Going Round in Circles - Is it Ringworm OR Eczema?

Ringworm (Tinea Corporis) is a fungal condition of the skin (no worm is implicated here) Ringworm is often hard to distinguish between eczema, discoid eczema (also referred to as nummular) presents in a very similar way. Discoid eczema appears as darker/reddened patches on the skin that form circular shapes. Very itchy and often feels hot to the touch.

Whilst ringworm forms these same circular discoloured patches it tends to be less symptomatic. It may itch but not the often frantic and wild itching of eczema, and there is no sensation of heat with ringworm. Ringworm can cause scaly skin but again it’s not usually as severe as the dryness I see in chronic eczema cases. Whilst eczema can change from red to an almost dirty colour, ringworm doesn’t tend to change colour.

Many times the children I see with ringworm don’t actually have ringworm, they are usually eczema sufferers as this is a subject I am very interested in. What I have observed is that children can develop discoid eczema alongside other types of eczema, and this is what often confuses people. What appears to be ringworm is not a fungal issue at all.

What I also notice is that GPs don’t always know the difference either, so they cover all bases and send you home with antifungal and steroid creams, neither of which are an ideal option if you’re looking for a long term recovery. Ringworm may appear to fade after antifungal creams, but usually it returns. The same with eczema treated with steroid creams, it’s just a temporary suppression of a symptom, it may give temporary relief from the itching and rash, but when the steroid is stopped, the eczema rears its head again. This is a slippery slope of increasing strengths of steroids which will only cause skin damage in the long term..

This is where homeopathy is brilliant with issues like this, because to me I don’t necessarily need to know what the rash is, I just need to find out what the sensations are, when it appeared, how it presents on the body (location) what helps it and what irritates it. Red flags always raise for me when an eczema child is diagnosed with ringworm, especially if siblings and parents are unaffected by the ringworm. Often the remedies I would use to address ringworm are the same as I would consider for discoid eczema, this is because it presents in a similar way. Another red flag for me is when antifungal creams haven’t even been able to temporarily "improve" it.

To treat any skin condition I usually adopt a constitutional approach, which is a remedy that fits the physical symptoms as well as the personality & mental and emotional aspects, often a remedy is found based on how the sufferer feels about the problem. I give a lot of weight to this area as our reaction and coping mechanisms of a condition vary wildly!

I almost always use a homeopathic bowel nosode remedy alongside the constitutional remedy, I see these achieving some remarkable results in chronic and acute skin problems. We have about a dozen of these bowel specific remedies and several of them are indicated for ringworm or circular eczema, and our skin biome and gut biome are closely linked so it seems clear to me that we have to address from within to see a benefit externally.