Tinea or ringworm is any of a variety of skin mycoses. Tinea is a very common fungal infection of the skin. Tinea is often called "ringworm" because the rash is circular, with a ring-like appearance. It is sometimes equated with dermatophytosis, and, while most conditions identified as "tinea" are members of the imperfect fungi that make up the dermatophytes, conditions such as tinea nigra and tinea versicolor are not caused by dermatophytes. Tinea pedis (foot) Athlete's foot (also known as "ringworm of the foot", tinea pedum, and "moccasin foot") is a common and contagious skin disease that causes itching, scaling, flaking, and sometimes blistering of the affected areas. Its medical name is tinea pedis, a member of the group of diseases or conditions known as tinea, most of which are dermatophytoses (fungal infections of the skin), which in turn are mycoses (broad category of fungal infections). Globally, athlete's foot affects about 15% of the population. Tinea pedis is caused by fungi such as Epidermophyton floccosum or fungi of the genus Trichophyton including T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes. These fungi are typically transmitted in moist communal areas where people go barefoot, such as around swimming pools or in showers, and require a warm moist environment like the inside of a shoe to incubate. Fungal infection of the foot may be acquired (or reacquired) in many ways, such as by walking in an infected locker room, by using an infested bathtub, by sharing a towel used by someone with the disease, by touching the feet with infected fingers (such as after scratching another infected area of the body), or by wearing fungi-contaminated socks or shoes. Infection can often be prevented by keeping the feet dry by limiting the use of footwear that enclose the feet, or by remaining barefoot. The fungi may infect or spread to other areas of the body (such as by scratching one's feet and then touching one's groin). For each location on the body, the name of the condition changes. A fungal infection of the groin is called Tinea cruris, or commonly "jock itch". The fungi tend to spread to areas of skin that are kept warm and moist, such as with insulation (clothes), body heat, and sweat. However, the spread of the infection is not limited to skin. Toe nails become infected with fungi in the same way as the rest of the foot, typically by being