Hey guys in this week's video we are looking at jock itch. Jock itch is a very itchy condition
and it's far more common than you might actually think so in this week's video
we're going to learn all about jock itch, why it happens? what the symptoms of jock itch are?
what to do for jock itch treatments? and lifestyle advice and loads more information most importantly
when to seek medical attention for it i know this is going to be a relatively long video so
as always i'm going to chapter it and time stamp it in the description below if you want to find
any specific information feel free to click on the description find the relevant information
you want and click on it and watch it however i would always recommend that you watch the
entire video that way you're going to become a bit of a pro at it let's begin so let's begin
with the basics what is jock itch if you've never suffered from it it can be very very itchy and it
usually affects your groin area it's a fungal skin infection that affects your groin area your upper
thighs your lower abdominal area and even your bum area now the thing about fungal infections is they
love certain environments one they love dark environments and you think about it the groin
area is very very dark we're always hiding away with our boxer shorts with our trousers they also
love warm environments again all those layers that we put in there and they also like sweaty
environments as well this all helps with their growth and if you think about it it is the perfect
condition down there for it and if you have fungal infections on other parts of your body for example
if you have athlete's foot by the way if you do have athlete spot i do have a video all about that
and how to treat it if you haven't seen it i will leave a link to it up here and in the description
below but if you have other fungal infections as well it can sometimes transfer from there to the
groin area to cause jock itch as well so the next question is what are the common symptoms well the
name suggests jock itch okay itch it's very very itchy in that area so the regions that we said the
groin region all that region the regions close to it can be very very itchy the skin can sometimes
be red it can sometimes have a bit of an edge to it where the redness goes to and then followed by
a bit of a raised edge that can sometimes happen as well on the skin usually the worst sections are
the bit where skin folds are so if you don't know what skin fold is for example if you think of my
my hand here that's what you call a skin fold so the skin is folding between each other so that
area inside it is where the skin fold is i hope you can see that okay so that area inside it's
going to be the warmest it's going to be the moist it's going to be the sweatiest so the fungus loves
it and it always grows in there and makes the jock itch worse so the next question is well how do you
actually treat jock itch because i'm sure that's one of the reasons why you're watching this video
now before we move on to medications and creams and all that sort of stuff i'm first going to
discuss the lifestyle things that you can do to help because most likely you're not gonna have
those medicines and creams available right now you're gonna have to go to a chemist and buy them
so there are a few things that you can do firstly at home without buying anything so first of all
jock itch remember it tends to affect people who are more athletic first but it can affect everyone
as well the only reason i'm saying this is because people are athletic and do lots of exercise
tend to wear you know tight fitting clothing and it tends to sweat a lot more because
they're doing loads of exercise and wearing damp clothing so can make jock itch worse so
that's the first thing you need to remember damp clothing is a massive no so jock itch
can also affect teenage boys a lot as well again because of the creases because of the folds that
we're talking and they tend to sweat a lot more especially when they're going through puberty
another sort of people that it can affect as well jock itch quite a lot is people who are overweight
remember those skin creases that we're talking about if you're overweight you're gonna have a
lot more skin creases and it's going to put you at a much higher risk so what else can increase your
risk of jock itch well number one wearing tight clothes okay that's going to irritate your skin
the second thing we want to talk about is sweating a lot in that area in the groin area this can also
increase your risk moving on to the third thing the third thing that can increase your risk of
jock itch is leaving on wet clothes for a long time whether it's from exercising or from swimming
if you're swimming and leaving your swimming trunks on for a long time this can increase
your risk number four is using a damp towel or using towels that someone else has used definitely
do not do this all that is it spreads bacteria fungus and everything from someone else onto you
so always use your own towel and don't use damp towels that have been in your gym bag for a week
do not reuse them they're just going to increase your risk of it and the fifth thing that can
increase your risk of jock itch is being in close contact with someone that has it as well
now that we've looked at what increases your risk let's discuss what you can do to reduce your risk
and chances of having jock itch and reduce your symptoms as well so tip number one you need to
resist the urge to itch itching is only going to make things worse it's only going to make that
skin more and more inflamed and aggravated and the fungus is going to love it because
a fungal infection can spread as well because when your skin is damaged from all the itching
it loses its ability to protect itself as well so that means the fungus is going to spread and keep
on spreading and getting worse so resist the itch tip number two avoid being in wet clothes for a
long time look as soon as you finish your workout get rid of them clothes go for a quick shower get
rid of them clothes and dry the area as soon as you finish swimming get rid of those wet shorts
have a quick shower dry the area the other thing you need to do is make sure you're drying your
feet last if you're going to dry your feet first and then you're going to rub it all over your body
as well you're just going to spread that fungus if you have athlete's foot by the way if you
have after this foot and you're drying your feet first and then you're spreading it everywhere else
you're just going to spread that fungus so make sure that you always dry the the groin area first
then dry the other regions and leave the feet to last moving on to tip number three make sure that
your clothes are not super duper tight all this is going to do is make it warm there and remember
the fungus loves it they love that heat and it's just gonna make things worse also avoid wearing
synthetic clothes especially your boxers make sure that they're natural sort of cotton okay
if you're gonna wear synthetic boxes it's just gonna get warmer there and sweatier okay also
with regards to your boxer shorts try and wear a box of shorts rather than the briefs because
they're going to be tight and they're going to be a lot sweatier moving on to tip number four
make sure to always wear clean clothes don't wear the clothes that have been in your gym bag for the
past week except for example just like we said about the towel as well don't reuse them towels
that have been in there for the last week that potentially dried but still have a bit of dampness
don't do that it's just gonna spread things it's just gonna make things worse make sure you always
have a fresh clean set of clothes to wear after you've gone for a shower make sure you've always
got a fresh clean pair of boxes to wear as well and and clean socks that haven't been worn yet
okay that's the most important thing moving on to tip number five do not share personal things
don't share your towels don't share your your flip-flops don't share your shorts don't show
your clothes these are all personal things they're yours don't share them with other
people and moving on to tip number six if you do have athlete's foot please try and control
it and treat it okay like i mentioned earlier i do have a video on this topic as well which
again i'll leave up here and in the description below but by treating it athlete's foot as well
it's also going to reduce your chances of getting drock hm for it to get spread elsewhere as well
now it's also important to be aware of some risk factors that could increase your chances
of getting drop kicked if you have any of these sort of risk factors you should always speak to
your healthcare professional about the john kitch for example if you're diabetic it puts you at a
higher risk if you're on immunosuppressant so if you run any drugs or if you're immunosuppressed at
all you need to speak to a healthcare professional about it it's important that you don't just leave
it or try and treat yourself because obviously these conditions can make things worse so now that
we've learned all about the lifestyle factors and things that you can do to help treat and prevent
jock itch the next thing we're talking about is those treatments those medical treatments those
creams that you can apply and what you can do so let's begin now there are a range of different
anti-fungal creams and sprays and powders that you can use for that region however the most
important thing that i can tell you is to please speak to your pharmacist first before purchasing
any of these just so they can make sure that you're safe and suitable to use it also always
read the information leaflet that comes with it some anti-fungals for example include mechanism
dramazole these are all very common ones that all chemists sell remember they all end in azole the
antifungals generally that family of antifungal all ending azole so that's a clear indicator
that you're using an antifungal but speak to your chemist about how to use it how to apply it best
and for how long to use it as well and in some situations you may have inflammation of the skin
in that region as well because it might be red and angry and inflamed and if that's the case when you
speak to your chemist as well they might recommend the steroid cream some of these are mixed actually
you can get like a steroid cream mixed with an anti-fungal in the same cream so you're not having
to apply multiple creams in that region but again speak to your chemist make sure you're safe and
suitable to use it and always read the information leaflet that comes with it okay so we now know
a little about the treatments we know about the lifestyle we know about the symptoms of jock itch
but when should you seek medical advice well jock itch isn't really something you'd be too concerned
about obviously if you're immunosuppressed if you're diabetic those are the people who should
really speak to the healthcare professional first before trying anything however remember as well
if you've tried to treat your jock itch with the stuff that we've discussed in this video
you spoke to your pharmacist as well you've tried the creams and after two weeks you haven't seen
any improvement please please please speak to your healthcare professional that is the most
important thing don't just leave it look jock itch is one of those things if you leave it it can get
worse and then eventually it can cause damage to the skin and then it can spread to further places
and then it can potentially become bacterial so there's many different things that can happen
if it's just left untreated so it looks like we've come to the end of this week's video you now know
all about that itchy jock itch topic we now know about symptoms we now know about why it happens
we know about lifestyle things you can do to help with it and how to prevent it and also we know
about treatment so you are a bit of a jock hitch pro now i really hope you found this information
helpful i really hope that it helps you and if it doesn't remember seek medical advice like we've
discussed in the video thanks for watching this week's video always remember that you're awesome
and i will see you next week hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure to
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