For Ringworm?
While its appearance can sometimes cause alarm, ringworm is actually a highly treatable infection. It manifests as a round red rash on the skin and can occur in both humans and animals. Understandably though, despite infection with the same fungus, the course of treatment for humans will differ from that of animals.
Actually, ringworm in humans is generally easier to treat than ringworm in pets. The first step once you have your treatment prescribed is to apply the medication EXACTLY the way the doctor indicated. That means taking the medicine for the exact number of days, which is very important. Too many people stop earlier, if the symptoms go away. This practice will encourage the infection to come right back. So, again, follow the doctor’s prescription exactly.
Having done this, you must now turn your attention to disinfecting your house to prevent infecting others. To do this, you must take all the items that your rash came in contact with and wash it with bleach and hot water. After doing this, ensure that your rash is covered at all times to prevent direct contact between the rash and with objects or people. Resist the urge to scratch the rash. It is, without a doubt, extremely itchy. But if you do give in and scratch, you elevate the chance of spreading the rash on yourself and to others. Keep in mind, too, that ringworm has a 10 day incubation period so symptoms of infection will only show up after ten days.
Ideally, once you suspect infection, you should head over to your doctor to get a proper diagnosis as well as getting a proper prescription. While many people opt to use over the counter remedies first, the differences between the different types of ringworm, can make the infection more resistant if the proper formulation is not used. As an example, jock itch and athletes foot are two forms of ringworm that are not exactly the same. So the medication that is best for treating athletes foot may not be the best for treating jock itch. In fact, the best conventional treatment may require a prescription from your physician. Creams might be good for ringworm that is confined to a single area only. If it has spread to other parts of the body, then an oral anti-fungal medicine may be the sole alternative.
Aside from conventional medicine, there are quite a number of alternative and natural remedies for ringworm which have been promoted by its users as extremely effective measures. One such remedy uses raw papaya. The fruit is slice up and applied directly to the rashes. There is also another remedy which uses different pastes separately made from cassia leaves, mustard seeds or butea seeds. Then there are others who proclaim that applying bleach directly to the rash cured their ringworm problem.
Despite the relative ease of treatment, staying free of ringworm is not easy as it requires a certain degree of diligence from you. This diligence should drive you to follow to the instructions your physician will give you about the medicine, how to use it and how long to use it. Even if the rash looks cured, for as long as your doctor says you must treat it, you should keep to it with no exception. Ringworm rashes can disappear dramatically even though the infection is not completely eliminated. So for your sake and those in your social circle, please reduce if not eliminate the chances of infecting others. Until the doctor says you are clear, you must continue to treat your ringworm and protect others as though you are still infectious as you most probably are.
So, in a nutshell, you can see there is a very clear approach to treating ringworm. Follow the guidelines, and you should be well on your way to becoming ringworm-free. Adopting good prevention measures will allow you to remain infection-free.
Anthony Bruno
