Ringworm???

[Gentlemommy]

Ugh. I think dd has it. Has anyone dealt with it? Can you answer some questions for me?

What treatment did you use?

How effective was it?

How long did you continue treatment?

When you started treatment, what did it look like at the site? Did it get irritated or red? Hurt?

Did it spread? From person to person or on different parts of the body?

Do you have pets? Did you treat them?

What measures did you take to prevent it from spreading?

 

We have two small dogs, though I don't see anything on them. We also go once a week to the barn-horses, cats, and dogs there. I'm washing dd's bedding on hot, no bleach because it'll ruin it. Bleaching the dog beds. Treating it with Tinactin and oil of oregano. Keeping it covered. Since I've started treating it, the area looks irritated, red, and has a couple tiny pimple looking spots. She says it hurts when she presses on it, but is otherwise fine. I'm concerned about it spreading, so I want to be sure I'm doing what I can to prevent it. Anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance. This is all new to me.

[LaxMom]

Ringworm looks like a red ring with a non-colored (maybe scaly) center. I use clotrimazole (lotrimin) cream on it and keep it covered. Exceeeeept.... If it's on the scalp you need pills. For 6 weeks. Do not even get me started.

 

Oh, and my kids got it from barn cats that do not belong to us. :glare:

[Pawz4me]

I've had it twice.  The first time from a recently adopted cat and the second time from an outbreak amongst the cats in the animal shelter where I was volunteering.  Neither episode was a big deal at all.  I treated the lesions with OTC Lotrimin and they went away in a week or two.  I continued using it for several days after the lesions went away.  My lesions weren't irritated or red, just little round lesions that itched.  Mine stayed localized (the first time was a lesion on my cheek, the second time was on my thigh) and it never spread to anyone else or to any of our pets.  Even with the newly adopted cat in the house who had it, none of the other pets got it.  I didn't treat any of the other pets, although I did keep the infected cat isolated as much as possible for a week or two.  I never did anything to disinfect the house for either incident.  It seemed like a losing battle to even try, so I didn't worry about it.  Thankfully I didn't need to.

 

My understanding is that dogs don't get ringworm as easily as cats do.  I wouldn't stress about it.

[Loowit]

My DS was just diagnosed last Friday with ringworm.  He got a red very itchy rash on a very sensitive body part and I had no idea what it was.  The doctor knew right away and said she had been seeing a lot of cases.  Then I realized that the small red bumps on his legs were the same thing just starting out.  His looked a bit like a small red spot with a blister like thing in the middle.  The doctor said it starts out with a red raised spot and then will start to spread and there will be a red ring around it.  She prescribed an anti-fungal for him and it took a few days for it to really show improvement.  The doctor said to take it one week beyond when the rash is gone to make sure it is all the way cleared, and that if we stop too soon it would likely come back.

[laughing lioness]

Black Walnut tincture. 

[Laura Corin]

Anti-fungal cream.  Took about a month to go away.  Didn't spread to anyone else.  Hasn't recurred. Didn't treat any pets.

 

L

[Susan in TN]

Dd7 was diagnosed with it late last summer (walk-in clinic).  We had been trying to treat it with neem oil and oregano oil.  She went through the standard treatment (clotrimazole) with little effect.  Saw PCP who looked at it and tried another medicine which also had little effect.  Finally went to the dermatologist who ran several tests but said right off that she believed it was a form of eczema.  The eczema cream finally helped (topical steroid) but by that time dd had also developed MRSA and another something or other and had to be put on oral antibiotics and another kind of cream.

 

All that to say - if the "standard treatment" doesn't provide improvement within a week or two, consider going to a dermatologist pronto. 

[Donna]

My wrestlers have had ringworm a number of times. We use Lotrimin to start but both have needed prescription cremes (don't remember the name) when the Lotrimin didn't work but this was rare. My ds16 ended up with cellulitis from what started as ringworm and it was very serious. Started with ringworm (while being treated) looking pimply and like it was spreading then overnight his entire thigh turned swollen, scaly, red, and warm to touch. Nasty!  I do not mess around with ringworm at all especially not with him. 

 

It is contagious until it scabs and dried out. I treat until it is gone. On rare occasions it has spread but usually we do skin checks regularly during wrestling season and treat right away. I am sure it spreads from wrestler to wrestler but the non-wrestlers and pets have never gotten it. Good hygiene keeps it from spreading….hot water washing with soap and we keep it covered at night when sleeping to keep it off sheets but let it air out otherwise.

[Snickerdoodle]

Nummular eczema looks similar to ringworm so if your treatments don't work, consider this.