DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My son is a high-school wrestler. He came home with a red spot on the top of his left shoulder. He said it stung a little, so I smeared cortisone cream on it. It’s not getting better. It looks like it’s enlarging. What could this be, and what should I do for it? – R.W.

ANSWER: I am not positive what your son has, but I am positive you must stop putting cortisone cream on it. If it’s an infection, which is what I think it is, the cream is going to make matters worse. Three common skin infections for wrestlers are herpes, ringworm and staph.

Herpes – nongenital herpes – spreads from infected wrestler to noninfected through skin-to-skin contact. It starts out as a patch of red skin with tiny blisters on it. The blisters often break, and an open sore is formed. At its onset, people often say the patch of skin tingles, burns, stings or itches. This is an infection that needs immediate attention because it can become a lifelong problem; because it can be transferred to other body sites like the eyes; and because it can be easily passed to teammates during practices and to opponents during meets.

Skin ringworm – tinea – is another possibility. It begins as a round, light-red, circular patch of skin with raised edges. It might have scales on it, and it might itch. It takes the practiced eye of a doctor to recognize it, and it takes a microscopic examination of skin scrapings to prove it.

A staph skin infection is also on the list of wrestlers’ skin infections. Nowadays, it can be a strain of staph that is resistant to the antibiotics that were once used to control this germ. It’s easily passed from one person to the next during wrestling. It can also start out as a patch of red skin, but it almost always becomes a typical boil. There is a recent report of a professional football team that came down with an epidemic of such a staph infection. Antibiotics are needed to get rid of it, and the choice of antibiotic depends on lab testing of the germ to determine to which one it is susceptible.

Wrestlers must practice scrupulous hygiene if they are to avoid skin infections.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please settle an argument I am having with my brother, who is a year younger than I am. We have turned our garage into a gym, and we lift weights every day. We can’t agree about how long you should wait to repeat an exercise. Will you help us out? Thanks. – M.O.

ANSWER: A repetition is one lift of a weight. A set is a series of continuous repetitions, often eight to 12.

If a person is lifting very heavy weights, then the suggested rest time between sets is three minutes. That amount of rest allows muscles time to recuperate and restore their energy supplies. One minute is insufficient rest time.

Others give slightly different advice. They say, for strength training, to rest one to two minutes between sets. If you are training for muscle growth, take the same rest break. However, as you increase the pounds lifted and decrease the amount of times you lift the weight, then increase the rest period. If you are training for muscle endurance, use light weights and perform many repetitions. In this situation, take a rest of two to three minutes between sets.

It seems to me that every expert and trainer has a different answer to your question. You won’t go wrong by taking a one-to-three-minute rest between sets. Find out for yourself what works best for you. That’s as good as any advice you’ll get from a pro.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I like to jump rope for exercise. How does it stack up with other exercises, like running? – K.K.

ANSWER: Rope-jumping is excellent and exhausting exercise. Jumping at a pace of 70 jumps a minute burns 11 calories for every minute of exercise. That puts it on a par with running a mile in nine minutes.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My daughter has Graves’ disease. Her eyes are all swollen, and she has double vision. Her eyes stay wide-open and protrude. She thinks she will go blind. How long does it take for the eyes to look normal and vision to get better? – P.P.

ANSWER: Graves’ disease is a thyroid gland that has shifted into overdrive. People with this illness make an antibody that prods the thyroid gland to pour out thyroid hormone. That hormone speeds up all body processes. People become hyperactive and irritable. Their hearts race even when they are seated. They feel warm in cool places. They often develop a tremor. In spite of consuming large amounts of food, they lose weight.

About 40 percent of Graves’ patients experience eye involvement. The lids retract, so the person looks like he or she is constantly staring. Eyes protrude because the eye sockets fill with gummy material, and antibodies inflame the normal tissues and eye muscles in the socket. Double vision often results. The protruding eyes with retracted lids can dry out.

Eyedrops and taping the lids closed at night keep eyes moist. Water pills can sometimes bring down swelling in the eye sockets. Treatment for the overactive gland is naturally important, but the course of eye involvement does not follow the course of gland involvement. Eye problems worsen in the initial three to six months of the disease, and then they hit a plateau that can last for a year or more.

They usually begin to improve after that.

Your daughter faces a potentially long convalescent period, but she is unlikely to lose her sight. Only when swollen tissues press on the optic nerve is vision threatened. If that occurs, doctors prescribe cortisone drugs that reduce the swelling. Sometimes surgically cleaning out the eye socket of infiltrated material is done. Often, the decision about surgery is delayed until an assessment is made as to the likely severity of eye socket swelling and whether it is probable that nature will resolve the problem on its own.

The thyroid booklet discusses the many thyroid problems, both over- and underactive glands. Readers can order a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue – No. 401, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.50 U.S./$6.50 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.