[fostercare1129]

Hi all,

I have a new adorable 3 year. I noticed the other day that she had a bald spot in the back of her head. I brought her to an MD today; it was confirmed: ringworm.

Now here is my problem. MD said she needs to where her hair down, no braids or cornrows, for the next 4 weeks. I do not mind, since I think she looks cute, in her little afro. The problem is I do not think her mom will appreciate it, since she does look a little unkempt this way. Should I send a note to mom, or leave it to the SW to do? What is the usual protocal?

I only got her on Wednesday and noticed it on Sat.

Does anyone know of something I can do to her hair that does not involve braids, twists or puffs. She is on medicine for at least 4 weeks.

Thanks,
Beth

[Jensboys]

We also adopted two aa kids that had ringworm -- that was made worse by the climate change. It took a WHOLE lot longer than 4 weeks to clear it up on the head so be prepared. 4 weeks is ok for the skin .. but our specialist (that we eventually had to see after a couple of months) told us that the head is almost impossible to cure with out SEVERE oral meds (pill form that were horrible side affects) or shaving the head.

Good luck! (and I am sure the mom will understand - and it cant hurt to prewarn her, especially if you are working together on reunification!)

[Cleopatrick]

I would leave it up to the social worker to tell her. That's what we did when we had to shave a little boys head because we couldn't get all the lice nits out of his hair. His hair was so baby fine the nit comb wouldn't pull them off.

As for the ring worm, Jensboys is very correct. Our daughter came here covered in it and it's VERY hard to get it off the head. She was on horrible tasting medication for three months before it cleared, then he kept her on it another two months to make sure it stayed gone. The cream cleared up her skin in days, but her scalp took forever.

[fostercare1129]

Thanks for the replies.

She is on a really strong oral med. She has to have faty foods with it to keeep the harm to her liver to a minimum.

What did you guys do to their hair for that time??

Thanks Beth

[spfstr5]

It's been a while since you posted this, so you have probably worked this out.

I got two little girls with severe ringworm of the scalp (and their pre-placement physical said they were healthy!)

I purchased cute little head scarves that the girls wore for visits and when we went out - they looked so adorable that my other girls wanted them too!

The sw spoke to the birth mother about the physicians recommendations at my request. She was not thrilled, but what could she do? The girls' hair grew back fairly quickly after treatment ended (about 6-8 weeks of oral meds).

Good luck!

[SHERRITA]

WHEN I WAS YOUNGER AND KIDS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD CAUGHT RINGWORMS ALWAYS IN THERE HEADS. MY STEP FATHER HAD A FIG TREE AND HE WOULD TAKE OFF THE FIG AND IT WAS THIS MILKY LOOKING STUFF AND HE WOULD PUT IT ALL OVER THE RING WORM AND IT WOULD HEAL IN ABOUT 3 OR 4 DAYS. JUST A LITTLE MEMORY I WANTED TO SHARE.

[ranade3]

My little girl (19 months at the time) came home from Africa last summer with ring worm on her scalp. She was initially misdiagnosed and was treated for a yeast infection! 1 and 1/2 months later it was worse and another culture proved it was ringworm.

My doctor said to leave her hair loose but did not say I couldn't do loose braids so that's what I did.

Also, after 4 weeks of being on strong anti-fungal drugs (and another 2 weeks to go) and no visible change my sister recommended a home remedy of tea tree oil, lavender and olive oil. There was improvement immediately and after the 6 weeks the ringworm was gone.

I don't know if the tea tree oil concoction worked or whether it was the antifungal drugs but it did seem to make my daughter itch her head less.