Ring Worm

Homoeo call: The skin is constantly a target of attack take care of yourself to foil the attackers.

Our skin, which is the largest organ of the body, is the target for many organisms trying to breach through and cause an infection. Ringworm is one organism that most frequently succeeds. The name is a misnomer in the sense that it is not a worm that causes the infection but a fungus called dermatophytes which finds the skin surface an ideal place to thrive.

Ringworm, the skin infection, is known to afflict the trunks, upper and lower limbs, sometimes the scalp and quite often the groins. Different strains of this tinea fungs find their way into the grooves of toes and the nails are affected too. The shedding skin, dead tissues of hair and nails give enough nutrition for this fungus to infest and thrive. It tends to cause a red, raised, bumpy, thick, scaly and round or circular type of eruption and so the name. Within the circumference is usually the smoother skin and the size gradually seems to increase and starts to appear over the new areas of the body. More than anything it is the pretty upleasant sensation of itching that is bothersome and socially inhibiting.

Ringworm occurs in all ages though it occurs more in children and young adults. It tends to spread from one person to another by touch of the infected surface, shared objects like combs, towels and bed linen, gymnasium objects etc. So personal hygiene plays a main role in the spread of the disease. That is the reason why children playing in close proximity, sportspersons etc. are more prone to this condition. Once the infection begins it tends to spread to other areas of the body with the only irritating feature that is itching. If the areas of the scalp or beard are affected it appears in the form of pimple to start with and later becomes dry, scaly and rough leading to bald patches. The affected nails appear yellow, thick and brittle. If the space between the toes is afflicted they appear red and scaly.

Homoeopathic medicine has good remedies to see away the infection without an issue. Dulcamara, Rhus tox a are a couple of remedies that help initially. Hepar sulph is another remedy that gets worse in people suffering from the problem in cold months. Merc sol has been found to be helpful apart from Silicea in individuals prone to sweat a lot. Tellurium is found to be specific in such cases. Itching is alleviated with simple remedies like Ars alb, Kali ars etc.