Ringworm in children

[themarquis]

lol ... I used to get ringworm all the time as a kid. No one else in the house ever got it, and we weren't sure why.

Looking back, I realize it might be because my cat and I were practically attached at the hip. She sometimes slept on my FACE at night

I can't remember what we did to treat it -- I seem to vaguely remember something about athlete's foot or jock itch cream or something

 

[zalansky]

My 6 year old son has it now on his face! We tried the OTC's, it was getting worse. Went to the dermatologist and he gave us some sample tubes of heavy duty anti-fungal cream and its doing the trick. They are requiring him to keep it covered at school so thats making it take longer to go away. His poor skin doesn't have time to breathe.

 

[bumbershoot]

..our pedi suggested we use Gentian Violet (an antifungal) on it which we did do. The only thing I hate about using Gentian Violet though is that it makes him turn purple.

That there is one smart ped! My stepmom, a NICU nurse who should really know such things, hadn't a single clue as to what GV was, and was confused by the pictures I sent her when we were treating yeast on me and in DS's mouth by painting my nursing "parts", LOL, with GV. Oh he looked so cute all purple!



For the ringworm...hubby had it has a child, his mom tried everything possible. Then finally FIL swooped in, opened a vitamin E capsule, smeared that on the spots, and overnight it had cleared up.

 

[Cindyluwho]

I think people get grossed out 'cause of the name: ringWORM! Sounds grosser than it is. It is not a worm. It is a fungus. No biggie. Treat it & move on...it's a nuisance like athlete's foot or a yeast infection or a cold sore.

While I agree that fungas problems like ringworm or athlete's foot are just a nuisance I don't a cold sore falls into that category. Herpes virus is in a much different category for me. It's not curable, can cause problems with the delivery of your baby, etc. Just because it's on your mouth does not mean it can't be transferred to other parts of the body, they are interchangeable.

 

[smi727]

As for ringworm, I'm sure it's the worst remedy in the world, but growing up on a farm if one of us kids or one of the animals got ringworm my mom used bleach on it.

I'm a certified athletic trainer who sees ringworm an a weekly basis. Please, please DO NOT TREAT RINGWORM WITH BLEACH!!!! It is a popular treatment with wrestlers and football players. Bleach will kill the fungus but it leaves you with a chemical burn! These burned areas extremely prone to infection and you could end up with a lot worse than ringworm.

Start with an over-the-counter antifungal. Keep the area clean and covered. (Most people forget the covered part.) If it does not look better within 7 days, contact your doctor for either a prescription antifungal cream or an oral antifungal.

PM with any more questions.