People can get ringworm after contact with someone who has the infection. To avoid spreading the infection, people with ringworm shouldn't share clothing, towels, combs, or other personal items with other people.
Touching or scratching the area with ringworm and then touching another area can spread ringworm from one part of your body to another. Washing your hands well can help prevent this. Keep the infected area clean and dry.
Don't walk barefoot in areas like locker rooms or public showers. Clip your fingernails and toenails short and keep them clean. Change your socks and underwear at least once a day. Don't share clothing, towels, sheets, or other personal items with someone who has ringworm.
A person who has ringworm can spread the infection both to other parts of their body and to other people. To prevent this, people should take the following precautions: avoid scratching or touching the ringworm lesion. wash the hands thoroughly after touching or treating the ringworm lesion.
How soon do symptoms appear? The incubation period is unknown for most of these agents, however ringworm of the scalp is usually seen 10 to 14 days after contact and ringworm of the body is seen 4 to 10 days after initial contact.
Use hot water and detergent when washing bedding and any infected clothes. Hot water alone can kill the fungus. As an extra precaution, add borax or bleach to your wash along with regular laundry detergent. Borax and bleach can be purchased from a grocery store, and they also kill fungal spores.
When fungus affects the skin of the body, it often produces itchy, red, raised, scaly patches that may blister and ooze. The patches often have sharply defined edges. They are often redder around the outside with normal skin tone in the center, creating the appearance of a ring.
Generally speaking, moisture always aggravates any infection. But, you can still take a bath by using antifungal soaps when you have a ringworm infection.
All bedding, brushes, combs, rugs, cages, etc. should be vacuumed, scrubbed, and washed with hot water, detergent, and 1:100 chlorine laundry bleach, or another effective disinfectant (see above). It is best to throw out any items that cannot be thoroughly disinfected. Walls, floors, lamps, etc.
The infection can spread via skin-to-skin contact, clothing, or surfaces where the fungus lives, such as in showers or locker rooms. It's more common among people with compromised immune systems and can spread more easily among families (because of skin contact) or athletes (because of the locker room environment).
Ringworm on the skin like athlete's foot (tinea pedis) and jock itch (tinea cruris) can usually be treated with non-prescription antifungal creams, lotions, or powders applied to the skin for 2 to 4 weeks. There are many non-prescription products available to treat ringworm, including: Clotrimazole (Lotrimin, Mycelex)
You can treat most cases of ringworm at home with over-the-counter antifungals. Popular choices include clotrimazole (Lotrimin) and tolnaftate topical (Tinactin). Healthcare companies market these products for athlete's foot, but they will also work on ringworm of the body and jock itch.
The fungus can survive on contaminated objects for long periods of time, sometimes up to 18 months. Who is at risk for ringworm?
From the environment.
The fungi that cause ringworm can live on surfaces, particularly in damp areas like locker rooms and public showers.
Ringworm spores persist in the environment, making eradication difficult. So a successful outcome requires treatment of all pets and scrupulous cleaning of the home. To kill ringworm spores, clean and disinfect solid surfaces. Launder bedding and other fabric, small area rugs and soft articles.
If someone in your family has a fungal infection, there is no need for them to stay off work or school. However, treatment should be started as soon as possible. Good personal hygiene should also be followed to stop it spreading to other children.
Anyone can get ringworm. The fungi that cause this infection can live on skin, surfaces, and on household items such as clothing, towels, and bedding.
Do not cover the ringworm with a bandage. Wash and dry your hands well.
Wear clothes, such as socks or shirts, only once if you wore them the day before. Use flip flops or waterproof shoes in public showers, pool areas and locker rooms. Don't go barefoot if you have athlete's foot because you could easily spread the infection to others.
Without treatment, it may go away on its own in a matter of months in a healthy person. Or it may not. Ringworm on the body is usually treated with a topical ointment such as terbinafine. A four-week course is common , but the time can vary.
Ringworm on the skin starts as a red, scaly patch or bump. Over time, it may look like one or more rings with raised, bumpy, scaly borders (the center is often clear). This ring pattern gave ringworm its name, but not every infected person has it.
Steroid creams can make ringworm worse because they weaken the skin's defenses. Steroid creams can allow ringworm infections to spread to cover more of the body. Ringworm that has been treated with steroid creams can have an unusual appearance, making it hard for healthcare providers to diagnose.
Can hand sanitiser kill ringworm? Yes but only when it's on the surface of your skin. Ringworm is a highly infectious fungus that affects animals and humans. Often a pet will bring ringworm into the home which will then need to be completely disinfected.
In households with less than 2 pets infected with ringworm, twice weekly cleaning and disinfection should be sufficient. However, any visible pet hair should be removed daily.
Ultraviolet (UV) light does, in fact, kill ringworms! However, while ringworms cannot survive under prolonged exposure to UV light, of which natural sunlight is an excellent source, you should still seek medical attention if you have ringworm.