Ringworm is a contagious skin disease.
But unlike its name suggests, it is not a worm, nor is it caused by it or any other insect.
The ringworm cause is fungi named Dermatophytes.
Ringworm is also known as tinea corporis.
It affects many parts of the body, usually the skin, the scalp, fingers, inside the nails, and on the feet.
The Dermatophytes fungi usually thrive on dead tissues.
It usually presents itself as a circular raised rash on the skin with healthy skin on the center.
Ringworm is a contagious disease.
It can spread to humans by direct contact to surfaces that have the Dermatophytes fungi.
It usually spreads from person to person, but it is also possible for ringworm to spread from person to animal, animal to person, or even person to inanimate objects.
When you get to touch something that is infected by ringworm, it is possible that you would also contract the disease.
Ringworm usually thrives when the conditions for it are just right.
It usually prefers moist conditions.
Some common ringworm cause in humans is wearing of caps or socks for an extended period of time.
When we sweat, the fabrics get moistened up.
This gives the fungi a chance to spread and wreak havoc.
This explains why ringworms usually get to occur in the feet and scalp of humans.
Children have a very high chance of contracting ringworm if left unsupervised.
Kids usually just want to play all day.
Even if their socks are soiled, they would just keep on playing like nothing happened.
If this is so, ringworm would really have the chance to infect them.
Another common ringworm cause is being in close contact to pets carrying the disease.
The pets usually get to carry the disease from infected soil.
When these pets are near other pets and humans, the ringworm would readily spread to the others.
You should be very careful when dealing with pets, as they might not show the symptoms of ringworm even if they carry the disease.
When you get to experience ringworm, there are some treatments that you could try.
There are over the counter medicines like anti fungal creams.
If the ringworm is more general or your topical creams are not very effective, oral medicines may help to eradicate all the symptoms of ringworm.
There are other things that you could do to keep the ringworm from spreading.
You should always make sure that the area affected by the ringworm is kept dry.
Also, try not to share things like towels and combs to avoid spreading the infection to others.
There are several preventive measures to make sure that you would minimize your chances of getting ringworm.
The best place to start is to have a good hygiene.
You should always make sure that you wash your hands whenever you touch something dirty.
Also, you should change your socks and underwear everyday as these things tend to get wet quite often.
You should also try to avoid things that are known to be a ringworm cause.