Everything You Want to Know About Ringworm

Ringworm is an infection on the skin that looks like a ring. It is caused by a fungus. Some skin conditions, like eczema and psoriasis, can look like ringworm, but there are important differences in how they look and how they are treated.

Ringworm is an infection of the skin caused by a fungus. It is also known as dermatophytosis, dermatophyte infection, or tinea.

The name “ringworm” is wrong because the infection is caused by a fungus, not a worm. This infection makes a ring-shaped sore that looks like a worm. This is how it got its name.

Most of the time, the term “ringworm” refers to either tinea corporis (ringworm of the body) or tinea capitis (ringworm of the scalp) (ringworm of the scalp). It is sometimes used to talk about tinea in other places, like tinea cruris (ringworm of the groin).

Both people and animals can get a ringworm infection. At first, the infection shows up as discoloured, often scaly patches on the skin. Most of the time, these spots look red on fair skin and brown-gray on darker skin.

Ringworm can spread from a spot where it is present to other parts of the body, like the:

• scalp
• feet
• hands
• nails
• groin
• beard

Recognizing ringworm symptoms

Depending on where the infection is, the symptoms will be different. When you have a skin infection, you may feel:

• itchiness
• itchy or scaly patches that are red, brown, or gray, or raised areas of skin called plaques
  a round, flat patch of itchy skin
• patches that develop blisters or pustules
• patches that resemble a ring with deeper color on the outside
• patches with edges that are defined and raised
• overlapping rings
• hair loss

Depending on where on the body ringworm is, it can look different. Doctors have different names for ringworm based on where it shows up on the body.

Body

Most of the time, the term “ringworm” refers to tinea corporis, or ringworm of the body. This form often shows up as patches on your body that have the shape of a round ring.

Scalp

Ringworm of the scalp, or tinea capitis, usually starts as a few flaky patches on the scalp that turn into itchy, flaky bald spots. children are most likely to have it. Around the affected area, hair may break off or fall out, and bald spots may form.

Beard

Ringworm of the beard, Tinea barbae, which affects your cheeks, chin, and the top of your neck, can cause bald spots. This could look like acne, folliculitis, or another skin condition. Some people feel tired or have lymph nodes that are swollen.

Hands

Ringworm of the hand, or tinea manuum, usually happens when you touch an area that is already infected, like your groyne or foot. If you have an infection of the hand, the palm may look very dry and have deep cracks.

If the infection spreads, you might get ring-shaped spots on the back of your hand.

Groin

Jock itch, The ringworm infection of the skin around the groyne, inner thighs, and buttocks is called tinea cruris. It happens most often to men and teenage boys.

This usually starts as a red, brown, or grey rash that itches at the point where your leg meets your body. The itching might get worse after exercise, and anti-itch cream might not help.

Feet

Athlete’s foot, The common name for ringworm infection of the foot is tinea pedis. People who walk around barefoot in places where the infection can spread, like locker rooms, showers, and swimming pools, tend to get it.

This starts as dry, scaly skin between your toes and can spread to your sole and heel. Some of the signs are:
an itching, stinging, or burning sensation

• blistering
• peeling
• a foul odor

Nails

Onychomycosis, A ringworm infection of the nails is also called tinea unguium. It affects toenails more than fingernails because shoes are often damp and warm, which fungi like.

Nails that are affected may get thicker or change colour. They might even start to break or separate from the nail bed.

Causes of ringworm

Ringworm is caused by about 40 different kinds of fungi. Most of the time, they are caused by Trichophyton, Microsporum, or Epidermophyton.

These fungi can live on your skin and other surfaces, especially in damp places. As spores in the soil, they can also live for a long time.

The fungi can get from one person to another in four ways:

• Human to human. You can get ringworm by coming into contact with someone who has it or by sharing personal items like combs or towels. Most of the time, the infection is spread by children and by sharing things that have the fungus on them.
• Animal to human. You can get ringworm if you touch an animal with it or something that the animal has touched. Fungi often come from cats and dogs, but other animals, like farm animals, can also spread it.
• person to object. If you touch something or a surface that has the infection, like a phone or the floor of a public shower, you could get it. These fungi do well in damp places.
• Soil to people. People and animals can both get ringworm from soil that has the fungi in it.

Ringworm risk factors

Ringworm can happen to anyone, but you may be more likely to get it if you:

• live in a climate or environment that is warm and damp
• Use public showers or locker rooms if you play contact sports like wrestling or football.
• come in close contact with animals,
• wear tight shoes or clothes that rub your skin, have diabetes,
• are obese or overweight,
• sweat a lot,
• or have a weak immune system.

Getting a ringworm diagnosis

Your doctor will be able to tell if you have ringworm by looking at your skin and maybe using a black light to see the affected area. Depending on the type of fungus, it may sometimes fluoresce (glow) under a black light.

Your doctor may ask for the following tests to confirm that you have ringworm:

• For a skin biopsy or fungal culture, your doctor will take a small piece of your skin or the fluid from a blister and send it to a lab to check for fungus.
• When you get a KOH exam, your doctor will scrape off a small piece of the affected skin and put it on a slide. Then, he or she will put a few drops of a liquid called potassium hydroxide (KOH) on the slide. The KOH breaks up normal skin cells, which makes it easier to see the fungal parts under a microscope.

Ringworm treatment

To treat ringworm, your doctor may tell you to take medicine and make changes to how you live.

Medications

Depending on how bad your ringworm infection is, your doctor may give you different medicines.

Most of the time, you can use topical medicines like to treat ringworm of the body, jock itch, and athlete’s foot antifungal:

• creams
• ointments
• gels
• sprays

Some very serious cases can be treated with pills that you take by mouth.

If you have ringworm of the scalp or nails, you may need to take medicines like griseofulvin (Gris-PEG) or terbinafine that you can only get with a prescription.

Your doctor may also suggest that you use over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and antifungal skin creams. There may be clotrimazole, miconazole, terbinafine, or other similar ingredients in these products.

Lifestyle adjustments

In addition to prescription and over-the-counter medicines, your doctor may also suggest that you:

• Bedding and clothes should be washed every day to help keep the area clean.
• If you don’t treat tinea pedis, it can turn into tinea cruris again if you don’t dry your skin well after bathing, wear loose clothes in the affected areas, and treat all of the affected areas.

Ringworm home remedies

People used home remedies for ringworm for a long time before antifungal treatments were made.

Most of the proof that these remedies work comes from anecdotes. There is no scientific evidence that says they are better than over-the-counter antifungals.

Among these treatments are:

• Apple cider vinegar. Some people treat ringworm by putting apple cider vinegar-soaked cotton balls on the skin three times a day.
• Coconut oil. People put coconut oil on their skin to lower the risk of getting ringworm. Apply coconut oil once to three times a day if you want to try this remedy.
• Turmeric. Turmeric, a common spice, can be mixed with water to make a paste that kills fungi. Just put the paste on your skin and wait for it to dry.

A caution about home remedies

Antifungal treatments that are already known should not be used instead. Instead, talk to your doctor about any you might want to try along with any proven treatments.

Ringworm essential oils

Essential oils are extracted from flowers, herbs, and other plants in a way that makes them very concentrated.

Essential oils are often used to treat antifungal infections like ringworm, but there is no scientific evidence to back this up.

Before you use essential oils, you might want to talk to your doctor, and you shouldn’t use them instead of regular treatments.

People use some of the following essentials oils to treat ringworm:

• oregano oil
• lemongrass oil
• tea tree oil

Before putting them on your skin, you will need to mix them with a carrier oil, like olive or coconut oil, to make them less strong.

If you mix two or three oils with a carrier oil, you might get better results, but this is just anecdotal evidence and not backed by science.

Ringworm stages

When you first get ringworm, you won’t be able to see it right away. Up to two weeks can pass before you start to feel sick. You might see the following stages:

• The beginning. During this stage, you may see a patch of skin that is red and itchy. It can sometimes just look dry and scaly, not always like ringworm.
• The second step. During this stage, the lesion will start to get bigger. The centre of the rash may look like healthy skin, but the skin around it may be dry and flaky.

Because ringworm is so easy to spread, you should start treatment as soon as you notice it. If you don’t, it could grow and get worse.

Is ringworm contagious?

Ringworm can happen to anyone. But children and people who own cats or dogs are very likely to get the infection. Ringworm can happen to both cats and dogs, and it can spread to people who touch them.

Some signs to look out for in pets are:

• Round, crusty or scaly patches of skin that don’t have hair.
• Some patches may not be completely hairless, but the hairs are thin or broken.
• There are clear or white spots around the claws.

If you think your pet has ringworm, take them to the vet so they can check them out.

Dermatophytosis is more likely to happen if you come in contact with fungi when your skin is soft and wet from being in water for a long time (macerated) or if you have small cuts or scrapes on your skin.

You could also get sick from the fungi if you use a public shower or pool.

If you often walk around without shoes on, you might get ringworm on your feet. People who often share things like hairbrushes or clothes that haven’t been washed are also more likely to get the infection.

Ringworm vs. eczema

Ringworm can look a lot like nummular eczema, which is another skin condition. Nummular eczema can also be called discoid eczema or nummular dermatitis by a doctor.

Both conditions cause round or coin-shaped bumps on your skin, so they are similar. Most of the time, the sores are scaly and itchy.

Most of the time, a person with ringworm has fewer rings than a person with nummular eczema. Also, nummular eczema doesn’t usually have a clear spot in the middle where the skin looks normal, while ringworm does.

Ringworm can also cause pustules, but nummular eczema doesn’t usually do that.

Sometimes the symptoms of the two conditions look so similar that you can only tell the difference by talking to your doctor. A doctor can take skin cell samples and send them to a lab for testing.

Different things are done to treat nummular eczema and ringworm by doctors. They use topical steroids, which, if used for ringworm, can hide the infection and make it worse. Nummular eczema can’t be helped by antifungal creams.

Ringworm vs. psoriasis

Another skin condition that can sometimes look like ringworm is psoriasis. Plaque psoriasis is a disease that happens when your immune system doesn’t work right. It causes red, scaly plaques to form on your skin.

Plaque psoriasis shows up as pink plaques with thick white scales on lighter skin. On darker skin, it looks like gray-scaled purple spots.

Sometimes, small, separate plaques can look like ringworm. Ringworm and psoriasis can both cause skin patches to change colour and itch and flake.

But ringworm on your torso or arms and legs will usually look like a circle with a hole in the middle. It will also usually only affect one spot or a small number of spots.

Plaque psoriasis skin lesions are usually bigger, affect more areas of your skin, and show up in specific places, like your lower back, elbows, and knees. Lesions caused by psoriasis also rarely have a hole in the middle.

The conditions are also caused by different things. Ringworm is caused by a fungus, and psoriasis is caused by an immune system that isn’t working right.

Ringworm complications

Ringworm can spread to other parts of your body if you don’t treat it. You could also give the disease to someone else. Other problems that could happen are:

• Hair loss and dark scars on your skin, especially if you have darker skin,
• nail deformities
• a secondary infection if bacteria got into the skin through a cut, which is common in children.
• Majocchi’s granuloma is a rare skin infection caused by a fungus that has spread to deeper layers of skin.

Tinea capitis can lead to hair loss that lasts for life, which can be a scary side effect. Considering all of these possible problems, it’s best to treat ringworm as soon as possible.

Preventing ringworm

Getting ringworm can be avoided by being healthy and clean. Infections can happen if you touch animals or don’t take care of yourself. Some ways to avoid getting ringworm are:

• Washing your hands after touching an animal
• Disinfecting and cleaning pet living areas
• Limiting contact with people or animals with ringworm if you have a weak immune system
• Wearing shoes when showering or walking in public areas
• Not sharing personal items like clothing, towels, or hairbrushes with people who might have ringworm
• Changing your socks and underwear at least once a day If you play sports, keeping your gear and uniform clean If you ski, keep your skis in good shap

Ringworm during pregnancy

If you get ringworm while you are pregnant, you can take medicines to treat it that aren’t known to hurt the baby.
Some examples of these drugs that can be used safely when put on the skin are:

• ciclopirox (Loprox)
• clotrimazole (Lotrimin)
• naftifine (Naftin)
• oxiconazole (Oxistat)
• terbinafine

But you should always talk to your doctor before taking any medicine while you’re pregnant.

Most medications can’t be studied well in pregnant people because it would be unethical to do so. So it’s hard to know for sure if a medicine, whether it’s topically applied or taken by mouth, is safe to use.

Most of the time, doctors don’t recommend taking pills by mouth to treat fungal infections while pregnant. Oral ketoconazole and oral miconazole are two examples of drugs that can cause known, unwanted side effects when taken by mouth.

If you’re pregnant and have ringworm, it’s best to talk to your doctor before using any kind of medicine or home remedy to treat it.

If you are breastfeeding, you should also talk to your doctor before taking any medicines.

Ringworm from dogs

Your dog can give you ringworm. Fungus spores can be found in the environment, and dogs can pick them up. The spores then spread to anything the dog’s hair touches. Examples include:

• bedding
• carpeting
• clothing
• dog brushes
• food bowls

Keep an eye on your dog often for signs of ringworm. Most of the time, they will have bald spots on their skin, often in a circle pattern. If you see this, you should call your dog’s vet.

To avoid getting sick as much as possible, you should also wash your hands often after petting your dog.

Ringworm from cats

The American Kennel Club says that cats are more likely than dogs to get ringworm. They can also pass the disease on to people.

If you see ringworm on a cat, just like if it was on a dog, you should call your vet. They can give you antifungal medicine.

Also, you should wash your hands after petting your cat and try to clean everything they touch, like brushes and water bowls.

If your cat does give you ringworm, you can treat it like any other fungal infection. This includes antifungal creams.

Outlook

Ringworm on your body may go away in 2 to 4 weeks if you take medicine for your skin.

If you have severe dermatophytosis that doesn’t get better with over-the-counter or home treatments, or if you think you have a tinea infection of your scalp or hair follicles, your doctor may give you antifungal pills to get rid of the infection.

Most people get better after treatment.