Is athlete's foot caused by Candida albicans?

Athlete's foot is a disease caused by fungal infection. Athlete's foot is not caused by Candida albicans, but mostly by Trichophyton rubrum infection. Having athlete's foot can cause a lot of trouble to people. The first is that itching from time to time cannot be ignored. The second is that the epidermis of the toes will become red, swollen and fall off. Finally, the feet often smell when wearing shoes. These cause great trouble to our daily lives.

1. Cause eczema, chapped hands and feet and pain: First of all, because the fungus is foreign, it destroys the outermost dense protective layer of the skin after gnawing on the skin, making the skin very susceptible to external stimuli. Coupled with the effect of the metabolites of the fungus itself, it is easy to cause eczema, blisters, peeling and other phenomena. Especially when it spreads to the hands, because the hands are often stimulated by chemicals, it is not easy to heal, which brings a lot of inconvenience to work and life. In winter and spring, chapped hands and feet may occur. In mild cases, there will be obvious discomfort, while in severe cases, there may be obvious pain when walking.

2. Destroy the nails and toenails, and spread to other parts of the body to cause tinea corporis, onychomycosis, etc.: After the ringworm has gnawed the skin of the toes, it will covet the toenails which are rich in keratin. Especially when the toenails are damaged due to wearing tight shoes, it will quickly drill into them and destroy the toenails. When the nails are infected with fungi due to scratching or other reasons, they will be spread to other parts of the body, where the fungi will take root and continue to eat healthy skin elsewhere in the body, while excreting waste and causing inflammation, which is tinea corporis and tinea cruris. Especially those who have poor physical fitness or are obese, sweat a lot, and have oily skin are very likely to develop tinea corporis and cruris, even on a large scale, and are often mistaken for other diseases such as lupus erythematosus.

3. Affecting the sexual life of couples and suffering from candidiasis: Some people with excessive sweating or sweaty feet often have white spots and maceration between the toes. Many of these foot rot conditions are caused by an infection called Candida. When the patient scratches, the fungus will be brought to the vulva, causing Candida balanitis, with foreskin erythema, small papules, fever, itching and discomfort, and even white film-like substances. If the couple has sex, it is easy to transmit the disease to each other, causing the other party to be infected with the fungus and causing Candida vulvovaginitis. The patient will have itching or heat in the vagina, and the amount of leucorrhea will increase, and it will be cheese-like or bean curd-like. The patient is very distressed and will experience obvious discomfort during sexual intercourse, which greatly affects the couple's life.

4. Causes foot odor, etc.: The causes of foot odor are mainly related to local excessive sweating and bacterial and fungal infections. Many people with athlete's foot sweat excessively on their feet. When wearing non-breathable shoes, sweat softens the outermost layer of the local skin's stratum corneum. The local bacteria and fungi can decompose skin metabolites and produce unpleasant odors, and decompose urea in sweat to produce pungent ammonia. In addition, the lactic acid contained in sweat itself has a smell similar to yogurt. The mixture of several smells becomes an unpleasant odor, especially when the feet are covered in shoes for a long time, the smell of feet becomes stronger.

5. Infect others and become a source of disease: People with athlete's foot are the main source of infection. When the feet touch the ground, the dandruff containing fungi is scattered on the floor of the home and in the slippers. When another person walks over or gets their wet feet stuck to it, the hungry fungi will not miss such a good opportunity to have a full meal and set up camp. There is a layer of adhesive substance on the surface that can easily reach new feet. Cause others or family members to be infected with athlete's foot or other fungal diseases. This is also the root cause of multiple infections in many families.