Athlete's leg , known medically as tinea pedis , is a common skin infection of the foot caused by a fungus. Signs and symptoms often include itching, scaling, and redness. In rare cases the skin can blister. The athlete's foot fungus can infect any part of the foot, but most often grows between the toes. The next most common area is the bottom of the foot. The same fungus can also affect the nails or hands. It is a member of a group of diseases known as tinea.
The athlete's foot is caused by a number of different fungi. These include species of Trichophyton , Epidermophyton , and Microsporum . This condition is usually obtained by contact with an infected skin, or a fungus in the environment. Public places where mushrooms can survive are around the pool and in the changing rooms. They can also spread from other animals. Usually the diagnosis is based on signs and symptoms; However, it can be confirmed either by culture or seeing hyphae using a microscope.
Some prevention methods include avoiding barefoot walking in public bathrooms, keeping short toenails, wearing large shoes, and changing socks every day. When infected, the feet should be kept dry and clean and wearing sandals can help. Treatment may be an antifungal drug applied to the skin such as clotrimazole or to persistent antifungal drugs taken by mouth such as terbinafine. The use of cream is usually recommended for four weeks.
The athlete's foot was first described medically in 1908. Globally, athlete's foot affects about 15% of the population. Men are more affected than women. This happens most often in older children or younger adults. Historically it is believed to be a rare condition, which became more frequent in the 1900s due to greater use of shoes, health clubs, wars, and travel.
Video Athlete's foot
Signs and symptoms
The athlete's foot is divided into four categories or presentations: chronic interdigital athlete's foot, athlete's foot (chronic athlete) leg (aka "moccasin leg"), acute ulcerative tinea pedis, and vesiculobullous athlete's foot. "Interdigital" means between the toes. "Plantar" here refers to the sole of the foot. Ulcerative conditions include lesions that are macerated with scaly limits. Maseration is softening and disconnecting of the skin due to widespread exposure to moisture. Vesiculobullous disease is a type of mucocutaneous disease characterized by vesicles and bullae (abrasions). Both vesicles and bullae are fluid-filled lesions, and they are distinguished by size (vesicles less than 5-10 mm and bulls larger than 5-10 mm, depending on what definition is used).
The athlete's foot is most common among the toes (interdigital), with the space between the fourth and fifth digits most commonly suffered. The case of an interdigital athlete's foot caused by Trichophyton rubrum may be asymptomatic, possibly itchy, or the skin between the toes may appear red or ulcerative (scaly, scaly, gentle and white if the skin has wet) , with or without itching. The acute ulcerative foot variant of the athlete's foot caused by T. mentagrophytes is characterized by pain, skin maceration, erosion and fissuring of the skin, hardening of the skin, and odor due to secondary bacterial infection.
Foot plantar foot (moccasin foot) is also caused by T. rubrum which usually leads to symptomatic plaque, a little erythatose (reddish area on the skin) formed on the plantarist surface (the soles of the feet) that is often covered by the scalar fine and powdery.
The type of vesiculobullous athlete's foot is less common and is usually caused by T. mentagrophytes and is characterized by a sudden rupture of blisters and an itchy vesicle on an erythematous base, usually appearing on the sole of the foot. These athlete foot subtypes are often complicated by secondary bacterial infections by Streptococcus pyogenes or Staphylococcus aureus .
Complications
As the disease progresses, the skin may rupture, causing bacterial skin infections and inflammation of the lymphatic vessels. If allowed to grow too long, athlete's foot fungus can spread to infect toenails, feeding on keratin in it, a condition called onychomycosis.
Because athlete's foot may be itchy, it may also cause scratching reflexes, causing the host to scratch the infected area before they realize it. Scratching can further damage the skin and worsen the condition by allowing the fungus to spread and spread more easily. The itching sensation associated with athlete's foot can be so severe that it can cause the host to scratch strong enough to cause excoriation (open wound), which is susceptible to bacterial infections. Scratching further can eliminate scab, inhibits the healing process.
Scratching the infected area can also spread the fungus to the fingers and under the fingernails. If it is not cleared immediately, it can infect the fingers and fingernails, growing on the skin and in the fingernails (not just below). After scratching, it can spread wherever the person touches, including other parts of the body and into one's environment. Scratching also causes infected skin scales to fall into one's environment, leading to further spread.
When an athlete's foot fungus or an infected particles of skin spreads into one's environment (such as clothing, shoes, bathrooms, etc.) Whether through scratches, falls, or friction, not only can infect others, they can also re-infect (or further again). infect) their host originated. For example, infected feet infect socks and shoes that further expose the foot to mold and spores when worn again.
The ease of spreading the fungus to other body areas (on one's fingers) causes other complications. When the fungus spreads to other parts of the body, it can easily spread back to the leg after the foot has been treated. And since this condition is called something else in every place sustained (eg, tinea corporis (ringworm) or tinea cruris (an itchy athlete), an infected person may not realize that it is the same disease.
Some individuals may experience an allergic reaction to a fungus called an id reaction in which blisters or vesicles can appear in areas such as the hands, chest, and arms. The underlying infection treatment usually results in a loss of reaction id.
Maps Athlete's foot
Cause
An athlete's foot is a form of dermatophytosis (a fungal infection of the skin), caused by dermatophytes, a fungus (mostly a fungus) that inhabits the layers of dead skin and digests keratin. Dermatophytes are anthropophilic, meaning the parasitic fungus prefers the human host. Athlete's foot is most often caused by a fungus known as Trichophyton rubrum and T. mentagrophytes, but may also be due to Epidermophyton floccosum. Most cases of athlete's foot in the general population are caused by T. rubrum ; However, most cases of athlete's foot in athletes are caused by T. mentagrophytes .
Transmission
According to the National Health Service, "Athlete's foot is highly contagious and can be spread through direct and indirect contact." This disease can spread to others directly when they touch an infection. Individuals may contract the disease indirectly by contact with contaminated items (clothes, towels, etc.) or surfaces (such as bathrooms, showers, or locker room floors). The fungus that causes the athlete's feet can easily spread into one's environment. The fungus rubs the fingers and bare feet, but also travels on dead skin cells that continue to fall from the body. Athlete foot fungus and infected particles and fragments of the skin can spread to socks, shoes, clothes, to other people, pets (through petting), sheets, bathtubs, showers, washbasins, counters, towels, carpets, floors, and carpets.
When the fungus has spread to a pet, it can spread to the hands and fingers of the person who nurtures it. If a pet often gnaws at itself, it may not be a tick that reacts, perhaps it is a tinea itch that is never satisfied.
One way to contract the athlete's foot is to get a fungal infection elsewhere in the body first. The fungus that causes the athlete's foot can spread from the rest of the body to the foot, usually by touching or scratching the affected area, thus getting the fungus in the fingers, and then touching or scratching the foot. While the fungus remains the same, the name of the condition changes according to the place where the infection is located. For example, this infection is known as tinea corporis ("ringworm") when the body or limb is affected or tinea cruris (itching or itching dhobi) when the groin is affected. Clothes (or shoes), body heat, and sweat can keep skin warm and moist, just the environment that the mushroom needs to thrive.
Risk factors
In addition to being exposed to one of the modes of transmission presented above, there are additional risk factors that increase a person's chance to contract an athlete's foot. People who have athletes' feet earlier are more likely to be infected than those who do not. Adults are more likely to catch athlete's foot than children. Men have a higher chance of getting athlete's feet than women. People with diabetes or weak immune systems are more susceptible to disease. HIV/AIDS inhibits the immune system and increases the risk of getting athlete's foot. Hyperhidrosis (increased abnormal sweating) increases the risk of infection and makes treatment more difficult.
Diagnosis
When visiting a doctor, basic diagnostic procedures apply. This includes examining the patient's medical history and medical records for risk factors, medical interviews in which doctors ask questions (such as about itching and scratching), and physical examination. Athlete foot can usually be diagnosed by visual examination of the skin and by identifying less obvious symptoms such as itching in the affected area.
If the diagnosis is uncertain, direct microscopy of the potassium hydroxide preparation of the scratches (known as the KOH test) can confirm the diagnosis of athlete's foot and help rule out other possible causes, such as candidiasis, pitted keratolysis, erythrasma, contact dermatitis, eczema, or psoriasis. Dermatophytes are known to cause athlete's foot to demonstrate some septate branching hyphae in microscopy.
Wood lamps (black lights), although useful in diagnosing fungal infections on the scalp (tinea capitis), are usually not helpful in diagnosing athlete's foot, because the common dermatophyte causing the disease does not fluoresce under ultraviolet light.
Prevention
There are several foot hygiene precautions that can prevent athlete's feet and reduce recurrence. Some of them include keeping the feet dry, cutting short toenails; using separate nail clippers for infected fingernails; using socks made of either well ventilated cotton or synthetic moisture wicking material (to soak moisture from the skin to keep it dry); avoiding tight footwear, often changing socks; and wear slippers while walking through common areas such as a gym and a locker room.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Nails should be cut short and kept clean. Nails can store and spread the infection." Recurrence of athlete's feet can be prevented by the use of antifungal powder on the feet.
Mushrooms (fungi) that cause athlete's foot require warmth and moisture to survive and grow. There is an increased risk of infection with exposure to warm and humid environments (eg exclusive footwear - shoes or boots that cover the feet) and in shared humid environments such as communal showers, shared pools and tubs. Chlorine bleach is a common and disinfectant household cleaner that kills fungi. Cleaning the surface with a chlorine bleach solution prevents the disease from spreading from the next contact. Cleaning bathtubs, showers, bathroom floors, wash basins, and counters with bleach helps prevent the spread of the disease, including reinfection.
Keeping socks and shoes clean (using bleach in washing) is one way to prevent fungus from holding and spreading. Avoiding sharing shoes and shoes is another way to prevent transmission. An athlete's feet can be transmitted by sharing the footwear with an infected person. Hand-me-down and purchase of used shoes is another form of shoe sharing. No sharing also applies to towels, because, although less common, the fungus can be transmitted on the towels, especially the wet ones.
Treatment
The athlete's leg completes without medication (cured by itself) in 30-40% of cases. Topical antifungal drugs consistently produce much higher healing rates.
Conventional treatment usually involves washing the foot thoroughly daily or twice daily, followed by a topical drug application. Because the outer skin layer is damaged and prone to re-infection, topical treatments generally continue until all layers of the skin are replaced, about 2-6 weeks after symptoms disappear. Keeping your feet dry and practicing good hygiene (as described at the top of prevention) is very important to kill the fungus and prevent re-infection.
Treating the feet is not always enough. Once the socks or shoes are full of fungus, wear them again can re-infect (or infect further) the feet. Socks can be cleaned effectively by washing by adding bleach or by washing 60 Celsius. Washing with bleach can help with shoes, but the only way to really believe that a person can not get sick again from a certain pair of shoes is to throw away the shoe.
To be effective, treatment includes all infected areas (such as toenails, hands, torso, etc.). Otherwise, the infection may continue to spread, including back into the treated area. For example, letting a fungal infection of an untreated nail allow it to spread back across the legs, to become an athlete's foot once more.
Allylamines such as terbinafine are considered more efficacious than azoles for the treatment of athlete's foot.
Severe or prolonged fungal skin infections may require treatment with oral antifungal drugs.
Topical treatments
There are many topical antifungal drugs useful in the treatment of athlete's foot including: miconazole nitrate, clotrimazole, tolnaftate (synthetic thiocarbamate), terbinafine hydrochloride, butenafine hydrochloride and undecylenic acid. Fungal infections can be treated with topical antifungal agents, which may be spray, powder, cream, or gel. Topical applications of antifungal creams such as terbinafine once a day for one week or butenafine once a day for two weeks are effective in most cases of athlete's foot and more effectively than miconazole or clotrimazole applications. The plantar type of athletic foot is more resistant to topical treatment because of the thickening of the hiperkeratosis skin on the soles of the feet. Keratolytic and humectant drugs such as urea, salicylic acid (Whitfield ointment), and lactic acid are useful adjuncts and increase the penetration of antifungal agents into thickened skin. Topical glucocorticoids are sometimes prescribed to reduce inflammation and itching associated with infection.
A solution of 1% potassium permanganate dissolved in hot water is an alternative to antifungal drugs. Potassium permanganate is a strong salt and oxidizing agent.
Oral care
For severe or refractory cases terbinafine oral athlete foot is more effective than griseofulvin. Fluconazole or itraconazole may also be taken orally for severe athlete foot infections. The most commonly reported side effects of these drugs are gastrointestinal disorders.
Epidemiology
Globally, fungal infections affect about 15% of the population and affect one in five adults. Athlete foot usually occurs in individuals who wear occlusive shoes. Countries and regions where barefoot are more commonly experience lower levels of athlete's foot than populations used to wearing shoes; as a result, this disease is called "the punishment of civilization". Studies have shown that men are infected 2-4 times more often than women.
See also
- Nail fungus, tinea unguium , an infection affecting toe nails
- The trench leg
References
External links
Media related to Athlete's foot on Wikimedia Commons
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments