This quiz is just for fun. Test your diagnostic skills with the dermatological photos, then separate truth from fiction in the statements about chickenpox, shingles and carpal tunnel syndrome. Any of the statements below might be true… and any might just be us pulling your leg. Answers are below.

1. Four of these eight pictures show malignancy. Which four?

2. Fact or fib — which of these statements are true, and which are false?

Chickenpox

a) Is normally spread by viral shedding from an infected person’s skin

b) Can be transmitted by bedsheets

c) Is most prevalent in the autumn months

d) The most common serious complication is pneumonitis caused by bacterial superinfection

e) Is most dangerous to the fetus when contracted by mother in 3rd trimester

Shingles

a) Is commonly treated with acyclovir

b) Rarely recurs, except in the immunocompromised

c) May cause pain or headache several days before a rash appears

d) The commonest complication is post-herpetic neuralgia

e) Won’t occur in those given the new shingles vaccine Zostavax

3. Carpal tunnel syndrome

a) Is usually bilateral, but often worse in the dominant hand

b) Can be detected by lack of sensation in thenar eminence (palm adjacent to thumb)

c) Testing for Tinel’s sign gives fewer false positives than Phalen’s sign

d) Can be effectively treated with diuretics

e) Can be effectively treated with wrist splints at night