Until the significant long-term consequences of ionizing radiation were recognized, radiation therapy was sometimes used for conditions such as acne, tinea capitis (ringworm of the scalp and nails), and lymph node enlargement, but those uses were abandoned following the discovery of ionizing radiation injury.
Athlete's foot, also called tinea pedis, fungal infection of the feet, a form of ringworm.
Invasions in those parts of the human anatomy are responsible for scalp ringworm (tinea capitis), jock itch (tinea cruris), and athlete's foot (tinea pedis), respectively.
The superficial mycotic infections are generally not serious and include such well-known disorders as athlete's foot (tinea pedis), caused by the dermatophyte Trichophyton.
Ringworm is also referred to as tinea, both names referring to the round shape of most of the lesions, similar to the larva of the clothes moth, genus Tinea.
In the older child, tinea capitis (ringworm of the scalp), tinea corporis (ringworm of the body), and tinea pedis (athlete's foot) are all common superficial fungal infections.
In specifying the condition, tinea is usually followed by a modifying term indicating the body area or characteristics of the lesions.
Thus, ringworm of the scalp, beard, and nails is also referred to as tinea capitis, tinea barbae or tinea sycosis, and tinea unguium (also called onychomycosis), respectively; ringworm of the body, groin, hands, and feet, as tinea corporis, tinea cruris (also called jock itch), tinea manuum, and tinea pedis, respectively.
Because one of the causes of jock itch, or tinea curis, a fungal infection of the inner thighs, is perspiration, powders that absorb moisture may help prevent the condition, according to Dr. Douglas D. Altchek, a Manhattan dermatologist and a clinical professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Dar has dispensed lbws with the calm, dispassionate assurance of a family doctor delivering a tinea diagnosis.
