Treatment
Tinea cruris is best treated with topical antifungal medications of the allylamine or azole type. These anti-fungal agents stop fungi from producing ergosterol, an essential component of fungal cell membranes. If ergosterol synthesis is completely or partially inhibited, the fungal cell is unable to construct an intact cell membrane, and dies. Allylamines and thiocarbamate antifungals (tolnaftate, Tinactin etc.) are effective against Tinea cruris, but not against Candida albicans, which requires an azole type drug, making azole drugs, effective against both types of infections, the first choice for topical treatment of infections of unknown etiology in intertriginous areas.
If the skin inflammation causes discomfort and itching, glucocorticoid steroids (such as 1% hydrocortisone cream) may be combined with the anti-fungal drug to help prevent further irritation due to the patient scratching the area. Apart from the quicker relief of symptoms, this also helps minimize the risk of secondary bacterial infection caused by the scratching. However, steroids may exacerbate the condition if used alone for fungal infections because they hinder the body's immune system.
Since fungi tend to thrive in warm, dark, damp conditions, minimizing these conditions can help treat and prevent this rash. Some useful measures are: wearing boxer underwear or no underwear, increasing air-flow by sleeping near a fan, wearing loose sleepwear or no sleepwear, exposing the area to wind and sun, and thoroughly cleaning the area with a hand-held showerhead and soap.
Read more about this topic: Tinea Cruris
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“Ambivalence reaches the level of schizophrenia in our treatment of violence among the young. Parents do not encourage violence, but neither do they take up arms against the industries which encourage it. Parents hide their eyes from the books and comics, slasher films, videos and lyrics which form the texture of an adolescent culture. While all successful societies have inhibited instinct, ours encourages it. Or at least we profess ourselves powerless to interfere with it.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“Narcissist: psychoanalytic term for the person who loves himself more than his analyst; considered to be the manifestation of a dire mental disease whose successful treatment depends on the patient learning to love the analyst more and himself less.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)