Symptoms of Ringworm
Ringworm is a common type of fungal infection that develops on the surface of the skin. Despite the name, ringworm does not involve actual worms as it is sometimes believed. Ringworm is characterized by a few common symptoms, and is usually diagnosed based solely upon the physical appearance of a rash that the ringworm forms. Ringworm is commonly spread by human to human contact, but can also be spread by animals or shared objects.
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Ring Rash
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The telltale sign of ringworm is a circular or ring shaped rash on the skin. The ring is usually reddish and inflamed, possibly with bumpy skin similar to goose bumps, while the skin outside the ring, and in the middle of the ring will look relatively normal. Larger outbreaks of ringworm can result in multiple rings on different parts of the skin.
Scaled Skin
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Sometimes outbreaks of ringworm to not take the typical ring form with a healthy looking outside and inside. Ringworm may also cause rashes that are blotchy patches of scaly skin or rashes that form around each other. For instance you might initially have a ring shaped rash that develops a larger scaly rash around it. As the severity progresses, rings can overlap.
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Iching
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Another common sign of ringworm are patches of skin that are excessively itchy. When a patch of skin has an obvious ring accompanied by itching, a ringworm diagnosis is easy to make, but sometimes there will be round patches of itchy skin that do not yet exhibit a great deal of redness of raised skin.
Hair and Nails
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When ringworm affects areas that are normally covered in hair, such as the scalp or face, it can cause the area to lose hair, creating bald spots. It can also make any hair growing from the area less healthy, and stubbly. If ringworm infects an area near the nails, the nails can thicken or become more yellowish or whitish.
Other Rashes
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Ringworm is closely related to athlete's foot and jock itch, which may sometimes be mistaken for ringworm. Jock itch is characterized by itchy, flaky, reddened or irritated skin around the groin and buttocks. Athletes foot is often characterized by burning and itching in between the toes, cracked skin on the toes and discoloration or thickening of the toenails.
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