A Simple Guide to Skin Fungal Infections, (Updated 2023) Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Skin Fungal Infections, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Fungal Infection

What are Skin Fungal Infections (Tinea means Skin)?
Skin fungal infections are caused by a plant form type of micro-organism which invades the dead layers of the skin such as the dead scaly cells of the skin, finger nails, toe nails, webs of feet and fingers and the follicles of hair in the head or armpit. Some fungi can invade the inside of the mouth and vagina (oral and vaginal thrush) and lungs (actinomycosis). These are caused by Candida or yeast infections. They fortunately are not so common

What are the types of skin fungal infections?

1. Ringworm (Tinea corporis) In spite of its name the disease is not caused by a worm. It is usually found on the skin of the body as a raised area of skin seen in the form of a ring hence the name ring worm. The ringworm is caused by a number of fungi of which Tinea corporis is the most common

2. Athlete Foot (Tinea pedis) This occurs in a hot humid environment and most commonly affect the feet of the young male adults. Exercise which causes the feet to become hot and sweaty creates an ideal environment for this infection. Athletes are most prone to it hence the name Athlete foot. They occur as scaly areas between the toes and can spread to the under surface of toes and feet and from one foot to another. The skin is usually red and itchy.

3. White spots (Tinea Versicolor) These white spots which can be seen in many people at the beach or swimming pools are due to a fungal infection which can affect people of any age and sex. White spots occurs in the skin of those who are exposed to an environment which is moist hot and humid. The white spots may appear as white, pink or light brown. They do not tan on exposed to sunlight. So against a tanned skin the white or pink spots become obvious. They usually occur on the upper part of the trunk such as the neck, chest, upper arm and abdomen They may be itchy.

4. Nail Fungal Infections Nail Fungal Infection is a common disease caused by superficial fungi infection affecting the nails of the fingers and toes. They occur more commonly in people who live in tropical climates because of the humidity.

Nail Fungal Infections are caused by the 3 groups of fungi -
Yeasts or candidia,
Dermatophytes which includes Epidermphyton, Trichophyton and Microsporum
Molds.
Nail Fungal Infection is mildly contagious and can spread by direct contact with the infected skin and nails of infected persons, towels and shoes, contaminated floors and infected pets.
Females are affected more than males because they do more housework involving wetting of hands.

The symptoms of most fungal skin infections are:
Red or discolored rash
Itching
Stinging
Burning
Acne-like bumps around the rash

A doctor should be able to diagnose a ringworm or yeast infection of the skin during a physical examination.

Wood’s lamp examination by a doctor uses a handheld back light to confirm the presence of fungi.

The doctor may swab the skin and do a skin culture to confirm the type of fungus.

A skin scraping of the rash can be mixed with potassium hydrochloride (KOH) to determine if fungi are present.

Oral antifungal medicines will treat fungal infections:
Fluconazole
Itraconazole
Terbinafine
Griseofulvin

Topical antifungal drugs are:
Clotrimazole
Econazole
Ketoconazole
Nystatin

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Skin Fungal Infections
Chapter 2 Tinea corporis (Ringworm)
Chapter 3 Tinea Pedis (Athlete’s Foot)
Chapter 4 Tinea Versicolori (White Spots)
Chapter 5 Fungal Acne (Tinea Faciei)
Chapter 6 Nail Fungal Infection (Tinea Unguium)
Chapter 7 Tinea cruris (Jock Itch)
Chapter 8 Kerion
Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Nov 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301255726

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

A

Simple

Guide

To

Skin Fungal Infections,

(Updated 2023)

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B., B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2023 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Skin Fungal Infections, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Skin Fungal Infections)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Skin Fungal Infections

Many people have asked me what skin fungal infections are.

Skin Fungal Infections may be present on the face, neck, armpits, elbows, groins, foot, nails and all over the body.

Skin Fungal infections occur especially in humid countries where there is a lot of body sweat.

What are Skin Fungal Infections?

Skin fungal infections are caused by a plant form type of micro-organism which invades the dead layers of the skin such as the dead scaly cells of the skin, finger nails, toe nails, the webs of feet and fingers and the hair follicles in the head or armpit.

1. Tinea barbae (beard) or ringworm of the beard