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Ringworm Symptoms and Signs Ringworm is a fungal infection that is found on the top layer of the skin. Ringworm is also known as tinea corporis when it is found on the body or in the skin folds. Athlete’s foot is known as tinea pedis, jock itch in the groin area is called tinea cruris, and ringworm of the scalp is called tinea capitis. Ringworm looks like a rash that is circular, red and itchy, with skin that looks completely healthy in the middle of the circle. Ringworm has nothing to do with worms, but is so named because of the ring that appears. Ringworm infection can be caused by air-born spores, and is the same type of fungus as candidiasis, rosacea, and yeast mold. Ringworm Symptoms
More than one ringworm patch can appear, and sometimes the red rings overlap on the body. Most often the signs of ringworm include:
Ringworm of the foot is called athlete’s foot, and the signs are scaling and cracking of the feet, especially between the toes. Ringworm can appear on the nails and cause them to become thick, brittle, discolored, or sometimes the nails become chalky and disintegrate. This form of ringworm is known as onychomycosis. Ringworm of the scalp will usually appear between 10 and 14 days after contact, and ringworm of the skin appears between 4 and 10 days after contact. Ringworm can affect animals as well. It is called dermaphytosis in animals, and affects the scalp, body and nails of mostly younger animals. Scalp Tinea The ringworm fungus is commonly found in the scalp. The signs and symptoms are reddening and crusting of the scalp, and often scaling of the scalp occurs as well. The ringworm will itch intensely. It can cause hair loss, and nearly 50 percent of hair loss in children is caused by ringworm. Infected hairs become brittle and break easily, and often a yellowish crusty area develops in the scalp. A type of ringworm caused by the organism microsporum is known as gray patch ringworm and starts as small red bumps around the hair shaft. It is not very common anymore in the United States, but is round in Eastern Europe. The most common type of scalp ringworm in the United States is called black dot ringworm, from the organism trichophyton. It affects the hair shaft and leaves the hair brittle, and when the hair breaks off the remaining portion looks like a black dot. |
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