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Dermatophytid; Tinea
To care for ringworm:
Your health care provider may prescribe pills to treat the fungus if you have:
You may need medicines such as ketoconazole, which are stronger than over-the-counter products. You may also need antibiotics to treat skin infections from strep or staph that are caused by scratching the area.
Infected pets also should be treated.
Skin medicine usually treats ringworm within 4 weeks. If your ringworm infection is severe or it does not respond well to self-care, it will usually respond quickly to antifungal pills.
Call your doctor right away if you have any signs of a bacterial infection, which can result from scratching. These signs include swelling, warm skin, sudden worsening in redness of the patches, red streaking, pus, drainage, and fever.
Call your doctor if:
Superficial fungal infections. In: Habif TP, ed. Clinical Dermatology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2009:chap 13.
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