Share your experiences with ringworm

[buhriyon]

Only had it once, and I used lamisil which seemed to have worked the best. I also tried the bleach route but it didn't really do much for me. For those who are willing to go extreme routes and don't care about chemical burns I wonder if liquid wart remover would kill ringworm.

 

[Amave]

how does ringworm get transmitted?


does it travel in sweat?

does it stick to the gi fabric?

 

[Bellicose]

Yes, because the chlorine and sodium hypochlorite being absorbed into the skin in pure bleach is the same as the Mineral Oil, Propylene, Water, and Petrolatum that is absorbed along with the measly 1% Tolnaftate anti-fungal medication in an OTC cream.

Listen, I took the advice of my doctor, which was not to give the fungus anything to feed off of and to keep the ringworm spot as DRY as possible at all times. Most people come back too fucking early from ringwork and guess what? It spreads to the next guy who comes back too early, etc., etc.

The bottom line is, take your time, be conservative with your return date and spare everyone the risk. It's simply not worth it for you to put people at risk because you can't miss one extra week of class in your 10-15 year jiu jitsu career.

Yeah, and the potassium that's in orange juice is the same potassium that explodes when it comes into contact with water, but you don't see you're head bursting when you drink a glass do you? There is a difference in both concentration and in ionic value. I guess if you drink sea water you won't dehydrate yourself either no? Water's water and all moisture must be bad. Also, don't shower when you get back from the gym, you don't want to feed and fungus that might be on you.

A lot of creams are petroleum based, that way there's as little moisture (or more accurately water) as possible.

For the record, bleach will absolutely work just fine. I used it. There's no need to worry about the water in bleach feeding any fungus because BLEACH KILLS FUNGUS.

You want ringworm gone in a week, and I mean GONE?
Wash the area with soap and HOT water and scrub, get those pustules open, widen those pores. Then while the area is still wet, use some cotton or a paper towel to pad on some bleach. Now that shit is gonna burn and bubble, be leave it there for a bit. After you've committed fungicide, be sure to rewash to remove any excess bleach, wait for the area to dry. Apply preferred fungicide cream.

Watch that shit disappear like Houdini in less than a week. (The ringworm I mean, you might still have some scabbing)

 

[mogway]

I got a bad case of ringworm after I came back from The IBJJF Europeans in january. I started getting some on the back of my head. I thought it was just the regular ringworm so I put my usual Canesten cream on it which normally does the job but these wouldn't go after 2 weeks. So I went to see a pharmacy and the guy told me that they were not ringworm but were Herpes... He gave some herpes lotion and after 1 month it got worse and spread on my chest. I thought that I was doomed for Jiu-Jitsu as herpes is not curable and stays with you your whole life.
I went to see a real dermatologist this time and he told that they were ringworms but that Canesten cream was too weak and that I had to take a stronger pill and cream. After 3 weeks of treatment, I was cured Thank God. Moral of the story, always go to see a dermatologist and not just anybody, like I did

 

[RJ Green]

@ Arnave - to answer your first question, yes and yes are the answers to your second questions.

Ringworm is a fungus. Fungii are just like Fun guys - they like to hang out in damp, dark, warm places.

the easiest method of transmission is skin-to-skin or skin-to-mat-to-skin. you can also get it from sharing towels, or wearing an unwashed gi.

that's why it's also known as 'athlete's foot' and 'jock itch' - dirty locker room floors and dirty towels, respectively. it's like why they called TB consumption back in the day.

anything porous makes a good fomite, which is doctor speak for 'carries around bad shit like its job'. your gi/belt is a fan-fucking-tastic fomite.

ultimately, ringworm is something that is transmitted due to a degradation in hygiene. you know that dude with the stinky gi? he hasn't been washing it, he probably has ringworm. you know those mats you haven't made the white belts wash in two weeks? that's prime breeding grounds for ring worm.

for some reason, people like to pass around this bullshit that you don't wash your belt because of tradition or 'ki', often having something to do with like 'well, the dirtier your belt gets, the darker it gets, signifying how long you've had it'

BULLSHIT

you know who invented belts? Judo. you know why? to make people feel better. you know how many colors of belt there were? two. why the rainbow of belts in martial arts now? revenue and incentive.

at the beginning of the summer i asked people if they had washed their belts. it hadn't occurred to any of the newer group, which is fine, but one of the regulars decided to say 'well, if i wash my belt it'll shrink and it won't fit'. that's a great fucking excuse not to clean something.

wash your gi when you get home. if you don't have a washer/dryer, throw that shit in the bathtub. don't let it marinate, either - just a quick soak, rinse, and dry it as quickly as you can.

now, the best thing you can do to keep it from spreading amongst yourself and others is to not practice, and not itch. itching spreads the infection, and gets it under your fingernails. so does practice.

you cannot cover ringworm and it'll just 'be okay'. you can't just 'get on the mat and stretch'. you need to watch what/who you touch, even in your own home. put your clothes in a separate hamper. change your sheets on a daily basis or lay down some towels and sleep on those.

some of these treatment remedies are fucking ridiculous. cutting and bleaching opens up a wound you didn't have, allowing for an infection you weren't going to get. you're not a tough guy for choosing these methods, you're just a retard. you're probably the kid who branded himself with a paperclip and lighter because you thought it was cool. you're not cool, you're an idiot.

lotrimin's efficacy is very, very sub-par. too damn long.

you want the shit to go away? lamasil. every time. thrice daily until the ring/bump goes away, and then continue for a week after it's gone.

do not practice for two weeks. just don't. hold your horses and have respect for your training partners.

source -7 semesters into a microbiology degree, special interest in immunology and medical microbiology. i kind of know what the fuck i'm talking about, moreso than your dad/high school rasslin coach.

 

[RJ Green]

two more snippets of sage wisdom - you're not a fucking doctor. your coach/bud/dad isn't a fucking doctor. if lamasil doesn't fix it, go to the fucking doctor.

also, pets can get ringworm just as easy as we can. leave kitty and poochy-poo alone - it's a lot harder to see ringworm underneath fur.

 

[van1ty]

got it my first month of training. got some over the counter shit, didn't work at all.

finally went to the doctor after a month, got more shit, finally cleared up after 3 months.

all back in may-aug 2007

worst itch of my life... and boy did i scratch the shit out of it.

 

[mixmaster staph]

worst itch of my life... and boy did i scratch the shit out of it.

There's your problem.

 

[tSekaPrivet**]

got it my first month of training. got some over the counter shit, didn't work at all.

finally went to the doctor after a month, got more shit, finally cleared up after 3 months.

all back in may-aug 2007

worst itch of my life... and boy did i scratch the shit out of it.

You had ringworm for 4 months?

LOL.

I think the ringworm's gone, the 2 spots are flat (even better, lower than my skin surface) but a little darker than my skin tone... I think they're basically scabs.

Been to the Ocean 2X in 1 week and rub lamasil 1-2 x a day, also hot showers.

 

[krutch11]

Same story as most people here.
Got ringworm, got over the counter shit didn't do jack all (clotrimazole?). Tried straight up Tea Tree Oil for a few weeks and still not much improvement. Went to the doc and got a prescription for loprox and it worked, but took a good month or so to fully go away.

It came back a few weeks later and I had a tourney at the end of the week. Used the 100% bleach treatment twice a day for 3 days without much improvement (some nice chemical burns though). Switched over to Defense Soap Essential Oils and it cleared it up enough for me to compete and pass a skin check.

Using Defense Soap after every training session now that I know how much of a pain having ringworm is.

 

[Defense Soap]

Glad to be there for you Krutch 11. I once saw our oil clear up a ringworm on a youth wrestler's face in 2 days. They brought him on a Wednesday night after preactice. We started treating it right away and by Friday he passed the skin check. By Sunday afternoon he was the Empire State Games Champion. We were glad to be there for him too.

Guy
Defense Soap