Ringworm Symptom Article

Ringworms

The infectious disease, ringworm, although serious indeed and needs to be taken seriously, there are plenty of things that you can do to treat it. There are many over the counter ringworm medicines that can be used to treat ringworms, and in today's society, it is even the focus of many jokes surrounding athletes, especially wrestlers. Because athletes are the ones who need to be concerned about the disease the most, many of the topical creams that treat ringworm are advertised to them.

How does ringworm spread, one may ask? Ringworm is actually an infectious disease not caused by a virus or bacteria, but instead, the cause of ringworm is a type of fungus. The most common type of ringworm is a skin rash, commonly called Tinea Ringworm. However, there is also ringworm of the scalp, which is much more difficult to treat. Tinea ringworm can be seen before the scalp ringworm is even noticeable. According to health websites like WebMD, a considerable part of the population has the Ringworm infection, and at any one given time, up to twenty percent of the population can be infected with it. Ringworm can be spread, however, through skin to skin contact, and that is why the sport wrestling was mentioned above as the sport that the athletes need to be the most cautious about. But not does it spread through skin to skin contact, however. The ringworm infection can also be spread by sharing personal items, like towels, sports equipment like helmets or knee and shin pads, clothing, and even combs.

How is ringworm identified? That might easily be the next question for someone who may think he or she is infected with the disease. Fortunately, ringworm is not one of those diseases that takes fifty guesses to figure out what the symptoms that you are having belong to. The ringworm disease is most easily identified by an outer red, bumpy ring, hence the name ringworm, centered around a white spot. So the rash typically looks circular and one of the common symptoms is that it is very itchy, like poison ivy or oak. If you do suspect that you have the ringworm infection, wash very thoroughly and then visit a physician.

How is ringworm treated? This is probably the most valuable question, and there are all sorts of ways that you can treat the ringworm infection. The most common treatment out there for ringworm are topical creams, like Lamisil, that can applied, and should be applied, up to three times a day for the ringworm disease to disappear. Although it is true that the ringworm infection, if left untreated, will heal and go away after a matter of two to four months, while you have the disease you may not only spread it to yourself or other people, but it may become more serious. And not only that, but if you do leave it untreated, you run the risk of the ringworm infection becoming a chronic disease and coming back again and again.

Ringworm is definitely a disease that must be watched out for. While taking precautionary measures by reading up on it and becoming knowledgeable about the infection, be sure to ask your doctor for advice as well. In some cases, over the counter medications and common remedies may not work, and in those cases a doctor should be consulted in order to stop the ringworm infection in its tracks.