The results, published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, show 73.6 percent of total reported skin infections emerged among high school wrestlers, with 17.9 percent belonging to football players. Body parts most affected were the head and face, at 25.3 percent, followed by the forearm at 12.7 percent.
"Given the nature of the sport, it's not surprising that wrestlers suffer the most skin infections," lead author Dr. Robert Dellavalle from the University of Colorado said. "Most infections were bacterial and fungal."
Most athletes were able to return to competition within three to six days but some of the infections were more serious. Some 60.6 percent of skin infections were bacterial followed by tinea (ringworm) at 28.4 percent. The study showed herpetic lesions like cold sores and fever blisters represented 5.2 percent of infections while 3.2 percent were miscellaneous infections.
How can wrestlers and coaches reduce the possibility for skin infections?
"A number of best practices are available to prevent sports-related skin infections," said study co-first author Kyle Burton, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Central Florida, who also did the research during a dermatology research rotation at CU Anschutz. "For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that athletes take showers directly after each competition."
Burton added if showering immediately isn't possible, studies have shown that soap-and-water skin wipes reduce rates of skin infection among athletes.
Dellavalle, who said most high schools wipe down wrestling mats after practice, suggested "the problem may be not keeping headgear properly cleaned before each match."
To help reduce the opportunity for skin infections to spread in actual competition, a recommendation from the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations calls for referees to perform skin checks before each wrestling match.
The survey was based on researchers examining data from a national sample of athletes involved in 22 sports in U.S. high schools over a five-year period. During that time, 474 skin infections were reported among 20,858,781 "athlete exposures" -- an athlete exposure being one practice session or one competition. The overall rate was 2.27 infections per 100,000 athlete exposures.
The rate of skin infections in wrestling was 28.56 per 100,000 AE while football rates were 2.32 per 100,000. Other sports had rates of skin infections less than 1.00 per 100,000 AE with eight reporting none at all.
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