Fungal Infection of Skin
By: Paul FryattTotal Views: 231, Word Count: 521,
Fungal infection of skin is a skin infection caused by a fungus. Certain types of fungus or extreme growth of normally harmless types cause the symptoms of a fungal skin infection. Most of these infections can be treated successfully.
Fungal skin infections generally affect your skin as they live off keratin, a protein which makes up your hair, nails and skin. These infections are divided into groups, depending on the type of organism involved. The full name depends on the area of the infection on your body.
Types of Fungal Skin Infections
Dermatophyte Infections:
Majority of the basic fungal skin infections are caused by dermatophytes. These are types of fungi that cause hair, nail and skin infections. They are very common, affecting 1 to 2 out of 10 people at some point in their lives. Dermatophyte infections include the following:
Athlete’s Foot (Tinea Manuum and Tinea Pedis)
Twenty five out of hundred adults have athlete’s foot at some time in their lives. It’s caused by a combination of bacteria and fungi, causing your skin to become dry, scaly, red and itchy especially between your toes. At times, it causes blisters and cracked skin. Most often, you pick up athlete’s foot from impure skin scales in swimming pools, saunas and showers. If you do not wash your hands after touching an infected area, it can spread to your hands where it’s known as tinea manuum.
Ringworm of the Groin (Tinea Crusis)
This is mostly called jock itch since it occurs in sportsmen and is common among young men. It causes a scratchy, red rash in your groin and in its surrounding area and is generally seen in men who sweat a lot. Often you would also have athlete’s foot and scratching your feet, followed by the groin might spread the infection.
Ringworm of the Scalp (Tinea Capitis)
Young children are usually affected by this infection, especially those living in urban areas and who are of Caribbean and African origin. It spreads from person to person, thus resulting in hair loss and irritation in the affected area. You could be infected by this fungus without developing any symptoms and could also spread it to others.
Symptoms of Fungal Skin Infections
The symptoms and appearance of a fungal infection of skin depend on the kind of fungus causing it and the affected part of your body. These skin infections can cause rashes with a variety of diverse appearances. Some are scaly and itchy, red whereas others look similar to dry skin. The fungus might infect just one area or many areas of your body.
Fungal infections of your beard or scalp could lead to hair loss. Fungal rashes can at times be confused with other skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.
Treatment of Fungal Skin Infections
As most fungal infections of skin are surface infections, you would generally need to use anti fungal treatments that are applied directly to your skin in the infected area. There are lots of treatments available for fungal infection of skin in the form of lotions, creams and medicated powders.
About the Author
Allergist Paul Fryatt, M.D. has been in this profession from last 24 years. He made great achievements in his profession. He made an initiative to open a Family Allergy Clinic in 1985 to help his patients who were not reacting to traditional allergy treatment programs. Moreover he has explored the treatment to overcome allergy symptoms to reclaim quality of life through his convenient, no-shots therapy.
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