Scalp Ringworm (Child)

Home care

Your child’s health care provider will prescribe antifungal medicine by mouth. Don’t stop giving this medicine until your child has finished it. Follow all instructions for using any medicine on your child. The medicine is absorbed better when it's given with fatty foods like ice cream or milk.

General care

• The health care provider may recommend medicated shampoo for your child The shampoo may help reduce the risk of spreading the infection to others, but it doesn't cure ringworm. Be sure to wash your hands with soap and clean, running water before and after bathing your child and washing their hair.

• Follow all directions from your child's provider for prescribed oral medicine (antifungal pills).

• Make sure your child does not scratch the affected area. Scratching can delay healing and may spread the infection. It can also cause a bacterial infection. You may need to use “scratch mittens” that cover your child’s hands. Keep their fingernails trimmed short.

• If there are blisters, put a clean compress dipped in Burow’s (aluminum acetate) solution on them. This solution is available in stores without a prescription. Wash the compress well before you reuse it. This prevents the infection from spreading.

• Wash any items, such as hats, combs, brushes, hair clips, towels, bed linens, pillowcases, and helmets that may have touched the infected area. Tell your child not to share these items with others.

• Don’t shave or close cut the hair. This does not help heal the infection.

• Use two towels to dry your child after their bath. Use one towel to dry the head. Don’t use it on the rest of the body. Use the second towel to dry the body. Before reusing these towels again, wash them in hot water with detergent.

• Check your child’s scalp every day for blisters and patches that don't improve or that get worse.

• It can take up to 6 weeks for the head lesions to go away.

Special note to parents

Ringworm of the scalp is contagious. Keep your child from close contact with others and out of daycare or school for at least 2 days after treatment has started. Wash your hands well with soap and clean, running water before and after caring for your child. This is to help prevent spreading the infection.

Your child shouldn't play contact sports or use public swimming pools, lockers, or showers until your health care provider says it's safe to do so.

Steroid creams to treat ringworms are not recommended by the CDC. They aren't effective and may make the condition worse.

Pet care . Ringworm gets easily transferred from infected animals to humans. If you suspect that your pet has ringworm, contact a veterinarian.

Follow-up care

Follow up with your child’s health care provider. Ringworm of the scalp can be very hard to treat. In very rare cases, the infection does not go away fully until the child reaches the teen years.

When to get medical advice

Contact your child’s health care provider right away if:

• Your child has a fever. (See “Fever and children” below.)

• The scalp becomes swollen, soft, hot, and tender.

• Fussiness or crying can’t be soothed.

• Bad-smelling fluid leaks from the skin. 

• Ringworm continues to spread after your child has had 2 weeks of treatment and has taken medicine regularly.

Fever and children

Always use a digital thermometer to check your child’s temperature. Never use a mercury thermometer.

For infants and toddlers, be sure to use a rectal thermometer correctly. A rectal thermometer may accidentally poke a hole in (perforate) the rectum. It may also pass on germs from the stool. Always follow the product maker’s directions for correct use. If you don’t feel comfortable taking a rectal temperature, use another method. When you talk to your child’s health care provider, tell them which method you used to take your child’s temperature.

Here are guidelines for fever temperature. Ear temperatures aren’t accurate before 6 months of age. Don’t take an oral temperature until your child is at least 4 years old.

Babies under 3 months old:

• Ask your child’s health care provider how you should take the temperature.

• Rectal or forehead (temporal artery) temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider.

• Armpit (axillary) temperature of 99°F (37.2°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider.

Child age 3 to 36 months:

• Rectal, forehead, or ear temperature of 102°F (38.9°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider.

• Armpit temperature of 101°F (38.3°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider.

Child of any age:

• Repeated temperature of 104°F (40°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider.

• Fever that lasts more than 24 hours in a child under 2 years old. Or a fever that lasts for 3 days in a child 2 years or older.