Skin Disorders
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- Lyme Disease Information
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Intertrigo
A common infection of the skin among the population is intertrigo. The infection is generally a result of the fungi present on the skin.
Causes of Intertrigo
Certain bacteria and fungi exist on the skin of everyone. Some of these are beneficial to the body while others do nothing other than hang on the skin. Others of these are also dangerous to the body. Many of these live in dead skin cells like the hair and fingernails.
While the fungi live and thrive in warm, moist places on the body they only attack in the open areas of the body under normal conditions. Diabetics are the most common individuals affected by the infections caused by these fungi as well as those who are overweight.
Symptoms of Intertrigo
Intertrigo manifests itself physically on the outer surface of the skin just like all other skin disorders. If you believe you have intertrigo there are several outward signs that you can look for.
The most common symptom is itching. The itching will become intense and scratching will not even relieve it in most cases. The itching is not reachable through the surface since it actually occurs under the skin.
The area will also be red and raw near the skin lesions. The skin lesion will grow and become inflamed and increasingly irritated as the disease progresses. The spots are most often located in the skin folds, genitals, trunk and other areas that stay warm and usually moist. The area is kept inflamed and irritated as a result.
An increase in infected hairs on the body may also be noticed. It is best to leave this common symptom of the disease alone until it has run its course. The inflammation will eventually subside and the hair follicle will return to normal as long as it is left alone.
Diagnosis for Intertrigo
Intertrigo is normally diagnosed by appearance as with other skin diseases and infections. Based on the condition of the skin and the apparent symptoms that are presenting at the time of the exam, medical personnel can easily identify the condition.
A skin scraping may be collected for testing certain times, but this is only used when there is no definitive diagnosis and the doctor wants to make sure they are treating the right ailment with the proper course of treatment.
Treatment for Intertrigo
Intertrigo has no specific treatment. Maintaining a good hygiene regimen on the affected area is the most common course of therapy. In many cases it has been proven effective to keep the area that is affected dry and exposed to open air.
Losing some weight will help relieve the symptoms as well if individuals are severely overweight. Normally the ailment may be completely cured in most cases if individuals can get their weight down to the base weight for their height. In order to treat the intertrigo, doctors may suggest treatment for the weight loss.
An improvement in sugar count is often the only answer in treating the condition in diabetics suffering from intertrigo. Individuals are more likely to avoid problems such as intertrigo if they have their blood sugar under control than those who don’t maintain a good sugar count.
If the cause of intertrigo has no underlying medical condition then a doctor will usually prescribe an aggressive regimen of topical antifungal medications that can help clear the disease. Usually these treatments take ten days and are only effective through constant use.
Prognosis for Intertrigo
In most cases intertrigo is completely treatable when there is no underlying medical cause. Although intertrigo has been found to be difficult to treat and it spreads quickly. Before the end of the treatment many patients can expect a recurrence of the symptoms. Although the disease doesn’t have any lasting effects.
Complications for Intertrigo
Intertrigo doesn’t have many complications associated with it. Reoccurrence of the symptoms that are presented originally are the most common of all complications. Continuing treatment until the symptoms are relieved will take care of this.
There may be several severe complications from intertrigo for those who suffer from suppressed immune system. When dealing with poor immune systems this is a common occurrence. If this is an issue that needs to be addressed you should talk to your doctor.