What is Athlete’s Foot?
Athlete’s foot (tinea pedis) is caused by a parasitic fungus and is a communicable disease. It is typically transmitted in moist environments where people walk barefoot, such as showers, bath houses, and locker rooms. It can also be transmitted by sharing footwear with an infected person, or less commonly, by sharing towels with an infected person
Athlete’s foot causes flaking, scaly skin and itching of the affected area. Blisters and cracked skin can also occur, leading to exposed raw tissue, pain, swelling and inflammation. Secondary bacterial infection can accompany the fungal infection, sometimes requiring a course of oral antibiotics.
The infection can be spread to other areas of the body, such as the groin, and usually is called by a different name once it spreads, such as tinea corporis on the body or limbs and tinea cururis (jock itch or dhobi itch) for an infection of the groin. Tinea pedis most often manifests between the toes, with the web space between the fourth and fifth digits most commonly afflicted.
What are the symptoms of athlete’s foot?
Symptoms typically include various degrees of itching and burning. The skin may often peel, and in particularly severe cases, there may be some cracking, pain, and bleeding as well. Some people have no symptoms at all and do not know they have an infection.
What does athlete’s foot look like?
According to MedicineNet: Athlete’s foot may look like red, peeling, dry skin areas on one or both soles of the feet. Sometimes the dry flakes may spread onto the sides and tops of the feet. Most commonly the rash is localized to just the soles of the feet. The space between the fourth and fifth toes also may have some moisture, peeling, and dry flakes.
There are three common types of athlete’s foot.
- 1. soles of the feet, also called “moccasin”
2. between the toes, also called “interdigital”
3. inflammatory type or blistering
Unusual cases may look like small or large blisters of the feet (called bullous tinea pedis), patches of dry, red skin, or calluses with redness. Sometimes, it may look like just mild dry skin without any redness or inflammation.
Athlete’s foot may present as a rash on one or both feet and can even involve the hands. This is a very common appearance of athlete’s foot. Fungal infections of the hand are called tinea manuum. The exact cause of why the infection commonly only affects one hand is not known.
Athlete’s foot may also be seen along with ringworm of the groin (especially in men) or hand(s). It is helpful to examine the feet whenever there is a fungal groin rash called tinea cruris. It is important to treat all areas of fungal infection at one time to avoid re-infection.
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