What are your experiences of Ringworm?

Lear

I'd be grateful to hear your experiences with this dreaded problem my family have. My 5 year old son caught this from a friend at school and passed it onto the rest of the family. We are a family of 5 and each one of us have had it at least 4 times in different areas.

I can't see how I can be cleaner. Each one of us has their own towel which is washed immediately after use, our pillow cases are washed every day (two of my sons have ringworm on their scalp), duvets and sheets are washed every other day and they are being treated with various creams/shampoos. My children are all under 5 so it's hard to avoid contact with them, they love their cuddles but I always make sure I'm not touching the effected area.

I've been to see the doctor on numerous times (my son originally had it back in January) who doesn't see it as that serious but it's really, really getting me down. I've tried 4 different creams on prescription to no avail and am now using Daktarin Gold but at £5 for a tiny tube it's getting expensive (the dr said she can't prescribe me this).

I_should_be_rich_2

Hi Lear,
My 5 year old son has just recently had this on his scalp.
Not sure how much help I can be - the doctor prescribed a special shampoo for him which we used daily along with a pill to take each day (can't remember name but can check if you like?) and it took a week or so to go away - his hair is now growing back on that patch so not too noticeable.

I didn't too anything different to what you seem to be doing - separate towels etc - kept my 3 year old DD out of his room so she wouldn't get up on his bed etc. We were lucky in that my OH, DD or myself did not get it.

Sorry not more help, it does sound like you have been unfortunate.

Lear

Thanks for your reply I_should_be_rich - it would be great if you could let me know the name of the pill please. I had heard of a pill and mentioned this to the doctor who told me it is not available to children.

I_should_be_rich_2

Just called my hubby to read the label on the pills.

Says TERBISIL KID - Terbinafine 125mg. He had to take half a tablet daily for about 10 days. So combined with the shampoo it really seemed to work. The doctor did say that once treatment starts it is not really contagious (though I did keep him off school for almost a week just in case!) so sounds like you may all have picked it up before you started the creams etc.

Do you have any pets? We don't, but I understand that dogs are often 'culprits' for ringworm......?

Lear

Thank you for replying with that information - no, we don't have any pets and neither do any friends/family.

I_should_be_rich_2

You're welcome Lear and good luck with getting rid of it. I know there are much worse illnesses they can get, and in that sense it is not serious, but these things can be very annoying when they just won't go away!!

Only other thing I can suggest (though you may have done this already) is to wash / freeze all toys - especially any soft toys in the house. My next door neighbour is a paediatrician and she says that soft/cuddly toys probably retain more germs than anything else in the house :eek:

wifeforlife

My daughter had it on her scalp last year, the hair still hasnt grown back - it was so noticable at the time, people thought she had cancer! I was prescribed a medicine for her and a cream to be put on 3 times a day, to be honest they both worked but I have to admit I didnt change anything

It's extremely contagious so regardless of using seperate items I didnt want to make it into a big issue for her and give her a complex, I didnt contract it

If I was you I'd go back to the doctor and tell her you need something stronger as it's having a major effect on the family life - I'd also issue a complaint to the school - clearly it isnt being dealt with my the school board if it's continuous

Cate

Nicki

My child had it due to an outbreak at school. The outbreak at school was so bad that after one term, the school said that any child who contracted it could not come back until it was completely clear to avoid passing it on further. We weren't able to get rid of it from her for more than a term, and she missed a lot of school as a result, about which we were hopping mad, particularly as she hadn't got it at all until after the edict was issued, and had definitely got it from other children in her class who didn't miss school!

None of the creams worked for her. We had every cream known to man prescribed and tried them all for weeks on end. She saw 3 different paediatric dermatologists none of whom could work out how to get rid of it, and had to have skin scraping and a biopsy of the area under General Anaesthetic, which is really extreme but school wouldn't have her back until we got a solution!

In the end, what finally worked was treating the whole family with oral meds (terbinafine) for 3 weeks, even though none of the rest had it, and her with one of the stronger creams too (sorry, now can't remember which was the last cream of the many she used). It is highly contagious though, so you do need to be careful not to catch it yourself, and be prepared for it to take months to completely clear. You must take the meds and use the cream for the full period by the way not stop when the marks have gone, as on its way out it lies under the skin for a while and if you stop too early, it will come back in more virulent form than ever. The dermatologist thought this was perhaps why DD got such a resistant strain - because the other children in school who had had repeated bouts had not been treated properly and had passed on a super-strength version to her!

She was 5 or 6 when she got it, so the oral meds are definitely available for children, though hers were prescribed by a consultant so they may not be licensed for children and therefore not available from a GP?

carefullycautious

Its pretty normal occurrance in the countryside. I have caught it just touching a post that cows had rubbed against. I have also caught it from my two cats

Anti fungal cream as advised by your doctor or pharmacist will soon resolve this.

ellen1974_2

My daughter has had this for over a year now. We dont know where she caught it and no-one else has caught it off her (she always has it covered and I put a few drops of tea tree oil in every wash in case). We have tried about 8 different creams and have managed to get rid of all but one large one on her leg.
Im absolutely sick of it and will be asking for oral medication next time.