beard ringworm
What is a beard ringworm infection?
What is a fungal infection of the beard and face?
What is meant by beard baldness or Alopecia Barbae?
Is beard ringworm infection and fungal infection of the beard contagious?
What is the diagnosis of beard and face ringworm?
What are the side effects of not treating beard ringworm?
In some fungal diseases of the skin, parts of the body such as the mustache and beard are involved, which is called a beard ringworm infection.
You will read more about this disease below:
What is a beard ringworm or beard baldness?
Doctors use the term bald beard to describe fungal infections of the hair and skin on the lower part of the face. These skin fungi usually affect the lower part of the face, beard and mustache and it may have spread to the affected person's neck.
Fungal infections of the facial skin are sometimes called facial alopecia or beard alopecia or barber itch. In fact, these medical terms have something in common.
Beard baldness is caused by a fungal infection that occurs in the bearded area in men, especially adult men.
Beard baldness is considered a rare fungal skin disease that can occur around the world and today, with the spread of hygienic methods, its prevalence has decreased.
What is the differential diagnosis of beard baldness or beard ringworm infection?
Ringworm disease has an important differential diagnosis and that is infection of hair follicles. Infection of the hair follicles is called folliculitis and is secondary to fungal infections of the beard, so these two infectious conditions are two separate and different conditions that can sometimes be seen together.
What are the causes of beard baldness?
beard baldness is also called barber itch. It occurs most often when the hairdresser does the shaving and the hairdresser uses a shared razor to shave, and followed by that, itchy bumps appear on the skin.
Why does beard baldness occur?
Beard baldness, also known as beard ringworm, does not contain parasites or worms.
In fact, this beard ringworm is a term that has been applied to this disease due to the clinical manifestations of skin lesions in this disease, but there is no parasite or worm in this disease, in fact this disease is a rare fungal infection that affects the skin and hair of the lower part of the face, especially in older men and adults.
In fact, this disease is actually a fungal infection.
Infections and fungi that cause infections of the skin and appendages of the skin, including the hair, are called dermatophytes. So beard ringworm and beard baldness are actually a dermatophytosis or dermatophyte disease, and in general it is a rare disease that causes fungal infections in adult men.
Dermatophytes have special enzymes that are able to digest creatine. Creatine is a protein that forms the outer layer of the skin and our nails are also compounds of creatine. so, dermatophyte infection, does not spread under the surface layer of the skin and does not deepen. However, if the body reacts to the presence of the fungus, the results of the reaction are different, and even a secondary bacterial infection mounted on the fungal infection, such as facial hair follicles, can be seen.
There are various fungal agents that affect the skin and appendages of the skin. In other words, there are several dermatophytes that can cause beard ringworm and baldness. Some of them are only humane, that is, they are only interested in human skin and appendages, and others are specific to animals, and some are common to humans and other animals.
There are many different types of dermatophytes and fungi that cause baldness. Here are some of them:
- Trichophyton Schoenleinii
- Trichophyton mentagrophytes
- Trichophyton verrucosum
- Trichophyton rubrum
- Trichophyton Megnini
- And...
There are other types of fungi that cause beard baldness. These types can be varied based on close contact with animals, climatic factors, lifestyle and geographical location.
What are the symptoms of beard ringworm infection?
Sometimes a person with this fungal infection has mild symptoms or some mild cases of beard baldness may not have any clinical manifestations at all, and sometimes the person may have no specific grains or he does not have a definite skin lesion and only feels itching in the area of his beard and mustache.
Although the so-called beard baldness is used to describe the disease, the only area involved may be the moustache area, and only the mustache area may be invaded by the fungus.
Ring lesions are more common on the chin and neck of the affected person and from there it spreads and develops. Fungal and dermatophyte infections are sometimes referred to as beard ringworm due to the special appearance they create.
These lesions are often annular in shape, with a flat center and more prominent and active margins, but however, these wounds will not always be the same. Beard baldness can be divided into two general categories in terms of their appearance.
Itching, redness, cracking of the skin along with annular lesions, red spots, bald areas and no hair growth on the beard, cheeks, chin and upper neck, and lesions on the scalp.
What are the types of skin lesions and skin wounds in beard baldness?
Lesions that appear after baldness of the beard are divided into two categories according to their appearance characteristics: inflamed and non-inflamed, which we will describe the characteristics of the two categories separately.
Inflamed sores have the following characteristics: These sores are usually red, the skin becomes swollen and small bumps form on the surface of the skin from which substances are secreted and sometimes a person may also feel pain.
In cases where there are non-inflamed wounds, the following characteristics are seen in skin wounds in non-inflamed beards, inflammation and redness is less, Usually, the bumps are not seen, irritation of the infected areas and itching of the skin, which may vary greatly from person to person, are very common, it is also possible to form Kerion in hairy areas when the fungus becomes infected.
What is the meaning of Kerion?
Kerion occurs in fungi and diseases of the ringworm of beard and face. Kerion refers to inflamed and purulent abscesses that have a yellow discharge that clots on them.
Kerion is very common in beard baldness and baldness of the head, and as expected from the appearance of these lesions, they are painful.
treatment
Dermatophytes can cause baldness, scalp fungus and baldness in a similar way. The treatment is said to be almost identical in both cases.
For treatment, the desired area is shaved. Topical antifungal agents can be used on them if prescribed by a doctor. Topical antifungal agents are used for dermatophyte infections but cannot completely eliminate the fungal infection itself.
For severe fungal infections, oral antifungal agents are required, and the antifungal drugs used in these cases include:
- Griseofulvin
- Itraconazole
- Terbinafine
- Fluconazole
The above medications will be given to you orally by your doctor for 4 to 6 weeks when you have beard ringworm or a fungal infection of the beard and baldness of the beard, until the disease is completely gone to prevent the disease from coming back. Preventive measures should be taken to prevent the disease from coming back and recurring. Sometimes antibacterial treatments with antibiotics should be given before starting treatment for the fungal disease because, as I said, it may be based on a fungal and bacterial infection.
It is important to perform antibacterial treatments and antibiotics before the remaining hair is shaved.
Shaving hair at the site of Kerion disease is very difficult and can cause damage to the skin, and even make the scar last for a long time.
How to prevent beard baldness or beard ringworm fungal infections?
Due to the health advances that have been made today, this disease is not very common today, but in parts of the world that are poor in terms of health, it is considered a common disease. Here are some preventive measures.
- The first step that is very important is to always use a clean and personal razor to shave your face, beard and mustache. Your razor should never be shared. Make sure that if you go to the hairdresser to have your face shaved, the hairdresser has used a new razor when shaving your face.
- The second step is to be careful not to share your personal items such as towels with another person who has beard baldness and ringworm. This disease can be easily transmitted from an infected person to a healthy person, especially after shaving, when small razor cuts on the skin have opened the way for fungus to enter.
- The third step you should follow is to clean your facial hair with a clean razor and always remember to use a clean razor. Cleaning the face with any other method can increase the risk of beard baldness and fungal infection of the beard ringworm disease.
- If you come in contact with animals, you should wash your hands thoroughly, especially those that are prone to disease and live in the wild.
- Use an antibacterial agent to disinfect the area of your face after shaving. It is also better to use a suitable moisturizer to take care of your skin after shaving for better health.
What are the home remedies for beard ringworm?
Some people prefer to shave their beard completely. They use some home remedies and natural ingredients. We must emphasize that the effectiveness of these home remedies has not been scientifically proven. There are some who believe that zinc supplements or B vitamins and Also, herbal hair growth enhancers, if used, are suitable for regrowth of lost hair, Topics that have been applied topically to the beard and have not been approved by doctors include chilled green tea onion juice, aloe vera gel, castor oil, almond oil, coconut oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil and fish oil.
When to see a doctor?
Whenever you feel that baldness is visually annoying, you should see a doctor, if you have symptoms such as itching, burning red rashes you should also see a doctor.
Is baldness or beard dermatophytosis or beard ringworm disease dangerous?
In answer to this question, we must say that beard dermatophytosis or beard ringworm disease, unlike hair ringworm, has less side effects, in other words, this disease does not leave a scar if it is treated in time.