Dermatophytes are tiny fungi that can cause a slight irritation, a rash, or a full blown infection on the skin. They can stay dormant on the skin surface until the time is right for them to come out into the open. These fungi can cause ringworm in just about any body part, as long as they have keratin to feed on. Keratin is the material found in the surface of the skin, nails, and hair. The fungus’ ideal environment is the patch of skin that is often warm and moist. This makes those who live in humid conditions have an increased chance of acquiring ringworms – especially if the area they live in is crowded.

Sweat, while not a direct cause of ringworm, can contribute to the habitability of the fungus that cause ringworm. This makes it ideal for ringworm to grow on the armpits, the groin area, and the inner thighs. Those who play sports, or are athlete’s are at more risk for acquiring ringworm due to profuse sweating. There’s also a case of athlete’s foot, wherein the feet sweat through sports and favors the growth of the fungi. Athlete’s foot, along with jock itch, the itchy and painful case of skin infection in the inner thighs, is a form of ringworm.

Close contact with other people can give you ringworm. The people that you have come in contact with could have had the fungi on their skin and unwittingly passed it on to you. If the fungi fell on your body part where there is a lot of moisture, then it can promote fungi and ringworm growth. Dogs and cats also have cases of ringworm, and they can pass on the fungus to you. Athlete’s who play full contact sports like wrestling or basketball are more at risk in acquiring ringworm.

The primary ringworm cause is fungi, but you can prevent the ringworm from developing by observing proper hygiene and keeping areas of your body cool. As mentioned above, the fungi can lay dormant until the opportune moment. If you can wash the fungi away, there will be no ringworm for you.

First off, the fungi that causes your ringworm feeds on keratin. Keratin is found in the surface of skin, hair, and nails. This means that the ringworm can potentially grow anywhere on your body. This does not exclude your scalp. If you’ve seen some shampoo commercials, keratin is mentioned; meaning that ringworm can also grow in your scalp. Second helpful fact about ringworm is that it grows on areas of the skin that’s usually warm and moist. From here, you have two options. You can either kill the fungus, or you can remove the moisture. This, actually, is a matter of conventional over alternative medicine.

Kill the fungus: Killing the fungus that causes the ringworm is pretty easy. All you have to do is go to your doctor and follow whatever he has to say. Most of the time, they’ll prescribe you with antifungal creams, which are very effective for ringworm. Ringworm that causes jock itch and athlete’s foot are often the same kind of fungi that causes the ringworm on any other part of the body. As for the ringworm in the scalp, beard, and pubic areas, the doctor may prescribe pills to take in orally. Treatment usually lasts two to three weeks.

Removing the moisture: There are a lot of home remedies a lot of people came up with to dry out the infected area. One suggestion is salty sea water which is claimed to suck out the moisture if applied on the infected patch of skin for more than thirty minutes. Nail polish is also suggested as a moisture killer – applied to the ringworm and peeling it off the next day. Another method involves burning paper and applying the ashes to the infected part to absorb the moisture and make it uninhabitable for the fungus.

The most recommended way to remove the fungus is to use ringworm antifungal creams. While people swear by the effectiveness of the home remedies, they may not react the right way to some people. If you do not have allergies, then by all means try the home remedies. If you’re not sure, try sticking with the creams.

Before we go into that, let’s make sure that what you have is ringworm. Ringworm, despite its name, has nothing to do with a parasitic worm. Most people imagine ringworm to be exactly that – a worm – that sticks out of someone’s skin. Ringworm is caused by different types of fungi that thrive on warm and moist areas of the skin. Its main characteristic is a circular shaped elevated skin thin enough to look like a worm – giving it the moniker ringworm. If you have it in the face, it’ll look like you were given a long, 48-hour kiss by a shot glass. Another characteristic of ringworm is the flaky skin along the “ring” area, and not much inside of it.

If the above description matches what you have in your face, then that’s ringworm. If you’re asking how you got it, well the fungi may have lurked somewhere in your house. You could have washed your face and wiped it off with a towel that you haven’t used for a long time. Maybe you have a pet that unwittingly transmitted the fungi when it was playing with you. There are countless scenarios that could explain how the fungi got to your face besides the falling-face-first-into-the-dirt-and-got-the-fungi scenario.

So how do you cure facial ringworm? The answer has been right in front of you – if you watch a lot of TV, that is. Antifungal creams and ointments are the first choices of people with ringworm because of a simple reason: it works. If they don’t work for you, you can always try a few home remedies, and there are a lot out there. While creams outright try to kill the fungus, the home remedies are geared towards removing the moisture that the fungus needs to survive.

There are a lot of home remedies for you to no longer be called “ringworm face”. There’s the application of the nail polish to the infected area, there’s the dipping the infected area in sea water, there’s burning paper and applying the ashes to the infected area. Don’t jump into those remedies just yet, however. Be sure to visit your doctor before doing so.

While it is merely annoyingly itchy and non-lethal, people are still looking for ringworm cures. Ringworm is not a pleasant sight to see and it is also contagious – it can be passed through physical contact. Ringworm is also known to affect any body part covered with skin, so that means only the grim reaper’s skeletal body is immune. The cures for ringworm are categorized into two, and you probably already know what one is. To give you a better picture, here are the two types of ringworm cures.

Conventional: Conventional medicine consists of creams, ointments, and other pharmaceutical products. You see these antifungal creams and ointments on television all the time. There are ointments that you can use for different types of ringworm. For instance, the fungus that latches on to your inner thighs and gives you the much dreaded jock itch is likely to be the same fungus that gives you athlete’s foot – yes, they are both cases of ringworm. Of course, there are body parts where you can’t really apply these creams. For instance, ringworm on your scalp, on your bearded chin, or on your pubic area render ointments and creams useless; unless the ringworm has claimed so much hair follicles already. For these cases where ringworm takes cover under hair, doctors usually prescribe pills.

Alternative: As with any condition, there are always alternative solutions. There are herbal remedies that are not scientifically approved, but its users swear by it. There are also other unconventional methods that work for some people. For instance, some people remedy jock itch with talcum powder, or cornstarch. There is also another method where the infected skin is placed in sea water for at least thirty minutes since it sucks out the moisture that ringworm thrives on.

There are a lot of ringworm cures available these days. Since ringworm is more of an annoyance, the treatments are not that extreme and you can apply all the treatments you find with minimal consequences. Just be sure to visit your doctor for professional advice before jumping into any treatment.

There are different ringworm treatments for different kinds of ringworms. While the most common ringworm case is one that appears in parts of the body that a lot of people can see, there are ringworms that can infect the scalp, the feet, and any hairy area of your body (you know what I’m talking about). Since there can be different kinds of ringworms in different areas, there are different treatments for each of those areas. To get a clearer picture, here are the different ringworms and their respective treatments.

Ringworm of the foot: If you’ve seen anti-itch and antifungal cream commercials, you’ll see that one of the conditions they cure is athlete’s foot. Unless you’re really daft, then you’d realize that athlete’s foot is caused by a fungal infection. You have a question on your mind right now and the answer is “yes”; athlete’s foot is a form of ringworm in the foot. The treatment for it is, well, the antifungal creams you saw in the commercials.

Ringworm of the scalp: The ringworm of the scalp is easily overlooked due to the fact that it is mistaken for dandruff. This kind of ringworm, called tinea capitis, makes your scalp feel scaly, and your hair fall off. If you take them out as you would with dandruff, you’ll notice the skin has black dots or reddened areas on it. If you try to remove the flaky skin from your scalp and it hurts, then that is already ringworm. Treatment for this include good scalp hygiene, and oral prescriptions.

Ringworm of the underpants: Okay, that name was completely made up, but I’m talking about the jock itch. Jock itch is an annoying, often painful rash that appears in the inner thighs and genital areas. This makes wearing underwear and tight clothes uncomfortable. Treatments are the same antifungal creams used to treat athlete’s foot.

These are just three of the ringworm treatments for specific areas. Bear in mind that the best and first course of action you should take before anything else is go to the doctor.

Since ringworm is not a worm or an insect but a type of fungus, anti-fungus creams work very well to cure the infection. In pets there is also dips and shampoos available for treatment.  In humans the typical treatment consists of cream and sometimes an oral medication if the infection is seen throughout the entire body.  Over the counter creams can sometimes cure most kinds of ringworm.  Ringworm is also known as athlete’s foot when it is found on the feet and jock itch when it is found in the groin.  These conditions require little more then an over the counter medication.  Creams and ointments that are available without a prescription typically contain miconazole or clotrimazole in them.  Brand name anti-fungal creams that contain either one of these drugs are Micatin, Tinactin, Monistat and Lotrimin.  Lamisil which is also a name brand anti-fungal cream contains terbinafine which is a drug that will also treat fungus.  The rash will need to be washed with soap and water and dried thoroughly before the cream is applied.  You should then apply the anti-fungal cream to the rash and spread it beyond the border of the rash.  It is important not to stop the medication simply because your symptoms have decreased or gone away completely.  With most products you need to continue the treatment for two to four weeks.

If your rash has not improved within at least two weeks of treatment it is time to go to your medical provider.  You doctor has a variety of different medications that they are able to prescribe to you in order to help with your ringworm infection.  One such medication is known as allylamines.  It comes in creams, pills or gels.

Ringworm can also be seen under the nails or in the scalp.  A fungal nail infection attacks a finer or toe nails or the skin under the nail.  Fungal nail infections can be hard to treat.  Fungal nail infections can be hard to treat.  You can try an anti-fungal cream, lotion or a nail polish.  There are some available without a prescription.  The most effective form of treatment for a fungal nail infection is an anti-fungal pill which you can get from your doctor.  An anti-fungal pill is the most effective treatment for ringworm of the scalp as well.  The fungus affects the hair and sometimes causes it to fall out leaving round patches of missing hair.  You can use prescription creams as well to treat ringworm of the scalp.

Treating ringworm on a human is easier then treating you pet.  The first thing you will need to do is damage control around your house.  Ringworm is highly contagious and can be spread through contact through blankets and bedding.  Wash the fabrics that the ringworm has come into contact with in hot water and bleach.  From then on, make sure that your ringworm spot is covered by clothes or a band-aid.  Although ringworm is extremely itchy, do not itch it.  It can spread very easily to other parts of your body through scratching.  It has an incubation period of ten days meaning that even if you have contract ringworm in another area, it will take ten days to show any signs or symptoms.

The best thing to do when you suspect that you have ringworm is to go to the doctor to get a diagnosis but, some people so treat there ringworm with an over the counter treatment.  Ringworm is very closely related to athlete’s foot and jock itch because it is a type of fungal infection called “Tinea”.  For most people, athlete’s foot and jock itch are both easily treated with over the counter medications found in any drug store.  But, because the fungus’ are only closely related, you might find that you need a prescription from a doctor.  Creams normally get rid of ringworm in humans fairly easily but for some people who have ringworm that have spread to other parts of their body, a doctor might prescribe an oral medication.

Some people have found a few different home remedies that get rid of ringworm.  Raw papaya is said to be one of the most effective home remedies for ringworm.  The fruit can be sliced and rubbed on the ringworm rashes.  Another home remedy that people have used to rid themselves of ringworm is different pastes made separately from mustard seeds, butea seeds or cassia leaves.  Some people have also sworn that they can get rid of ringworm by rubbing a little bit of straight bleach onto the rash.

While the treatment for ringworm is fairly easy, getting rid of the ringworm for good is up to you.  You need to be diligent about following he doctor’s instructions and the instructions on the medication.  Do not stop using the medication if you start to notice that your rash is gone even though the treatment time is not up.  Although the rash looks like it has disappeared and the itchy symptoms are gone, the ringworm rash drastically subsided before it totally goes away.  If you stop the treatment then, most likely the rash will return.  Plus, it is still contagious and it can still spread but, since you are no longer seeing the spot, you most likely will not be taking strides to cover the ringworm area or limit your contact with other people or your pets.  In which case, the ringworm will spread even more then it did in the beginning.

Ringworm is a fungus that can be passed from infected animal to animal, from person to animal, from animal to person or you can get it from the soil.  Most likely this is how my kitten got ringworm or maybe its mother had it and passed it along.  Either way, I now had it as well.  It normally shows up on animals by appearing as round lesions missing hair.  The lesion might also have scaly skin in the center.  They are most common on the head, ears, and tail of a cat.  With some infections, the fungus will not be a circular shape.  It can spread to the face, lips, nose and chin.  It can sometimes look like and autoimmune disease which is what happened in the case of my malnourished kitten.  The only hair loss my kitten had was a thinning of the hair in front of the ears which is common in a cat that is malnourished.  The down side was that by the time we caught the infection, it had spread to another kitten I had I the house, myself and my dog.

The effectiveness of the ringworm treatment is really up to you and the vet.  With small, isolated lesions, a vet might prescribe an antifungal cream.  There is also an oral medication available to cats that have a more severe case of ringworm.  They might even prescribe a lime sulfur dip.  These dips smell terrible and can temporarily turn the cat’s coat a yellowish, range color.  One of the most effective ways to treat ringworm is with an antifungal shampoo.  The other half of the treatment is up to you.

Once ringworm has entered the life of your cat, drastic steps need to be taken to endure that it will not continue to spread.  One of the ways that ringworm spreads is through bedding, fabric or other types of material like gym mats, etc.  You need to be diligent about washing everything that you cat is sleeping on everyday in hot water and bleach.  In the case of cats, they like to sleep everywhere.  Since it is not realistic for you to wash the fabric of your furniture everyday, cover your furniture that your cat goes on or sleeps n in sheets which can be removed and washed everyday.  If your cat has a bed, wash that everyday in hot water and bleach as well.  Keep the contact that you have with your cat t a minimum.  Make sure you change and wash your bedding every day as well.  Even if the other pets in your household are not showing signs of ringworm, you should treat them as well.  Typically treatment is kept up until two negative lab tests come back in your cat’s favor ensuring that they are ringworm free.

Ringworm in humans can be seen as red circular rashes with healthy skin in the middle.  The edges of the rashes are usually raised.  It can affect any part of the body including the scalp.  Ringworm of the scalp can be seen as a small pimple that becomes larger.  You might also notice that the scalp develops rings of rashes much like the ones seen on other parts of the body.  Scalp ringworm is most easily seen through the patches of temporary baldness.  The hair becomes infected and brittle then breaks off.  Ringworm can also be seen on people’s feet and is known as athlete’s foot.  Athlete’s foot does not show up with the same red ring rashes and it is easy to treat with over the counter medication.  Ringworm is highly contagious and can be spread further throughout the body by scratching and contact with infested bedding or clothing.

The ways a person can get ringworm is direct contact with an infected person or animal.  You can also get it from an object that an infected person or animal has come into contact with or even through the soil.  It has an incubation period of 10 days meaning symptoms will develop 10 days after exposure.  Your medical care provider will diagnose the fungus and can prescribe medication or antifungal cream.  The cream is the most effective course of treatment.  Apply the cream to the infected area twice a day depending on the cream.  Cover the spot(s) with a band-aid or clothing.  Make sure that you continue treatment for the entire length of time that you doctor suggests even if the rash has disappeared.  You should also wash all of your bedding or any house hold fabric that has come into contact with the rash with bleach and hot water.  Repeat the treatment if the uncovered rash comes into contact with you house hold items again.  Avoid your rash coming into contact with any other pets or people.

The most effective way that ringworm is spread to other parts of your body is through itching.  If you scratch your rash you can then touch or scratch another part of your body spreading the fungus.  The ringworm rash is not painful but it is arguably one of the itchiest things you can get on your body.  The itchiness will subside through treatment but you have to be strong until then.  Even with treatment the itchiness will be at its highest between the third and fifth day that the rash is visible.  After that the symptom will begin to subside.

When you are dealing with ringworm you need to be diligent.  Stay on top of continuing with the cream for the full prescribed length of time and change the band-aid daily.  Ringworm will linger if it is not treated correctly.

Typically ringworm can be seen in dogs through patches of missing hair.  The fungus lives in hair follicles which causes the hair to break off.  The dog’s skin that can be seen through the missing hair typically looks like a circle with raised edges.  There might be a pale spot in the middle.  It commonly causes your dog to become itchy and uncomfortable.  The dog’s skin may also become crusty, scaly, or red.  Dogs can easily spread their infection to other parts of their body by itching.  In humans ringworm can be seen as red circular rashes with healthy skin in the middle of the rash.  Itching can spread ringworm in humans as well.  It can also be spread through blankets and bedding in both humans and dogs.

If you suspect your dog has ringworm take it to a vet.  Your vet can diagnose the fungus’ presence by looking at the skin under a special ultraviolet light or by taking a scraping of the skin and testing it.  The test usually takes between one and two weeks to come back with a diagnosis.  Your vet will then suggest a treatment.  There are several different treatments available to rid your dog of ringworm.  All are easy to do and just take persistence.  The gestation period between exposure and occurrence with ringworm is ten days.  It is possible to not completely rid your dog or home or ringworm in which re-infestation can occur.  You will need to stay on top of it and put in the work so it can be eliminated quickly.  The first step is to start treating your dog.  Your vet might prescribe medication, cream or shampoo.  Medication will most likely be prescribed to your dog ad should be given n a daily basis.  Although there are creams that can be given to dogs, n average they do not work simply because it is easy for your dog to rub or lick the cream off.  The most effective form of treatment is through an antifungal shampoo.  Shampoo will remove the fungus spores from the hair and treatment is applied all over the dog’s body at once helping to eliminate fungus spores that have not yet show symptoms.  Most likely more then one bath treatment is needed to rid your dog completely.

Along with the treatment f the dog itself, it is important to treat your house for ringworm.  Wash your dog’s bedding everyday with bleach and hot water.  Avoid direct contact with your dog to avoid becoming infected yourself.  If you have other dogs or cats living in your home make sure that you treat them as well.  Using the ringworm shampoo on them even if they do not have ringworm will not harm them.  The worst thing you can do with ringworm is to not treat it completely.  So, when your dog is diagnosed with it, make sure to do everything you need to do everyday and when symptoms subside in your dog, take it back to the vet and have them retest your dog’s hair to ensure that the fungus is really gone.