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. Wash your hands with soap and running water after playing with pets.
If you've started an OTC antifungal treatment or natural ringworm home treatment and your symptoms are not better within two weeks—or your infection has spread to other body parts—you should visit a medical professional or an urgent care center.
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).
After 48 hours of treatment, ringworm does not spread to others at all.
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.
Terbinafine (Lamisil) comes in creams, sprays, and gels and can treat athlete's foot, jock itch, and other ringworm infections on the skin. The CDC says terbinafine seems to be the most effective treatment for tinea pedis.
Mild cases of ringworm clear up within a few weeks. More serious infections may require treatment for six to 12 weeks. Some other things you can do to promote healing: Keep the affected area clean and dry.
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.
You should contact your healthcare provider if: Your infection gets worse or doesn't go away after using non-prescription medications. You or your child has ringworm on the scalp. Ringworm on the scalp needs to be treated with prescription antifungal medication.
The rash caused by a ringworm infection is usually round or oval and has a raised border. It starts small and slowly grows larger.
Most ringworm infections are mild and can be treated using a pharmacy antifungal cream. Scalp infections can be treated with antifungal tablets, sometimes combined with antifungal shampoo. If the skin is irritated or broken, it can lead to other bacterial infections, which may need treatment with antibiotics.
To prevent ringworm from spreading or infecting other areas of the body, keep the skin as clean as possible. To do this, rinse the infection with soap and warm water once or twice daily. Be sure to dry the skin fully, as fungus thrives in moist areas.
If your child's ringworm is worsening, he or she will have these signs and symptoms: Fever. Pus or drainage. Rash is warm to the touch.
Ringworm stops being contagious after 48 hours of antifungal treatment. Treatment options include topical creams or oral medication. Without treatment, people are contagious until the ringworm rash goes away. This can take up to 3 weeks.
Most mild cases of ringworm usually clear up in 2 to 4 weeks. But treatment might be needed for up to 3 months if the infection is more serious, or affects the nails or the scalp.
The following are the foods you should avoid when you have a ringworm infection. - Foods that contain sugar, including fruits. - Refined carbohydrates like white rice and pasta.
The fungi that cause this infection can live on skin, surfaces, and on household items such as clothing, towels, and bedding. Ringworm goes by many names.
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.
Miconazole (an antifungal) and chlorhexidine (a disinfectant) synergize each other when combatting ringworm. They are available as a combination rinse as well as shampoo.
mechanical removal of all hair and debris via vacuuming, sweeping (Swiffers recommended over brooms) and mechanical washing of the surfaces with detergent and water. It is important to thoroughly rinse surfaces as some detergent residue can inactivate disinfecting agents.
Ringworm usually goes away within 4 weeks of treatment.