Ringworm in humans provokes a pathological fungus. The disease occurs in different age groups, all genders, among all races and nationalities. The symptomatology of the disease is visible to the naked eye, but the root of the trouble is deep in the body. It is he who needs to be treated, and the sooner the better. Ringworm begins after contact with the carrier of the disease, when the fungus enters the human body.
general information
A weakened immune system is a risk factor for a wide range of diseases, including ringworm in humans. In some cases, when in contact with the carrier, another may remain healthy, but the other will easily fall ill. People who are subject to constant stress possess less resistance to pathological microorganisms: overstrain of the nervous system undermines health. In addition, hereditary factor can provoke ringworm. Scientific observations have shown that the likelihood of developing the disease is significantly higher if close relatives were affected by the fungus.
Risk factors:
- tendency to allergies;
- unreasonable, uncontrolled continued use of medications;
- weakening of the body's defenses against the background of infection, inflammation, infection with fungi;
- direct contact with the carrier (human, animal).
There is a higher risk of catching ringworm in a person who often visits nail, pedicure, beauty studios, pools and saunas, hairdressers and baths.
How to notice?
The first sign is the itching of the hair-covered part of the body. Quite often, ringworm is diagnosed in a person on the head. The development of the disease is accompanied by the separation of small skin particles, peeling - at first the process is similar to the manifestations of dandruff.
The development of the disease is similar to other types of lichen. A rash is observed on the skin, vesicles, red spots form. One of the classic signs of ringworm in humans is a hard spot on the head. As the fungal colony progresses, the lesion itches more and more, and skin particles are exfoliated. If infection with an infectious agent occurs or the disease progresses for a long time without adequate treatment, the area becomes a source of pus.
Although many signs of ringworm in a person are similar to other forms of lichen, there are distinctive features:
- foci of the disease become a localization site of increased fragility of hair;
- hair does not grow on the affected area, and existing ones break down under the spine;
- the peak of the disease is associated with the formation of one or more spots, which are as if trimmed by a machine.
The lack of adequate treatment from the very beginning leads to the defeat of large areas, the destruction of hair follicles, which means that these foci will not overgrow in the future. Timely initiated therapy helps prevent this outcome - after eliminating the fungal colony, the hair will gradually grow back, the focus will close.
Sometimes the disease is difficult - in such cases, it is especially important to start timely treatment. Symptoms of ringworm in a person, allowing to suspect that the disease proceeds according to an aggravated scenario:
- fever;
- heat;
- apathy;
- stress;
- digestive disorders.
Often, patients complain that the head hurts, and examinations reveal inflammation of the lymph nodes.
It is necessary to start treatment at the first sign of ringworm in a person, since the disease can spread throughout the body.
What to do?
Danger depriving not only the consequences of the lack of treatment, but also contagiousness - the disease can be transmitted quickly from person to person. To avoid this, at the first sign you need to consult a dermatologist to select the optimal therapeutic program. Do not get involved in self-medication: the doctor at the reception clearly explain why ringworm is harmful to humans, what could be the consequences of ineffective therapy.
To clarify the pathogen, the doctor sends for analysis. Based on the results of a laboratory study, they choose therapy. As a rule, the duration is from two months to twice as long. During the course you will have to constantly use ointments, creams. The choice of funds is made by the doctor, based on laboratory tests. The case subtype is taken into account. Lichen is aggravated:
Classic approach
Most often, sulfuric, salicylic ointments are used against ringworm in humans. The photos below demonstrate what the packaging of popular medicines for this disease looks like:
The doctor may advise you to stay on the drug "Mikospor". The reader can see how the two forms of release of this medicine look in the photo. Treatment of symptoms of ringworm in a person should be started immediately, as soon as the diagnosis is clarified.
The listed drugs must be used regularly. Compliance with the instructions allows you to achieve:
- weakening of itching;
- destruction of the pathogen;
- burning reduction;
- moisturizing diseased skin;
- relief of inflammation.
Additionally, the doctor may recommend regularly treating the disease foci with iodine.
Complex treatment
If the disease is severe, the doctor may recommend an integrated approach, systemic treatment. A fairly popular composition is Orungal (its photo is presented below). Symptoms of ringworm in a person proceeding in a complicated form can be eliminated with the help of Lamisil.
The maximum result is observed when combining funds that have a local effect, and systemic drugs. When prescribing, contraindications should be taken into account: many tablets provoke side effects if used improperly.
In some cases, the doctor recommends using allergy medications with antifungal and anti-inflammatory drugs. Additionally, you will have to reconsider the diet: for the entire period of the course of treatment they refuse heavy food. Strengthening the strength of the body with proper nutrition, giving up bad habits and starting to harden, you can defeat lichen much faster.
Children are ill
Sometimes it’s even scary to look at a photo of ringworm in a person: signs of the disease are observed in the youngest children. It is much more difficult to treat the disease than in an adult: the list of available medications is limited, and it is very difficult for a child to explain that the foci can not be touched, the integrity of the already sick integuments can be broken.
As can be seen from medical statistics, in children, lichen is observed much more often than in the older generation, since many come in contact with homeless animals. Manifestations of the disease are similar to those described above. If at the initial stage, ringworm in a person has not been treated, there is a likelihood of the disease becoming chronic. Especially high probability of such development in young patients.
It is necessary to treat under the supervision of a doctor. Self-medication is strictly prohibited. Particularly serious consequences can cause the use of systemic drugs that are not suitable for children. The doctor most often prescribes Lamisil when identifying a disease (his photo was presented above). Ringworm in humans is also treated:
- Nizoral.
- "Clotrimazole."
- "Travocort".
Therapy Features
If the disease progresses, inflammation is observed, antimicrobial creams, ointments are prescribed. To alleviate the patient’s condition, the doctor may recommend pain medication. To increase the body's defenses, they use mineral and vitamin complexes. Especially useful:
- ascorbic acid;
- tocopherol;
- retinol.
It is necessary to provide the child with good nutrition. If allergies or other side effects caused by treatment are detected, you should immediately consult a doctor for advice and, possibly, a replacement of the drug.
Medicine and biology
Ringworm develops on the skin covered with hair, smooth, and in severe form can spread to the nail plate. This disease is provoked by two types of pathogens:
- trichophytons;
- microsporums.
In the photo below - ringworm in humans in its original form, that is, a colony of the fungus with an increase. Trichophyton can only be transmitted between people. Dealing with such an infection is relatively simple.
Microsporums - bestiality; a person can get such a fungus by contact with a sick animal. According to statistics, more than one hundred thousand new cases of the disease are recorded annually in the European powers and in our country. Microsporium-induced lichen is the most common.
One of the forms of microsporum is transmitted only between people and provokes the formation of characteristic red rings on the skin. The diseased area swells, the skin is flaky, itching is assessed as moderate, and abscesses appear in a neglected form. More often this form of the disease is fixed in Asian countries than in European ones. In the absence of adequate therapy, a person will see reminders about her in his photos all his life: the treatment of ringworm in a person, begun too late, will help eliminate the colony, but will not allow hair to be returned to the affected area. "Trimmed" foci will remain for life.
Forms and types
In medicine, several stages of ringworm in humans are known:
- surface;
- infiltrate;
- infiltration with suppuration.
If the disease has reached the third stage, it is highly likely that the form will become chronic. Statistics show: 80% of all patients with ringworm chronicle are women.
Distribution Features
It is easiest to catch a ringworm by contact with an infected individual, but this path is not the only one. Infectious fungus is transmitted through household items, clothes and bedding, other personal and general things. From animals, people are more often infected by contact with young individuals, often because the manifestations of the disease are not yet visible. There is a risk of infection from a pet, cattle or rodents.
Disputes of a pathological microorganism, falling to the ground, remain viable for another quarter of a year. When working with the ground, it is necessary to use protective measures, otherwise the risk of infection increases. Once in favorable conditions, spores begin to multiply, harming the skin, hair follicles. The process is faster if the skin is damaged, there are wounds, scratches. Mushroom mycelium progresses with high speed on children's skin, more delicate and soft than in an adult.
Symptomatology
It is not easy to notice that a person already needs treatment for ringworm in a person (photos showing how the manifestations of the disease look can be found on the corresponding resources) - the first manifestations on smooth skin are quite insignificant, they do not rush into the eyes. First, a round or oval small pink spot is formed, which has clear edges. Most often, the disease begins with a couple of foci, around which small ones gradually appear. In the center, the area is flaky, vesicles are formed - sources of pus. The affected area itches.
It is even more difficult to notice the initial stage of ringworm in a person (see photo below) if the first affected areas appeared on hairy skin. First, plaque appears, similar in color and structure to flour. Hair growing near the outbreak looks sick and dull, hair loss is activated. The progress of the disease is accompanied by the characteristic “clipped” zones already described above, the hair residues on which do not exceed a centimeter in length.
An advanced disease is accompanied by bacterial infection. Hair falls out, sore areas are constantly irritated and are a source of burning. Ringworm does not go away on its own; without treatment, purulent lesions form, a transition to a chronic form is possible. The only reasonable option is to contact a dermatologist, mycologist, when the first symptom is manifested. The wider the surface covered by the fungus, the longer and more difficult the treatment will be.
Signs and manifestations
Symptoms of the initial stage depend on the location of the lesion. If the skin is affected, they are:
- reddish spots - sources of itching, peeling;
- flakes on the affected area;
- the formation of blisters exuding pus;
- color change of foci to saturated red;
- thickening, coarsening of nails;
- cracking of the skin of diseased toes;
- hair loss, brittleness, dullness of hair;
- foci of baldness.
Children's age: some features
More often, infection occurs with a superficial form of the disease, transmitted from person to person. First of all, hair, horn tissue of the skin are affected. External manifestations are usually not immediately noticeable, the duration of the incubation phase is up to one and a half months. You can notice lichen in a child by:
- flaky plaques;
- burning, itching.
At the reception, the doctor will take a scraping, check the skin of the waters with a special lamp and send the samples for analysis to the laboratory to determine the type of pathogenic microorganism. If there is insufficient information obtained by such methods, a sowing and virological examination is done.
According to doctors, children are more often infected with the disease in camps, kindergartens, schools, as well as in contact with sick animals. There is a higher risk of getting sick if the immune system is weak. The therapeutic course is necessarily supplemented with drugs that increase the immunological status of the patient.
Note!
For young patients, an atypical course of the disease is more characteristic. The disease is accompanied by:
- high fever;
- enlarged lymph nodes;
- loss of appetite;
- general lethargy.
In medical practice, several cases have been described when the disease went away on its own in adolescent boys. This is explained by the production during this period of an increased amount of undecylenic acid, which inhibits the vital activity of a pathological microorganism. These cases are an exception, usually without medication, lichen is not treated.
Features of lichen in adults
The frequency of infection of adults is lower, more often associated with professional activities. People working in the field of agriculture with animals are at risk of getting sick. If the pathological microorganism is obtained from an animal, lichen is more difficult, more difficult to treat, prone to a rapid transition to the third, most difficult stage. The maturation period of the primary spores is no more than a week. The first foci of the disease are observed more often on:
- temples;
- the top of the head;
- the crown of the head.
In the absence of adequate therapy, the edges of the ring are soon supplemented with purulent formations, nodules.
The most severe course is observed against the background of immunosuppressive conditions, HIV.
Atypical case
The course of the disease acquires a rather unpleasant character if the nail plates suffer - they become thicker, change shape, appear tubercles, and the surface becomes rough by touch. On the edges of the nail plate, streaks, spots of gray-white shade may appear.
Extremely unpleasant symptoms are accompanied by ringworm, which has developed on the pubis, hips (inner surface), genitals, lower abdomen. A distinctive feature of this part of the human body is the branching of the circulatory system, so that the pathogen is able to quickly migrate. It is recommended to completely abandon sexual activity until complete recovery - the risks are too high to pass the disease to a partner.
Another atypical form is aggravated. This is a chronicle that is characterized by constant, albeit slow, progress. Observed on the background:
- tuberculosis
- arthritis;
- HIV
Hair does not thin out by foci, but in general, bald spots soon appear.
Alternative methods against lichen
Use of alternative medicine recipes is possible only by agreement with the doctor as an addition to the main course. Quite often resort to garlic, effective against viruses, fungi. The recipe for use is simple: twice a day, foci of the disease are treated with fresh juice.
You can prepare a medicine from garlic and castor oil. For 100 g of fruit, previously passed through a garlic squeezer, take a glass of castor oil, put in the oven for three hours. After cooling, the drug is used twice daily, lubricating the damaged skin areas with it.
Another common remedy is propolis, mixed with alcohol in a ratio of 1: 4. The mixture is allowed to infuse, after which it is used to treat diseased integuments for a week. Repeat rate - every five hours.