is the problem: There are thousands (and more unknown)types of fungi in the environment. They all cause different symptoms and can require different treatment protocol. The key to treatment is finding out the particular strain from which you are suffering. I have been dealing with kerion lesions all over my body for the last few months and I'm very quickly discovering that doctors and vets are CLUELESS in Mycology. They learn the very basics in med school and don't further their education. You have to be proactive with your health and do the research yourself. There are fungi out there that are zoophilic as well and you can pass infection between your pets and vice versa. You really have to see a doctor, preferrably a dermatologist and ask for a fungal culture. They will take a scraping of your skin, a biopsy, or hair samples and send it off to a lab to culture. There it will grow in a dish and go from there. Some fungi grow relatively quickly, others, it may take weeks for results. I just can't believe that the medical community isn't better educated. I went to the ER because I don't have insurance. I told the doctor about my symptoms, ranging from fatigue, hair and skin problems, all the way to arthritic joints. I also mentioned my 3 dogs have the same type lesions. I told him I thought I might have a systemic fungal infection and his response was "First of all, I'm not a vet, so what your dogs have is of no concern" and "Systemic fungus won't present this way". STUPID!! So...what does he do? Takes a skin scraping, goes and looks at it under the microscope and says to me that he didn't see anything crawling but he did see something that looked like it had 'branches'. Ummmmm, HELLO?!! Branches=Hyphae=FUNGUS!! So he prescribes LAMISIL and Bactrim (antibiotic). Well, if he knew anything about fungi, he would have known that antibiotic are the worst treatment for fungi. They kill bacteria and then the fungi have all the room in the world to grow. Making your infection even worse. Don't let a fungal infection spread, they can be very dangerous and I believe are the source of a lot of major illness. The post above me mentions the light and dark spots and not being able to get rid of them. I'm not a doctor but it sounds like Tinea Versicolor, which is a non-invasive fungus that can be treated with over the counter preparations with active ingredients such as clotrimazole or miconazole. You have to treat this for a long time and may never completely kick it. Don't start and stop any treatment because it can become resistant and stronger and your condition may get worse. Probiotics are readily available at any health food store or pharmacy. There are food products out there with them in it also. Not just any yogurt will suffice. It has to have live cultures in it and if it doesn't say that, it doesn't. I think Activia is a popular brand that has lactobacillus acidophillus in it. Just do your own research and take your findings to your MD. Hopefully, he/she is open to learning and listens. If not, seek out another doctor that is!!

You'll regret it if you don't remove them, sorry. See previous discussions on this linked below. Also, please be sure you are using a tested and safe canning recipe. Many on the net are NOT safe recipes for canning. Use the approved recipe in the Ball Blue Book or the one from NCHFP the National Center for Home Food Processing. There are also many recipes here that a search will pull up. The recommendation for pre-squeezing is so you will have a thicker sauce. It gets rid of much of the water in the fruit up front and can save you lots of time in cooking down the sauce. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Why remove tomato skins discussions...

Quite normal to see that clear liquid. Its common when your using tomatoes that contain a lot of water in them. I like using a meatier tomato type, and scoop out some of the liquid and seeds before they are either canned or are put through the Villware strainer. Skins I hate, as they even show up after 'digesting them', if you know what I mean. High fiber they are, but how useful to our digesting I have no clue.. They just don't look appealing when you see them in the bottom of the spagetti. Tip- give those jars a quick shake before selling... Heres a quick way to enjoy them too. Slice some whole tomatoes and place on several layers of paper towels to soak up some liquid, while you sprikle salt on them. Make a batch of bread dough, spread out to the shape of a big pizza, spread it with olive oil and oregano and/or basil, then add the drained tomato slices close together, sprinkle with mozzarella or other favorite italian cheeses and bake. OUT OF THIS WORLD!!

Our Megan used to get all itchy this time of year. She would end up on corticosteroids, which made her nervous and she would pant and just not settle and relax. I hated seeing her like that. A few years ago I took her to a holistic vet. He put her on a predigested dog food and some supplements. One supplement was licorice, one was an auto-immune remedy that was actually made for people. I started her on this treatment at least a month before her seasonal allergy time. It turned out that she became sensitive to that darned dog food with the predigested proteins - just after I bought a second bag of it. She would vomit after eating it. If I remember right, we had to take her in to our own vet to get her looked at for vomiting. So OUR vet says, why not do an allergy blood test? This is the same vet who was giving her prednisone every August and September! He knew we had pet health insurance and would have done anything to help her feel better. So he ran the allergy test and it came back saying she was allergic to beets, potatoes, carrots, and wheat. The way the holistic doctor explained it to us was that if she is allergic to food, that is a year-round thing. If she is not reacting year-round, it is because her immune system was not overwhelmed and was coping with that level of irritation. When you added her seasonal inhalant allergies in August and September, she was then overwhelmed, and the result was skin irritation - which seems to be the most common way that allergies of all types are seen in dogs. So, every summer we would get very diligent about her food allergies, starting in about June. That way, by August she would not be having reactions to her food and would better handle the inhalant allergies that started then. After starting this routine, we were able to control her allergies and keep her comfortable with a Benadryl pill once or twice a day.