ringworm woes

[morocco]

ds has just been diagnosed with ringworm (as has the cat!). has anyone else had a child with ringworm and got any advice on how to get rid of it and keep it at bay? We've got a cream from the doctors - a mix of an antibiotic and nystatin - and the cat has tablets to take for amonth but I'm a bit concerned that it might reoccur. Any advice?

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DD had ringworm last year. It has nothing to do with worms - it is a fungal infection, very similar to athletes foot. It is only called ring worm because of the appearance of the marks on the skin.

Sorry if you know that already, but I was really worried that she had real worms under the skin!!

It does take a bit of time to get rid of and like athletes foot is quite contaigeous - so she needs to have her own towels, wash hands after handling the cat etc.

The cream sounds the same as DD had - it was very effective. She must of had it for 4 or 5 weeks and then it cleared up - hasn't had it since.

Make sure that you keep the cat regularly wormed (every six months) to ensure that it is worm free. Also, make sure that your ds washes his hands before eating anything and very regularly if he bites his nails.

Hi, morocco. We've had several doses of ringworm - once you know it's just a fungus you can be quite blase about it while other people recoil from you in disgust!

DS2 had the worst one, on top of his head, he ended up with quite a large bald patch before I realised what it was (he scratched it a lot and I thought that was the problem in itself), and when the hair grew back it was different - it's darker and sticks up more.

It is usually caught from animals so if you can sort your cat out your DS is less likely to get it again, but still could from another animal. If you keep the tube of cream you've got now, or get an OTC anti-fungal cream, you can treat it as soon as you spot it in future.

hi morocco - we've all had it, and the cat had bald ears. I think you're meant to boil towels etc. I remember its incredibly contagious - ie you get it by touching it. Good luck!

thanks all for your advice (not sure about shooting the cat though) - the ointment seems to be working well which I'm pleased about and we're also covering the cat in tea tree oil which she isn't at all pleased about. Today is the grand house cleaning day so I hiope that will help too. ds seems to be Mr Funghi really - he's already had lots of thrush so maybe he's just more susceptible to those kinds of infections. anyway, fingers crossed and do post more advice if you think of anything, especialy any herbal/non-mediacl remedies you might know of.
Cheers