Ringworm! How long till it goes away?

[AnyDream]

Re preventing new ones: you can use an antifungal shampoo as a body wash, it should help. Change towels and pyjamas (and bedding) daily, wash in hot or use canesten or eucalyptus rinse.

Best thing is to do a visual inspection of whole body everyday and treat even the tiniest dots of redness. Especially check creases like underarms, between toes etc.

To make them go away quicker, slather loads of cream on last thing before bed. Cover with gladwrap. By the next morning it will all have soaked in. This is a quick way to get more of the cream into the skin & it will work more quickly. If its sore or irritated you can use a steroid cream like sigmacort at the same time.

[~Raven~]

If they are that numerous that the dr has given you meds (turbinafine?) then take them. My son had them head to toe at one stage and the dr faffed about making us use canesten three times a day which did nothing. Then it got in his hair and it came out in clumps and spread to the other kids. It was seriously awful the others didn't need meds to clear it up but we ended up using lamisil spray.
With the meds there is a small risk of it affecting the liver but then there is risk with any meds really so its somethnig you need to decide on based on how badly they have them. If you take them they will start clearing up in days but make sure you take the full course. We were on a 40 day course.

[Peekaboo]

The script is for grisovin - 100 tablets with 2 repeats. It seems a little extreme?? He only has a few that I would say are definitely ringworm, plus a few other little spots that I've been putting cream on "just in case".

As I said, we were at the doctor for something else - a stubbed toe nail that was hanging off at the tip which the doc said he wouldn't cut off. When I mentioned the ringworm he said I was doing the right thing using the cream. And then added that he felt he hadn't done much to help me, so gave me the script?!

I was at a different chemist this evening and I asked again about covering them and was told definitely not, as fungal infections thrive in moist environments and covering them doesn't allow them to air out??

[Trillian]

But you have to weigh that up with the possibility of passing it on to everyone else. They can't attend school/daycare etc with one while it is uncovered as it is under the exclusion policy etc. I never had it covered with an air/moisture tight dressing - it was just a gauze pad with tape over it and around her wrist to hold it on - it still got plenty of air.

[AnyDream]

I wouldn't cover them during the daytime. Covering overnight with a non-absorbent covering is a specific method for increasing absorption of the medication into the skin, but if you're going to try this you need to slather a thick layer of cream on first and only leave it covered overnight. Let it air and dry out during the day, and only do this for a few nights to get the treatment cranking along. My DD had a really big one on her leg and the Dr told us to do the gladwrap trick, it responded really quickly and probably saved us at least a week of cream application.

ETA - recommended exclusion period for ringworm is to exclude until the day after the appropriate antifungal treatment has started. No requirement to cover.

[Peekaboo]

I was imagining covering with a bandaid in a way it would be totally sealed - the gauze type dressing makes more sense My older DS has a quite nasty looking one on his back, so I might try the non-absorbent covering and a thick layer of cream for a few nights and see how it goes.

Sadly it's already spread to both my DS's and myself. I unfortunately adopted the infected kitty without realising before it was too late. I am also a foster carer for SAFE - so I've got 4 foster kitties in care, plus 3 of my own cats. All but 1 are infected now. I am bathing the cats with a shampoo from the vet, as well as using a cream on their face/head.

Thanks for your replies/info

[~Raven~]

The script is for grisovin - 100 tablets with 2 repeats. It seems a little extreme?

I recall there was another choice but the course was longer so I chose the shorter option as we had been dealing with the issue for a couple of months and it was in his hair follicles.

You could always keep the script on hand for jic they are persistent or come back. Remember to keep applying the cream for 2 weeks after they look like they are gone. The mistake I made was stopping too soon and they came back plus more they were already in his hair though so it was never going to go away with just cream.

[forshelby]

This won't help, but will be amusing no doubt.

I read somewhere that painting the fungus with clear nailpolish suffocates it somehow. (also creates a barrier to prevent spreading). So when I caught it a few years back, I used a combination of over the counter cream, tea tree oil, and clear nailpolish....

I wouldn't reccomend painting your kids or cats though lol.