Jock itch is a generic term used to define a particular type of skin ailment. This may or may not be contagious. The contagion factor totally depends upon the type of jock itch you are suffering from. Sometimes, this is just a scratchy itch caused by a variety of factors such as moisture, humidity, obesity and some or the other conditions. This could lead to irritation of the skin in the groin area. At other times, jock itch can also be an infection. Now whether or not this can spread through sexual contact or something equally close would depend upon whether the infection is bacterial or fungal. Both of these infections would have different ways and rates of spreading. While it is possible that bodily contact can spread the infection about pretty generously, sometimes, in the case of an aggravated fungal infection, it can also spread through other means. Wearing an affected person’s clothes or using their towel could result in the infection spreading from one person to the other. It is extremely important to be very careful with these things, particularly if you do not know the person well. This is because only knowing a person well would be helpful in determining whether the person has had this infection for a long time, or has it recurrently. A stray casual sexual encounter will only increase the chances of an infection.
To answer the second part of your question, it is entirely possible to contract jock itch through sexual intercourse. However, most cases of jock itch are fairly simple and they usually go away by themselves without any added effort on the patient’s behalf. For cases that are prolonged, it would be wise to check and see if there are any other causes which are leading to the problem being prevalent in the long term. For instance, those with problems such as eczema may find that they are more prone to jock itch than those who do not have this type of a disorder. People who have low immunity, such as those who are HIV positive, may also find that they can get stuck with problems such as jock itch for a longer period of time. It may very well come and go, but it will always be around. For those afflicted with jock itch, it is always a good idea to wear cotton clothing. Cotton will allow for the air to circulate and there will be no humid collections in the area to aggravate the problem.