Ringworm Treatment - Fascinating (and Effective?) Home Remedies

Ringworm treatment home remedies, will you use these? If you are one of the estimated twenty percent of our population who is infected with ringworm, chances are you have, at some point, considered using home remedies to treat ringworm.

In my search to find the most effective ringworm treatment that's available out there, I recently posted a question in Yahoo Answers about home remedies "that actually work," to find out from real people, like you and me, what cure they would actually recommend. The question drew quite a few answers and these only prompted me to dig deeper into this topic.

After some more research in the internet and asking friends for their ringworm treatment "family secret recipe," I got a better insight into what folks would consider as fast and effective remedies. Prepare to be fascinated and surprised. All of the ingredients mentioned are ordinary household items some of us would never remotely equate with anti fungal medication.

Oh, yes, before I show you the list, a quick reminder. Ringworm, despite it's name, is not caused by worms. It is an infection caused by mold-like fungi known as dermatophytes. It is contagious and can be spread through direct skin contact with an infected person, an infected pet, or an infected object or surface. So, if you have an itsy-bitsy spot of ringworm, refrain from scratching it. The fungi will cling to your hands and you're liable to spread the infection to other parts of your body or worse, to other family members. And about contaminated objects - never share personal items with anyone. Clothes, caps, shoes, brushes, anything can be a carrier of infection. A friend of mine who has a three year old cute little daughter named Tracy, once brought home a bunch of second-hand toys from some garage sale. She thought she made a juicy bargain - the toys were still intact and the battery-operated talking doll actually still talked. To her chagrin, little Tracy had a rash outbreak the very next day, which her pediatrician later diagnosed to be ringworm. Lesson is you can't see fungi (well except under black light or Wood's lamp - they glow), so be careful in handling unfamiliar objects.

But enough of this. On to the list. If you want to read more thoroughly about ringworm and ringworm treatment, just got to my site. Please click the link at the bottom of this page.

First home-spun ringworm treatment - use of ordinary kitchen vinegar and a penny. Soak the penny in the vinegar and rub on the affected area. Some even recommend taping the penny to the ringworm spot. Others use vinegar without the penny. The reasoning of those who use the penny-vinegar combo is that the vinegar reacting with the copper actually serves as an effective fungi-killer.

The next home remedy, and this was suggested by a girl named "loveme..." in Yahoo Answers, was to use diluted bleach. Using q tips, you apply the bleach solution to the affected area until it dries out. Some suggested the ratio of one part bleach to six part water as the ideal concoction err...solution. Other people rashly recommend pure bleach for the treatment but a lot of people correctly pointed out that unadulterated bleach from the bottle is a very powerful agent and may contain lye (sodium hydroxide) that can cause severe chemical burns and scarring. Just swim and soak in a chlorinated swimming pool, if you want to get the benefit of bleach in treating skin infections.

Another fascinating folk remedy is the "paper method." People who use this, burn a crumpled sheet of notebook paper in a porcelain plate, and use the ashes or residue as salve for ringworm treatment. Imagine that.

Still another bizarre home cure is the use of colorless nail polish. Directions: apply a thin layer of nail polish on the affected area. Allow to dry and peel off with tweezers or wash with soap. Those who practice this method believe it "suffocates" the fungi and attest that their infection dried up the next day. Others suggest colored nail polish work just as well as the colorless type.

A guy from Canada vouched for sea salt as the ultimate ringworm treatment. Evidently, this gent worked in an airport and caught the infection from the counter surface he usually leans on at work. The ringworm spread throughout his body, including his face, and the poor bloke suffered for one whole year with it. After repeated (and costly) visits to his doctor, the recommended antifungal creams finally managed to clear out the ringworm in his body but not the lesions in his face. That's when he discovered the remedy of using sea salt. He rubbed a handful of watery salt into the affected areas in his moistened face for thirty minutes and repeated the process several times. The guy swears his ringworm dried up the very next morning. Sea salt or sea water, that's the ticket, he said.

Other items mentioned as effective medication are tobacco and Vicks Vapor Rub (suggested by "Rosie" in Yahoo Answers). Of course, a lot of medicinal herbs and plants were cited as effective cure too, but I will discuss these in another essay. Black walnut, grape fruit seed extract, fig leaf juice, and tea tree oil are a few of these natural remedies mentioned.

Would I recommend any of these home-grown ringworm remedies? Not today. It's the human body we're talking about here, after all. Caution should be the rule of thumb. There's no denying that many of these simple home cures actually work - for some people. But each of us has our own peculiar set of physiological traits and allergies, quite different from the next John or Jane Doe. Our bodies, or to be more specific, our skins react differently to different substances. What I'm saying is that the home-spun ringworm treatment that worked for your neighbor might not actually work for you.

If there's anything that I'd use myself, apart from the usual over-the-counter anti fungal medications, it's the natural ringworm treatment method. Using plant extracts. Green all the way. One hundred percent natural, one hundred percent organic. Tea tree oil, in particular. Numerous scientific studies have already established the efficacy of tea tree oil in treating ringworm. Powerful antiseptic, peerless anti fungal agent. And because it's natural - lesser chance of adverse allergic reactions for you. For a discussion about a company that produces natural ringworm treatment products in a modern world-class facility, please visit my site, link shown below.

Or you can always take a one-week vacation and hit the nearest ocean resort (sea salt or sea water, remember?) and have a week of fun, relaxation, and ringworm treatment.

Scalp Infections - Symptoms, Causes & Natural Options For Fast Relief & Treatment

There are many definitions and symptoms commonly described as "scalp infections". There are in fact quite a few quite different reasons why your scalp may be sore, itchy, inflamed burning red or infected. If you are like many people with chronic scalp issues - it may be driving you completely up the wall and not knowing what it is or how to treat the problem effectively after many unsuccessful attempts to eliminate it can make it seem far worse - like you are never going to get to the bottom of the problem. Well that need no longer be so! It can be simple to diagnose and treat it now and for good.

So if you are dealing with any of these symptoms lets first identify the problem and then some of the underlying causes.

Firstly, if you want to get to the root of your problems, so to speak, you need to be able to identify what your problem actually is. Of course, many scalp infections & conditions look alike, so here is a brief description of some of the most common scalp conditions:

Red Burning Itchy Scalp
Dandruff
Ringworm
Dry Scalp
Scalp Dermatitis
Eczema of the Scalp
Scalp Psoriasis
Folliculitis
Stress Related Itching

Red burning itchy scalp can be characterized as any tingling,burning, prickly, and sensitive to the touch or a fiery hot sensation. Often associated with an allergy, sunburn, chemical burn (sensitization of the scalp),or fungal infection.

Dandruff as most of us know is the process of continual shedding of skin cells on our scalps. Often the cause of dandruff is simply the result of toxins, pollutants and products that have built up on the scalp particularly products like silicone- a cheap commonly used artificial shine enhancer in conditioners sold in supermarkets.

When the natural balance of our scalps is disturbed, this creates the perfect environment for the yeast fungus Melassezia Globbosa to move in and thrive. This is when the natural process of shedding our cells gets a little out of hand resulting in an unsightly condition known as "Seborrhoeic Dermatitis" (fancy name for dandruff) and we see the highly visible tell-tale signs of flaking and crusting.

The accompanying itch and urge to scratch are often made worse by the multiplication of the fungal yeast pityrosporum-ovale (having one big party on your scalp). Another follow on effect of this is that the relentless scratching by the sufferer can cause small lesions which weep and ooze or become infected resulting in scalp infections.

Lumps bumps and sores are also common when the scalp is highly irritated or sensitivity has been aggravated. Candida can be an underlying cause of yeast infections of the scalp.

Ringworm of the scalp (tinea capitols) is a superficial fungal infection of the scalp. Scalp ringworm is caused by mold-like fungi called dermatophytes. Ringworm infection occurs when a particular type of fungus grows and multiplies anywhere on your skin, scalp, or nails. It is far more common in children and symptoms include red, itchy patches on the scalp, leaving bald areas. The skin might itch and be red and peel or be scaly, have swollen blisters or a rash (that can spread) and looks like black dots. The rash is highly contagious. It is normally treated with over the counter products containing miconazole, clotrimazole, or similar. Sometimes prescription anti fungal skin medications, such as ketoconazole are needed to clear it up. There are also products direct from nature's factories that can aid the healing process and act as natural antibiotics, although it must be said that ringworm is an aggressive fungus which needs to be monitored closely and treated accordingly.

Dry scalp can feel "tight", a sensation that is sometimes accompanied by flakiness. It is often the result of natural oils being stripped from our scalps by the frequent use of shampoos, hair dyes and or other hair products.

Dermatitis of the scalp (Seborrheic dermatitis) is an inflammatory disorder affecting areas of the head and body where sebaceous glands are most prominent. It can vary from mild dandruff to dense flakey and greasy scale. Once again it is often an accumulation of toxins and products built up on our scalps that our body is trying to rid itself of.

Eczema of the scalp similar in appearance to Seborrheic dermatitis but instead has the name Atopic dermatitis.

Scalp Psoriasis commonly occurs on the back of the head however multiple areas of the scalp or the whole scalp may be affected. Scalp psoriasis is characterized by thick silvery white scales on patches of very red skin and can extend slightly beyond the hairline. Scalp psoriasis, despite being partially hidden by the hair is often a source of social embarrassment due to flaking of the scale and severe 'dandruff'. Scalp psoriasis may be extremely itchy or on occasion have no itch symptoms. It can also cause temporary baldness on the affected areas. It is a common, chronic, inflammatory skin disease and is associated with increased risk of melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and basal cell carcinoma.

Folliculitis of the scalp is a superficial bacterial infection of the hair follicles. It is characterized by pustules around the hair follicles and symptoms include painful brushing of hair and tenderness when rubbing your scalp around the hair follicle sites. Treating with antibiotics for the particular bacteria is the usual course of action but can eventually cause resistance to the antibiotic used. Options include applying Evoclin Foam which is topical. Folliculitis is commonly caused by staph bacteria which also reside inside the nose and sinus cavity. Natural oils such as tea tree and lavender have good antibacterial properties and can also be used to treat this condition.

If you have a bump or lump under the skin (commonly a lump behind the ears with no broken skin or rash developing, then this could be a cyst. Cysts are liquid filled pustules which can be painful when they become infected. If you have such symptoms I recommend seeing a doctor to be safe. Doctors can also treat cysts with antibiotics if they have become infected or incise them as a further but uncommon procedure if the antibiotics are not sufficient.

Stress Related Itching Stress can contribute to or worsen scalp itching as it plays havoc with our immune system and hormones which have an effect on production of sebum from your sebaceous glands. Although it can contribute to the problem it is still somewhat of a myth. It may appear that you have a"stress rash", but it is more likely that the problem was already there in a less noticeable way, then aggravated by increased stress levels making it harder for your body to deal with the problem on its own and eliminate the problem. Many of the treatments below include stress relieving properties - like Lavender oil for example which calms the mind and soothes the body.

Solutions - what YOU can do about it

Going to your doctor may be the best way to get an accurate answer to diagnosing your problem, but I understand that many of you may have already done this, been prescribed some form of medication of cream (even "heavy duty" cortisone based ones where the cortisone potency may need to be increased after time).

Often the problem either doesn't go away from the start - or seems to subside but comes back with full a vengeance later leaving you wondering with more unanswered questions and a VERY unhappy scalp! Well the good news is if you don't like using these expensive and often impotent products- or even want to help them along you can use natural remedies and essential oils known to be super effective anti-bacterial busters such as tea tree oil for instance to inhibit or stop the growth of the infection and assist healing/re balancing of the scalp.

Something that is also important to understand in curing scalp conditions and scalp infections - a factor that is missed by so many doctors, and something not disclosed by companies who sell hair products and treatments is the number of people who are allergic or sensitive to commonly used ingredients in shampoos, dandruff treatments and other hair products. In fact MOST hair products (as many as 90%) contain at least one ingredient that is used in engine degreasers, another is a common ingredient in antifreeze.

These ingredients are cheap to produce foaming agents that make shampoo foam up, and do a fantastic job of stripping dirt and oily build up from hair. Problem is that they sometimes do SUCH a good job that they remove all of the natural oils and sebum from the scalp thus removing the scalps natural against bacteria etc. Another little known fact is that the most common ingredient (Sodium laureth sulphate) is used to induce skin irritation in test patients by drug companies to test the effectiveness of their itch relief skin creams. When first produced and for year's afterwards manufacturers did not know that skin was not a barrier but an absorber of ingredients & that they caused skin irritation in so many people.

So sometimes the beginning of a scalp condition can have originated from something as simple as an imbalance to the skins (scalps) sebum or an allergy to an ingredient that can easily be rectified.

Like your immune system, if your skin has an opportunity to rebalance itself and not be subjected to "incoming foreign matter" and the daily stripping of its natural oils that further aggravates the problem you can allow your body to re balance and heal itself. Obviously buying products that do not strip your hair and scalp is an obvious step in the right direction.

Fortunately there are a lot of manufacturers such as Aveda and Akin (Purist Company) who know what consumers are suffering from these issues so have addressed this problem. They have applied this knowledge to produce some amazing products with all of the benefits of natural ingredients, with none of the side effects at a price we can afford (Akin especially). It need not be difficult, nor expensive to make these choices and a move to healthy hair and scalp long term.

So yes you can eliminate harsh shampoos containing sodium sulphates and go for natural Sulphate and paraben free shampoos that contain ingredients such as macadamia, wheat germ or jojoba oils. These oils mimic our natural sebum to some extent to help to re moisturize and nourish our scalp.

Then there are lavender, rosemary and tea tree oils which contain antibacterial, healing properties. Neem oil great for its antiquing and stops itching. You can apply these topically to your skin for fast relief, to assist healing as well as looking out for shampoos with these natural ingredients in them.

Lavender calms the skin (as does chamomile tea cooled and used as hair rinse).
As well as buying quality shampoos containing these ingredients, you can
create your own combinations of remedy or remedies to soothe your scalp.
You can also help it along by using natural remedies to treat your scalp such as this scalp treatment containing natural oils to assist healing, detoxify and stimulate hair growth: (Add to
water (4 parts water 1part oil) and spray onto scalp and you can add to your shampoo and conditioners also).

Oils To Relieve Itching: Lavender, German Chamomile and Eucalyptus Oils
(Mixed together and dabbed locally on effected areas has a soothing effect).

Neem oil is also a very good dandruff preventative which can be added to any of the formulas detailed below and is excellent for psoriasis and eczema & scalp infections.

Scalp massage with lavender oil (not scented - the real oil) is another
wonderful way to relieve the tension from a sore scalp as well as treat the
issue. It also helps to re grow hair and repair the damage done to your
follicles by chemicals in shampoos causing thinning hair. (Lavender is known to stimulate hair growth too).

There are many more powerful scalp remedies you can use to treat your scalp as well as many shampoos that are excellent value, contain no nasties to aggravate your scalp and hair follicles. It can be really simple to treat scalp problems by treating yourself to your own pampering session using natural oils to help heal your scalp infection. And then be kind to your hair and scalp by using only products that nourish your hair and scalp such as Aveda or Akin brand shampoos. You can assist the healing process and help restore balance back to your scalp and you hair will appreciate and reward you for it too by becoming less brittle, stronger and shinier.
As with all natural remedies please patch test first. It is not intended for this information to replace a doctors medical advice, so please see your doctor for diagnosis and treatment. The responsibility of obtaining doctors diagnosis and using remedies is yours.

All About Ringworm Symptoms and Treatment

Ringworm is a common infection of the skin that can be found both at humans and animals, especially cats, which are the most common ringworm carriers.

Although its name suggests that it is caused by a worm, in fact it is caused by a fungus. This fungus grows on the skin and feeds with the dead skin and hair cells there. The areas of skin that are infected with ringworm are usually round, and they have a red color at their edges, but in their center the skin looks almost normal. The red areas are shaped like a ring and they are also swollen because the fungus irritates the skin, so the place looks like a red round worm. This is where the name ringworm comes from.

The symptoms of ringworm can be seen on the skin surface. A doctor can diagnose ringworm just by taking a look at the infected areas. In some cases a more thorough analysis needs to be made to determine the nature of the fungus, so the doctor may take a small sample of skin tissue from the places where the fungus grows.

In the beginning ringworm looks like a small pimple or mosquito bite. Then it starts to grow as the fungus begins to evolve and spread. If hair grows in the area then the infected place will lose it, so red bald patches of skin will appear. Some patients also have a yellow crust over the infection.

As ringworm progresses the areas get bigger and they begin to be shaped like a ring. The skin in those areas in always itchy and soon more red patches will appear if it is not treated.

Depending on where the symptoms appears ringworm is called ringworm of the scalp, ringworm of the groin, or athlete's foot if it appears on the feet.

The treatment for ringworm is easy, especially if the doctors discover it early.
If there are only a few places with the fungus on them then the doctor will prescribe you an antifungal cream. These ointments can be purchased without a prescription but it's best to ask the doctor before deciding to use one. The cream must be applied directly on the infected skin for as long as it takes to for ringworm to go away and some time afterwards to make sure all the fungus cells are dead.

However if ringworm has spread to too any areas then antifungal pills are required to cure it. They are usually taken once a day and they are pretty strong so the effect should be seen in a few days.

IT's easy to cure ringworm, but first you must recognize it from its symptoms and go to a doctor for an accurate diagnosis as soon as you see any signs of it. If you want to prevent it, always wash and clean yourself and avoid using items that are regularly used by many people.

What Is The Best Treatment For Ringworm

Ringworm is the name of a common skin infection that is caused by fungi. It doesn't have anything to do with worms, the name ringworm comes from the fact that the infected areas have the shape of a ring, they are circular, more colored towards the edge and less colored in the center.
The areas where ringworm appears are itchy and irritated, so the skin from the margins of the circle is a little irritated, so it resembles a worm.

Ringworm is very contagious and it spreads quickly in a warm climate, because warm and humid areas are the ringworm's fungi favorite places. It can be taken if you touch the skin of an infected person or if you touch an infected animal, for animals can carry it too. Cats are known to be the most common carriers of ringworm.
You can prevent being infected if you live in an area where ringworm has started spreading by always washing your skin, avoiding to touch things that might have been touched by infected people, and finally by wearing loose clothes that do not touch and press against the skin like tight clothing.

The symptoms of ringworm are the red itchy worm-shaped patches of skin that appear where the fungi develops but if they are not treated the infection can eat through the skin and reach the blood, infecting it too. In this case antibiotics are needed to kill the foreign organisms from the blood.

Ringworm has an incubation period of 4-5 days, after which the symptoms start to show up. You must visit a doctor as soon as you discover that you have ringworm, in order to avoid its spreading to other areas of the skin and to other people. The most common medication that can treat ringworm are special ointments and antifungal pills. The ointments must be applied to the infected areas of the skin until the ringworm goes away and afterwards, because some of the bacteria can re-appear.
It is very ease to diagnose ringworm, doctors usually do it by simply looking at the infected areas, sometimes a sample from the skin surface is taken and analyzed, but not too often. Since it's easy to put the ringworm diagnose most of the ointments are available without prescription. However asking for a doctor's opinion is recommended.

The pills are prescribed when the infection has spread to many places and something stronger is required. These should be taken only when the doctor advises you to do so.

If it's treated properly ringworm will disappear in a few days, and if it's not it will spread and irritate more and more areas of the skin, reaching deeper and deeper, so if you have ringworm start treating it right away.

Ringworm Treatment - Fascinating (and Effective?) Home Remedies

Ringworm treatment home remedies, will you use these? If you are one of the estimated twenty percent of our population who is infected with ringworm, chances are you have, at some point, considered using home remedies to treat ringworm.

In my search to find the most effective ringworm treatment that's available out there, I recently posted a question in Yahoo Answers about home remedies "that actually work," to find out from real people, like you and me, what cure they would actually recommend. The question drew quite a few answers and these only prompted me to dig deeper into this topic.

After some more research in the internet and asking friends for their ringworm treatment "family secret recipe," I got a better insight into what folks would consider as fast and effective remedies. Prepare to be fascinated and surprised. All of the ingredients mentioned are ordinary household items some of us would never remotely equate with anti fungal medication.

Oh, yes, before I show you the list, a quick reminder. Ringworm, despite it's name, is not caused by worms. It is an infection caused by mold-like fungi known as dermatophytes. It is contagious and can be spread through direct skin contact with an infected person, an infected pet, or an infected object or surface. So, if you have an itsy-bitsy spot of ringworm, refrain from scratching it. The fungi will cling to your hands and you're liable to spread the infection to other parts of your body or worse, to other family members. And about contaminated objects - never share personal items with anyone. Clothes, caps, shoes, brushes, anything can be a carrier of infection. A friend of mine who has a three year old cute little daughter named Tracy, once brought home a bunch of second-hand toys from some garage sale. She thought she made a juicy bargain - the toys were still intact and the battery-operated talking doll actually still talked. To her chagrin, little Tracy had a rash outbreak the very next day, which her pediatrician later diagnosed to be ringworm. Lesson is you can't see fungi (well except under black light or Wood's lamp - they glow), so be careful in handling unfamiliar objects.

But enough of this. On to the list. If you want to read more thoroughly about ringworm and ringworm treatment, just got to my site. Please click the link at the bottom of this page.

First home-spun ringworm treatment - use of ordinary kitchen vinegar and a penny. Soak the penny in the vinegar and rub on the affected area. Some even recommend taping the penny to the ringworm spot. Others use vinegar without the penny. The reasoning of those who use the penny-vinegar combo is that the vinegar reacting with the copper actually serves as an effective fungi-killer.

The next home remedy, and this was suggested by a girl named "loveme..." in Yahoo Answers, was to use diluted bleach. Using q tips, you apply the bleach solution to the affected area until it dries out. Some suggested the ratio of one part bleach to six part water as the ideal concoction err...solution. Other people rashly recommend pure bleach for the treatment but a lot of people correctly pointed out that unadulterated bleach from the bottle is a very powerful agent and may contain lye (sodium hydroxide) that can cause severe chemical burns and scarring. Just swim and soak in a chlorinated swimming pool, if you want to get the benefit of bleach in treating skin infections.

Another fascinating folk remedy is the "paper method." People who use this, burn a crumpled sheet of notebook paper in a porcelain plate, and use the ashes or residue as salve for ringworm treatment. Imagine that.

Still another bizarre home cure is the use of colorless nail polish. Directions: apply a thin layer of nail polish on the affected area. Allow to dry and peel off with tweezers or wash with soap. Those who practice this method believe it "suffocates" the fungi and attest that their infection dried up the next day. Others suggest colored nail polish work just as well as the colorless type.

A guy from Canada vouched for sea salt as the ultimate ringworm treatment. Evidently, this gent worked in an airport and caught the infection from the counter surface he usually leans on at work. The ringworm spread throughout his body, including his face, and the poor bloke suffered for one whole year with it. After repeated (and costly) visits to his doctor, the recommended antifungal creams finally managed to clear out the ringworm in his body but not the lesions in his face. That's when he discovered the remedy of using sea salt. He rubbed a handful of watery salt into the affected areas in his moistened face for thirty minutes and repeated the process several times. The guy swears his ringworm dried up the very next morning. Sea salt or sea water, that's the ticket, he said.

Other items mentioned as effective medication are tobacco and Vicks Vapor Rub (suggested by "Rosie" in Yahoo Answers). Of course, a lot of medicinal herbs and plants were cited as effective cure too, but I will discuss these in another essay. Black walnut, grape fruit seed extract, fig leaf juice, and tea tree oil are a few of these natural remedies mentioned.

Would I recommend any of these home-grown ringworm remedies? Not today. It's the human body we're talking about here, after all. Caution should be the rule of thumb. There's no denying that many of these simple home cures actually work - for some people. But each of us has our own peculiar set of physiological traits and allergies, quite different from the next John or Jane Doe. Our bodies, or to be more specific, our skins react differently to different substances. What I'm saying is that the home-spun ringworm treatment that worked for your neighbor might not actually work for you.

If there's anything that I'd use myself, apart from the usual over-the-counter anti fungal medications, it's the natural ringworm treatment method. Using plant extracts. Green all the way. One hundred percent natural, one hundred percent organic. Tea tree oil, in particular. Numerous scientific studies have already established the efficacy of tea tree oil in treating ringworm. Powerful antiseptic, peerless anti fungal agent. And because it's natural - lesser chance of adverse allergic reactions for you. For a discussion about a company that produces natural ringworm treatment products in a modern world-class facility, please visit my site, link shown below.

Or you can always take a one-week vacation and hit the nearest ocean resort (sea salt or sea water, remember?) and have a week of fun, relaxation, and ringworm treatment.

Ringworm Treatment - Before You Begin

I know you would like to get rid of the itch and that unsightly lesion in your arm right away. Your friend told you that it's ringworm and you're ready to start ringworm treatment. But first, before you do, try and double-check if it's really ringworm. Or better yet, double-check with your doctor.

Ringworm is a skin infection caused by mold-like fungi called dermatophytes. What are ringworm symptoms? If you have seen ringworm pictures before, you must have noticed that the infection appears as a red or pinkish circular lesion, usually about 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter (in the early stages) with scaly raised borders. It assumes the appearance of a ring as it grows bigger because the area in the middle usually clears up and would look just like normal uninfected skin. The lesion may or may not be itchy.

Why do you have to be certain that it's ringworm? This is because other skin conditions like numular eczema, pityriasis rosea, psoriasis or atopic dermatitis have symptoms closely similar to ringworm symptoms. A lot of people see their doctor complaining that they couldn't get rid of the ringworm after weeks of treatment, only to find out the condition wasn't ringworm, in the first place.

Your doctor would basically base his or her diagnosis on visual observation. If there is uncertainty, the doctor might order culture test or by examining scrapings from the affected area under a microscope. Another test is by examining the infection under a blue light or Wood's lamp - the fungi will actually glow bright green. You can do visual observation yourself or you can buy a blue light (18W UVA long wave, black light blue bulb) to conduct the "glow" exam.

Now that you're sure it's indeed ringworm you're up against, you're ready to start treatment. And start it immediately. The key to a successful ringworm treatment is identifying the infection early on and starting the treatment as soon as you have the correct diagnosis. Allowing the infection to spread unchallenged can make it chronic and more difficult to treat later.

Fortunately, ringworm responds well to common over-the-counter medication (common brands available are Tinactin, Monistat, Micatin, Lotrimin, and Lamisil) and you can expect to cure the infection completely within 2-4 weeks. Personally, I would use natural ringworm treatment myself (safer and lesser risk of side effects), but any antifungal agent could work just as well for mild infections (a patch or two). If you're dealing with ringworm of the scalp or if the infection doesn't go away after 4 weeks of treatment, call your doctor. It might be necessary for your doctor to prescribe oral anti-fungal medicine to cure persistent, widespread, or hard-to-reach infections.