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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors

Learn More

• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• Images

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Tinea is the name of a group of diseases caused by a fungus. Types of tinea include ringworm, athlete's foot and jock itch. These infections are usually not serious, but they can be uncomfortable. You can get them by touching an infected person, from damp surfaces such as shower floors, or even from a pet.

Symptoms depend on the affected area of the body:

• Ringworm is a red skin rash that forms a ring around normal-looking skin. A worm doesn't cause it.
• Scalp ringworm causes itchy, red patches on your head. It can leave bald spots. It usually affects children.
• Athlete's foot causes itching, burning and cracked skin between your toes.
• Jock itch causes an itchy, burning rash in your groin area.

Over-the-counter creams and powders will get rid of many tinea infections, particularly athlete's foot and jock itch. Other cases require prescription medicine.

Start Here

• Fungus Infections: Tinea (American Osteopathic College of Dermatology)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Fungal Culture Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Fungus Infections: Preventing Recurrence (American Osteopathic College of Dermatology)
• What Causes Ringworm and Fungal Nail Infections (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Specifics

• Jock Itch (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Ringworm (Body) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Ringworm and Fungal Nail Infections Basics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Images

• Beard Ringworm (Tinea Barbae) (VisualDX)
• Facial Ringworm (Tinea Faciei) (VisualDX)
• Ringworm (Tinea Corporis) (VisualDX)
• Tinea Cruris (VisualDX)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Tinea (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Epidemiological survey of 32,786 culture-positive dermatophytosis cases in Hangzhou from 2018...
• Article: Automated grading system for quantifying KOH microscopic images in dermatophytosis.
• Article: Trichophyton soudanense, Trichophyton violaceum, and Trichophyton tonsurans in Munich: Travel- and...
• Tinea Infections -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Find a Dermatologist (American Academy of Dermatology)
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Children

• First Aid: Ringworm (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Ringworm, Scalp (Tinea Capitis) (VisualDX)
• Tinea Infections (Ringworm, Athlete's Foot, Jock Itch) (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Jock Itch (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Ringworm (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Jock itch (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Ringworm (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Ringworm of the body (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Ringworm of the scalp (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Skin lesion KOH exam (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish