It’s time to talk about ringworm. To begin with, there are no worms involved, though sometimes there might be ring-shaped scaly lesions on the skin. Ringworm is a fairly common fungal infection and is easily treatable. The medical name is tinea, a Latin word meaning “growing worm.” The hardy fungi live as spores for up to 18 months in soil, on hair or on keritinous body parts such as nails and claws. Tinea fungi have happily adapted to a wide range of environments, but they prefer warm, moist climates, so the past six months in Arkansas have been ideal.
Humans can contract the ringworm fungus by contact with infected humans or from dogs, cats, farm animals, rodents or birds. All of the above can pass ringworm to the others. It can spread even by contact with where an infected vector has been. Not all animals carrying the fungus display the symptoms, although they can pass it along.
There are different types of tinea. The typical infection on skin is called tinea corporis, athlete’s foot is tinea pedis, jock itch is tinea cruris and there are others. Ringworm associated with bearded areas of the head causes hair to fall out leaving bare spots. Barbers were blamed for spreading this back when men went to barbers. Tinea capitis manifests as spotty bald spots on the scalp and is readily shared by children at school.
Athlete’s foot is a scaly rash usually between toes. It can both sting and itch and is hard to scratch with your shoes on. An ideal breeding ground for tinea pedis would be between the toes of teenage basketball players, for example, who assume airing a pair of socks overnight would be sufficiently hygienic. These same feet share the shower with a dozen other similarly septic pairs of feet, and it is easy to see how tinea might spread. There are lotions and ointments available – in fact, there is an industry devoted to treating tinea pedis – but the easy first protection would be changing socks regularly.
The kind of tinea that suggests the common name often produces round spots on the skin accompanied by a red border. Medicinenet.com states, “Sometimes scaling, crusting, raised areas or even blister-like lesions can appear, particularly in the active border.” There are other conditions that produce similar symptoms which are not fungal, but identifying ringworm “is usually obvious from its location and appearance.”
Dogs and cats
Petmd.com says, “Symptoms of ringworm in dogs include accumulations of surface skin cells, such as seen in dandruff; poor hair coat; reddened skin; darkened skin; itchiness; and hair loss, which may be patchy or circular.” The bare skin might be scaly and there might even be boils or swollen lesions that ooze, indicating infection. Dogs might carry the fungus and be contagious, but show none of the symptoms.
Poor hygiene or nutrition can make an animal susceptible to ringworm infections, and dogs in kennels and animal shelters are especially vulnerable.
Local veterinarians claim cats contract ringworm more often than dogs. Symptoms are, again, patches of hair loss with red rings on the skin. Severe infections can affect the animal’s entire body. Tinea spores, being rugged and tenacious, might last more than a year on the cat’s favorite pillow or water bowl or even on stray hairs stranded in a corner. WebMD claims long-haired cats are more susceptible to tinea.
If your cat or dog (or pig or pet sheep…) seems to have ringworm, get an accurate diagnosis from the veterinarian. She might prescribe a special medicated shampoo or ointment. According to WebMD, “In order to ensure you’ve eradicated this resistant and hardy fungus, treatment may have to be given for several months or more.” Plus you would need to disinfect the pet’s environment or else the infection might start all over.
The bad news is the pet might be infected for more than a week before symptoms appear giving it ample time to plant tinea spores all over your house.
What to do for pets
The VetMedicine.com site offers this advice for pet owners who have a pet with a ringworm infection:
- Confine contaminated pets to one room.
- Vacuum deeply and often, taking care to dispose of vacuum bags or empty canisters.
- Dispose of rugs and carpets if you can.
- Wash or dispose of all bedding and toys.
- Wash applicable surfaces with soap and water and disinfect with a 1:10 diluted bleach solution (1part bleach, 10 parts water) or veterinary disinfectant.
Repeat as necessary.
Healthy, mature pets build up a resistance to ringworm, although they might still pass it around.
What to do for humans
Focused research on ringworm did not occur until it became a problem for soldiers in World War II in the South Pacific. Prior to the 1940s, some doctors treated tinea with x-ray therapy which was, of course, toxic. Also mercury- and iodine-based tinctures were prescribed. Since then, the pharmaceutical industry has produced a bountiful array of over-the-counter creams and ointments that have rendered ringworm in its various forms easier to treat.
British author and naturalist Nat Hawes recommends against “excessive consumption” of pharmaceuticals which might produce unhealthy side effects. Instead, she prefers restoring the body’s natural defenses so that the body fights off infections early. She suggests eating up to four garlic cloves daily because of its anti-fungal properties. One would also suppose this would limit person-to-person transmission because who would go near someone who eats four cloves of garlic daily?
Other suggestions from Hawes were cranberry juice, probiotics, high fiber diets and plenty of natural foods with vitamins A and C.
History is replete with marvelous and ingenious remedies for ringworm. The Encyclopedia of Folk Medicine lists these archaic strategies for treating ringworm:
- Ancient Irish believed a priest who was a seventh son could cure ringworm by breathing on the affected area three times and blessing it three times daily for eight days.
- Also in Ireland, the afflicted person could apply a poultice of burdock leaves prepared on the other side of the river so the worm would not smell the remedy and change location.
- Other botanicals to be rubbed on the ringworm were primrose, walnut tree bark, rotten apples and coltsfoot leaves.
- An early North American tradition was to apply copper coins dipped in vinegar; or spread a paste of gunpowder mixed with vinegar.
- Also, burn a bit of paper on an axe and rub the ash onto the sores.
- From early Louisiana, rub on the blood from a black hen.
- A Nebraska curative was a mixture of egg yolk, turpentine, coal oil, vinegar and salt. (This one took some experimenting to get it just right.)
- An easy old-time Mexican cure was to rub the ringworm sore with a sowbug.
Finally, from Ozark Superstitions by Vance Randolph, “The root of the bull nettle is used in treatment of skin diseases according to Otto Ernest Rayburn of Eureka Springs.”
Remarkable human ingenuity has been applied to the problem throughout history, yet tinea fungi have been up to the challenge so far. At least we now have a profusion of effective ointments and lotions, and we have learned not to share socks with teenage basketball players.