Monday, October 24, 2011

Ringworm

I am a 26 year old woman and somehow, unbeknownst to me, I contracted the skin fungus known as Ringworm.  It first appeared on my knee and I thought it was just a heat rash.  It stated forming a circle and I thought to myself, "well that's odd" haha, and I asked my Mom about it the next time I saw her and she goes, "Ew, that looks like RINGWORM!". All I heard was "worm" and immediately started to fuhhhreak out!  I went home and looked it up online and read that it is a skin fungus that is EASILY treated with cream you can pick up at your local pharmacy. So, I'm thinking no big deal, I'll get some cream and it will be gone.  I rush out and get some Lotrimin and start using it as directed: Morning and night daily for 4 weeks. 
Not only did it not work, the ringworm spread to both my forearms, two on my stomach, one right above each armpit, one on my upper arm, and one on my BOOB!,  got bigger, and became more inflamed!  In a complete panic, I started doing some online research and decided (after spending literally hours on the computer completely terrifying myself with all those scary pictures of it spreading to the scalp...EEEP, not my hair!!) to try bleach.  I used two cups of warm water and 1/3 cup of bleach, mixed it together, and applied it to the ringworm with a cotton ball. I read that for some people it doesn't burn and for others it does, for me IT BURNED, but I honestly think it was because they had gotten pretty bad. After the bleach dried, I applied the Lortimin Ringworm cream to my arm and then put a band aid on top to try and keep the anti-fungal cream on the worm overnight. I also showered twice a day morning and night (never using the same towel twice!) and cleaned my shirts, bedding, and pillow cases every other day. At first the ringworm and skin around it became inflamed and raw from the bleach.
(Warning some graphic/nasty pictures! Can't believe this was my body.)
Arm:
This is how my arm looked at first.


After applying bleach.

Knee (Beware: WORSE!):



As you can see from the pictures they both stated healing (after becoming the grossest things I've ever had on my body) so, I decided to stop with the bleach and just go back to the anti-fungal cream to try and let the skin around the ringworm (which had become irritated; basically, nasty wounds formed around the nasty ringworm...attractive) try to heal as well.  Two days after I stopped the bleach the ringworm came back!  At this point I was well over a month in my ringworm battle and I just broke down and started bawling. I am talking hiccups, snot, "my life is over, I will forever be plagued with fungus", SOBBING!
I went back into online research mode and, after doing lots of hunting, found this product you can get in your pharmacy called: AZO Yeast. It is pills (all natural) made for fighting and preventing (take 3 a day if you are fighting an infection and 1 a day to help prevent future infections) yeast infections from the inside BUT during my trillions of hours doing research, I read that ringworm is caused by the same fungus as a yeast infection, so I thought if it kills a yeast infection from the inside, and a yeast infection is the same as ringworm, it should help with my ringworm. What was the worst that could happen? A extra healthy vagina?  So I started taking 3 a day with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And, also, bought a anti-fungal soap called: Medicated Fungi Cure Anti-Fungal Soap for Jock Itch, which is also cause by the same fungus as ringworm, and started using it in my twice-a-day showers.  In the shower I started using a washcloth (CLEAN ONE EVERY DAY!) and rubbing really hard on the fungus and then rubbing the soap in and letting it sit for a couple minutes. Then, when I got out of the shower, used a small amount of bleach on each "worm", followed by the anti-fungal cream. The ringworm infection started clearing up immediately.
It's been about 2 weeks since I started taking the pills and using the soap with the cream and bleach and this is what my ringworm looks like now:
 The red spot is actually a scab from where my skin was irritated from the bleach.
Again, the red line is a scab from bleach irritation.
I stopped using the bleach 2 days ago so the scabs are healing as you can see and the worm is almost completely gone (KNOCK ON EFFING WOOD, I WILL JUST FOKKING DYYYE IF IT COMES BACK!!) I promised that if I ever figured out how to beat this nasty fungus I would do all I could to share it with anyone who would listen. Shower twice a day with anti-fungus soap, apply bleach mixture (2 cups warm water, 1/3 cup bleach), apply anti-fungal cream, and take AZO Yeast 3 times a day! This is what has worked for me. I will update again later when they are completely gone! (I refuse to think of the possibility of them returning.)