Recommendations for Ringworm

K F
I don't have a medical background, but if I were you I would take him to a dermatologist. It sounds odd for ringworm to last so long. My son had it a few years ago and after about 2 weeks it was gone. I only treated him with over the counter antifungal cream. Maybe it is eczema? Good Luck!!
C.

There are aromatherapy oils that can help with ringworm, if you contact me this afternoon i will let you know exactly. my email address is ____@____.com

K F,

My son had ringworm in his scalp when he was 4 yrs. old. He had it for about a year and then my daughter got it when she was 1. I had taken them both to a derm and he prescibed them an anit-fungal oral medication and a topical cream. Slowly but surely, it cleared up on both of them. For my son, he gave him Rogain for the spots in his hair because it wouldn't grow back. A few weeks after giving him the Rogain, his hair started to grow back. I couldn't believe it. I contiued the medication and it finally went away.

Hi K.F.
My first question is did they culture the supposed ringworm and positivly identify it? If not then I am not so sure that is what it is.
If it truely is ringworm than your child may have gotten it from pets or children who have pets.
It is very stubborn and although I don't think I'd want a 6 month old on Griseofulven either, I would say anti fungal cream as you have been doing 4 times a day for about 8 weeks.
We had a child who lived with us and had it on his scalp. Very hard to treat and he was older so we did the oral anti fungal. Strong stuff and works.
But I would say it's worth going to a dermatolgist because he or she might tell you it is not ring worm!!!!
M.

I don't know for sure, but I would think a tea tree oil shampoo might help, or even putting straight tea tree oil directly on the spot. It is a natural antifungal, so if the doc wanted to use a prescription antifungal, this might be a safe, natural alternative. Good luck with that.

D.

I was told by a doctor that my son had ringworm on his face. She even took a small scrapping and looked at it under a microscope. Turns out it was eczema. The antifungal cream the doc gave me didn't work. I used cream for eczema (cortizone) several times a day and it went away. I think more and more doctors are confusing the two. Try the cortizone and see how it works! I bet it will start looking better in a few days. They really look very similar.

You mention your 6 month old swims, he could have very well got it from wherever it is you took him swimming. Remember, it's a fungus and where else can you pick up fungus better than at a pool or pool area. If you have a pet, they get ringworm as well. So if you have a pet and they came in contact with you and then you with the baby and so on. You have been doing the right thing thus far with the cream. The cream has to be placed at least one inch outside of the ringworm as well as on the ringworm and you must be diligent in doing this up to twice a day or whatever the dosage is. Ringworm can take up to 4 weeks to clear, depending on the severity. On the scalp, it can take up to 8 weeks. Also, you must remember to wash your hands each time you apply or come in contact with his ringworm or else you're just passing it back and forth. Everything must be washed in hot water. Ask your dr. for a shampoo as well as the cream and you are just going to have to wait it out. Patience is really required for ringworm and be mindful that it is very very contagious, so wash your hands. The cream, also has to be applied for 1 week after the ringworm is gone! This is what is ahead of you if your instincts are telling you to avoid the oral meds. Hope this helped. Good Luck!

i got it from a cat when i was a kid. do you have any animals? good luck, A.

Hi,
I highly recommend that you bring your son to the dermatologist. I thought that my daughter had ringworn on her scalp, but it turned out to be eczema. Your PCP may be mistaken.

Best of luck = )

Well--it is really contageous when it's on the scalp, and if you haven't caught it from him, you're doing a really good job. I am a school nurse, see it often with kids, and it's NOT a 'dirty' disease--he just came in contact with the fungus somewhere, and unfortunately, got it on his scalp which does require internal treatment with griseofulvin. The other places he could get it (arms, legs, trunk) could be treated with lamisil, but not the scalp. It's the same fungus that causes athlete's foot. I'd just find the best pedi dermatologist available (even if you have to travel a bit, for this will be easily fixed once you get the right medicine in the right dose and won't involve multiple visits. Good luck.

I recently cured ringworm by using a qtip dipped in Listerine. I just rubbed the qtip around the ring 2-3 times a day. After a few days it had faded dramatically and after 2 weeks it was gone completely. Hope that helps!

Unfortunatley I don't have any recommendations of getting rid of it, however, if it helps my mom ended up with ring worm from handling a kitten that unknown to her had it. I wasn't aware this could happen. If you have pets, you may want to check them as it can hide under all that fur. Definitely see the pediatric derm. They may be aware of treatment or a med your ped isn't. Hope things get better soon!

You have to be careful with the over the counter or prescriptions given. They contain pesticides and is why you can only use them for a week. Such as Lotromin for the jock itch.

I have a natural antisetic alternative that will help any kind of fungus. Its called Melaleuca Oil or Tea Trea Oil. Most of the variations you can purchase in the nature store are not pure, you have to look a the lable. If it says it has mineral oil in it, its not pure. It can be pricy, but definatley worth it. I can tell you how to get it wholesale discounted along with other natural products. There is also an awesome lotion to help with eczema, which has helped our family tremendously.

If you would like more info email me at ____@____.com and I will send you some info on these products. Good Luck!

Take him to the specialest and get the oral meds. I am not sure if one is better then the other. Treatment has not worked from the outside in, I feel you will have a better chance from the inside out. It will get delivered right to the problem. I bet it clears up a lot sooner then you think. Rub on meds can rub off and since the ringworm is under the skin, how can it get down under the skin easily? Thats what I would do.

I used to have eczema on my feet so bad when I was a kid, when I steped down on the floor they would split right open. Some days I couldn't go to school because I couldn't put my shoes on. I went to a dermatalogist and it would not clear up with a cream, but did when he gave me a shot of something. God was my life so much better as a result. It was horribly painful!!! and open sores. YUCK!!!! Anyway I haven't had any trouble since I was a young teen.

My son had tinea capita (ring worm on his head) that he got from a dog we had, but didn't know the dog had it until later. I'm also told that ring worm can be gotten by playing in dirt or sand that cats use as litter boxes. If you have any animals, have them checked, keep going back to derm until you start getting satisfaction that the ring worm is under control.

Jeeze,

Ring worm stinks

my husband got some special cream from the dermatologist that i used on the kids and it worked really well.
Called Naftine HCI 1 percent it cleared it up in a week but i was relentlessy applying the cream.

Its spreading because you need to clean everything,

If you have a sandbox,the sand needs to GO

and if you have been visiting the park, change to a diffrent one.

get some lysol spray and go crazy on everything especially the toys.

DO NOT bathe the kids together,

and Wash his pillow and pillow case

and MOST important, WASH his hands before he sleeps, after he sleeps, before he eats, after he eats ECT..

He is probably scratching it and spreading it that way.

they sell lamisil Over the counter you could try that cream before the oral meds.

but i can honestly tell you it takes time for the marks to go away,

Wash everything in Bleach and clorox complete for colors

What worked for my son, was something my mom and aunt said to do, however your son is a bit young,was BLEACH

My aunt said to put bleach on the spots but my son was 10 at the time not a baby, she said thats what she did with her kids back in the day,for poison Ivy and things like that aswell.

Needless to say i was desperate because it was spreading and i have 2 other kids,plus the school was freaking out calling me everyday, saying to cover it with a bandaid and he couldn't participate but was failing his classes ect..

so I got some paper towel and poured some on it and then made him stand in the tub,
and scrubbed the spots all over his body,

( like 14 diffrent places)- like you i thought it was excema

let it sit 1 minute till he said it really burned and then showered im off washing each spot carefully to remove the bleach. But bleach does burn and it can scar his skin so be very careful.

It did sting him, i did that 3 times over the course of a week and it cleared up MOST of his spots, including some spots that were eczema

My baby also had a spot in his hair but i used the naftine cream on it and it went away, and my husbands dandruf shampoo
Neutrogena and that worked.

the trick is to catch it early , other wise it multiplies like crazy.

good luck and i hope the dermatologist has something he can offer you.

M

PS your not dirty -- If my kids could get ring worm anyones kids could,

EDIT: HEY I am from White Plains too,
My Best friend still lives on Longview.

i have been working with a naturopath/pharmacist in New Jersey, Eric Sauer from The Natural Pharmacy in Ocean. My daughter was diagnosed with this crazy thing called Sydenham Chroea, which the doctor wanted to treat with a twice a day, FIVE year regimen of Penicillin. We met with the pharmacist and within weeks we're back to normal again. He treats with more natural remedies and gets to the heart of the matter, not just dealing with the syptoms. I recommend a call to them to see if they can help and possibly a visit if you're nearby. the website: http://www.ericsnaturalpharmacy.com/

good luck.

Hi KF,

My name is K. and I shop from a company that has safe and healthy products that may help your child's ringworm. They also have a great lotion for your excema! People have raved over how it has dramatically improved their excema or even eliminated it. These products have a 60 day empty bottle money back guarantee. I would love to speak with you and share the information with you.

I'm a mom of 3 girls & 1 boy and my 2nd daughter went through this when she was 2. I've never heard of a 6 month old getting this since you really do have to be in contact with someone who has it (or playing in a sandbox). I too let it go for some time thinking it was a bad breakout of her eczema until it was too late and she had to do the oral treatment which happened to be Griseofulvin. It worked wonders, but it did take persistance because she has a very sensitive stomach and she couldn't stand the taste of it and would vomit even when she smelled it. That made me want to give up but her pediatrician insisted that I continue with it because it was the best treatment and eventually she would get over the taste and just deal with it, which she did (some yogurt helped too.....a spoon b4 she swallowed and a spoon after, it acted as a coating). She did lose some hair in the process (which was very hard for me because she has beautiful hair & it was about the size of 50cent piece) but I could only imagine how much worse it could've been if she didn't have the medicine. She is 8 now and all is well, the hair grew back in no time and I just don't do the sleepover thing anymore....that's how she got it.

I don't know if you have a dog, but my mom used to get ringworm every time she went to her friends house who had a dog with dander and sure enough when she came home, she had a ring worm. Advice, if you have a dog - vaccuum up whatever hair,dander that may be found and reconsider displacing. Also, if you don't have a dog, then you need to serious think that he might have allergies to other things in the house - i.e. dust, dust mites, Ringworm is contagious, and people may become infected with the fungus from many different sources. Direct contact with an infected person can transmit the fungus. Direct contact with an infected animal’s skin or hair also can cause a person to become infected with ringworm. Animals with ringworm often have a patch of skin where hair is missing. Animals known to transmit ringworm include:

Cats (especially kittens)
Dogs (especially puppies)
Horses
Ferrets
Rabbits
Guinea pigs
Cows
Goats
Pigs

Good luck,
J. O'

Hi,

I see you've got a lot of responses to your question, that's great. My daughter had ringworm when she was about 6 years old. Her doctor prescribed a medication that I did not fill. I used pure Melaleuca oil (tea tree oil)on the infected area 2x a day. It worked like a charm. It cleared it up in about a week. Tea tree oil is a natural fungicide. Also, to make sure you don't have a re-infection clean (disenfect) the bath area where you bathe your little boy. You can mix drops of the oil with water and spray on his bedding. You can rest easy knowing that it is a natural oil, nothing harmful or toxic. Good luck!