Wood's lamp

Alternative names:

black light test; ultraviolet light test

Normal values:

Normally your skin will not fluoresce, or shine under the ultraviolet light.

What abnormal results mean:

Under the ultraviolet light, different infections and conditions show different colors:

• golden yellow (Tinea versicolor)
• pale green (trichophyton schoenleini)
• bright yellowgreen (Microsporum audouini or M. canis)
• aquagreen to blue (Pseudomonas aeruginosa)
• pink to pinkorange (Porphyria cutanea tarda)
• ash-leaf-shaped spot (Tuberous sclerosis)
• bluewhite (Leprosy)
• pale white (hypopigmentation)
• purplebrown (hyperpigmentation)
• cold, bright white, or bluewhite (depigmentation, vitiligo)
• cold, bright white (albinism)
• coralred, pink (erythrasma)