You can even catch a fungus infection from one of your pets. Dogs and cats, as well as farm animals, can be infected with a fungus. Often this infection looks like a patch of skin where fur is missing. Fungus infections are named for the part of the body they infect. Tinea corporis is a fungus infection of the skin on the body corporis is the Latin word for body.
If you have this infection, you may see small, red spots that grow into large rings almost anywhere on your arms, legs or chest. The moist skin between your toes is a perfect place for a fungus to grow. The skin can become itchy and red, with a white, wet surface.
The infection may spread to the toenails this is called tinea unguium—unguium comes from the Latin word for nail. Here it causes the toenails to become thick and crumbly. It can also spread to your hands and fingernails.
When a fungus grows in the moist, warm area of the groin, the rash is called tinea cruris. Cruris comes from the Latin for leg. The hair is destroyed, leaving bald patches. This tinea infection is most common in children.
The best way to know for sure is to ask your doctor. Other skin problems can look just like ringworm but have very different treatments. To help decide what is causing your rash, your doctor may scrape a small amount of the irritated skin onto a glass slide or clip off a piece of nail or hair and then examine the skin, nail or hair under a microscope.
After doing this, your doctor will usually be able to tell if your skin problem is caused by a fungus. Sometimes a piece of skin, hair or nail is sent to a laboratory to grow the fungus in a test tube. This is another way the laboratory can tell if your skin problem is caused by a fungus. They can also find out the exact type of fungus. This process takes a while because a fungus grows slowly. Once your doctor decides that you have a fungus infection, different medicines can be used to get rid of it.
You may only need to put a special cream on the rash for a few weeks. This is especially true with jock itch. It can be harder to get rid of fungus infections on other parts of the body. Sometimes you have to take medicine by mouth. This medicine usually has to be taken for a long time, maybe even for months.
Some fungus medicines can have unpleasant effects on the rest of your body, especially if you're also taking other medicines. There are some newer fungus medicines that seem to work better with fewer side effects.
You may need to have blood tests to make sure that your body is not having a bad reaction to the fungus medicine. It may take a few months or more to get better. Jock itch gets its name from how easily it spreads in places like locker rooms where personal items are shared and moisture is common. Fabrics and plastics can all harbor the tinea fungus and spread the infection. Underwear, jock straps, cups worn during sports, and towels can all transmit jock itch.
To stop the spread of jock itch, personal items should be limited to your personal use. Certain lifestyle factors and health conditions can make you more likely to develop jock itch. Having jock itch puts you at risk for developing infections elsewhere from the same fungus. You can also develop ringworm on your skin from touching your own jock strap and not washing your hands afterwards.
Jock itch symptoms include:. Jock itch is contagious for as long as you have infected spores from the fungus living on your skin. While it might not be possible to completely determine if jock itch is still contagious, the risk of transmission goes down significantly once you start treating your symptoms. Once you begin treatment, it typically takes two weeks for symptoms to clear up completely.
If you have untreated jock itch, it can be transmitted to others. In many cases, tinea infections can be treated with over-the-counter OTC topical creams. These creams can be applied for two to four weeks to ease symptoms and kill the overgrowth of tinea fungus. These treatments usually need to be applied twice daily. If you develop a tinea infection on your scalp, see a doctor for a prescription antifungal medication. Jock itch is a fungal infection.
It causes a rash that often itches or burns. The rash may be red, flaky, or scaly. While jock itch is bothersome…. Apply the cream beyond the edge of the rash. Use an antifungal cream or powder that contains terbinafine, miconazole, or clotrimazole. You can buy these products without a prescription. Brand names include Lamisil, Lotrimin, Micatin, and Monistat.
Follow the directions on the package, and don't stop using the medicine just because your symptoms go away. Use the medicine exactly as the label says. If symptoms do not improve after 2 weeks, call your doctor. In rare cases, ringworm of the skin causes large areas of blisters. If your ringworm forms blisters, you can use compresses such as Burow's compress, which you can buy without a prescription to soothe and dry out the blisters.
After the skin is dried out, use antifungal creams that you can buy without a prescription. If you have jock itch and athlete's foot, you should treat both to prevent reinfecting your groin when you put on your underwear.
How can I prevent jock itch? Try these other steps to prevent jock itch: Wash your workout clothes, underwear, socks, and towels after each use. Wear shower shoes when you use public showers and locker rooms. If you have athlete's foot, you should treat it.
During treatment, put your socks on before you put on your underwear. This will prevent the spread of the fungus from your feet to your groin. If you keep getting athlete's foot, dry your feet last when you towel off after a shower or bath. This can help prevent spreading infection from your feet to your groin. Superficial fungal infection.
In LA Goldman et al. New York: McGraw-Hill. Credits Current as of: July 2, Top of the page Next Section: Related Information. Previous Section: References Top of the page.
0コメント