Ringworm, unknown to many is not a worm or a parasite; it is instead a contagious fungal skin infection. Read on to know more about what does ringworm look like and what are its symptoms and available treatments are.
What Is Ringworm?
Ringworm is a microscopic fungus that infects only the outer layer of the skin. Ringworm does not go deep into the body as it cannot live on mucous membranes in the vagina or the mouth.

Ringworm thrives on moist and hot parts of the skin and more so into those areas that remain hidden from direct light. To know what does ringworm look like you can log on to the various sites that show pictures of patients of people affected with this skin infection.

Here is a brief insight into what does ringworm looks like:

■ Ringworm occurs as round or oval red scaly patches on the skin. The color of the patches can vary from being pink to deep red.
■ The patches have a scaly border and are less red and scaly in the middle. They at times also have a healed look in the middle.
■ The edge of the ring is lifted due to the fungus. This part is the reddest and most scaly part of the patch.
■ This part also contains the pus and the fluid. It besides being moist can also be dry, crusted and scaly.
■ The lesion starts to heal from the center to outwards. At times the person would also experience another ring arise inside the previous one.
■ The fungus comes up as a coin-sized ring that is about one and a half to one inch in diameter.
■ People who have been hit hard by the skin infection often complain of extreme itchiness and irritation.
■ Once a person gets attacked by the fungus he would soon notice several patches of ringworm on his skin all in one go.

Cure For Ringworm
One who is inflicted with the infection must ensure that he does not scratch the lesions because if he does so then the infection would spread at an even faster pace. The condition can easily be treated with over-the-counter anti-fungal creams. Another common treatment is using tea tree oil which is a natural anti-fungal antiseptic on the patches. Ringworm on the scalp and the face would require anti-fungal shampoos and even oral medication.

You can always understand the symptoms better by seeing some pictures of patients who are afflicted by this condition. This would help you know exactly what does ringworm look like.

Although the name might be a little misleading, nothing boils under the skin when you have a boil, but I am sure you already knew that.

A boil is a lump that has been formed on your skin which is filled with pus and bacteria. They tend to be extremely painful, although not very dangerous to your overall health. One boil is not much of a problem as they heal spontaneously, but if you're really unlucky, you'll experience a bunch of them interconnected with each other.

If that's the case you might experience fever and some discharge coming out of them.

OK, so what do they actually look like?
Well, as I mentioned before, boils create lumps that are filled with a pus like looking substance. In some cases you might see a little dot formed by the pus especially when the boil is ready to discharge. They are not very big, usually 2-4 inches in diameter.

They usually occur on your forearms, lips, armpits, buttocks, thighs, nose or face, but those are not the only places where you can find them. They can form pretty much anywhere on your body.
How do you prevent Boils from occurring?

The number one thing you need to know about is keeping yourself clean. Due to the fact that boils are caused by bacteria, showering frequently and making sure you wash your hands throughout the day will tackle the problem in most cases.

If you already have a boil, don't pick on it or squeeze it. Just let it be until it disappears remembering that you should wash the area around the boil gently with water. Generally speaking, keep the area around the boil clean and be sure that there is air coming to it. Again, try not to pay too much attention to it and hopefully you should be able to forget about it entirely. I don't remember about mine when they do happen sometimes.

By no means should you scratch them as this will cause the bacteria inside the boil to spread and will give you more boils in the future. Those little stinkers can itch like crazy, but do all you can to actually ignore it.

When I say stinkers, I am not joking here. Due to the pus inside it, boils can give out a nasty smell which can be quite irritating, but will disappear entirely as soon as the boil is gone.

Taking care of and preventing boils can be tough if you don't know what you're doing. I am sure that if you follow the tips that I have outlined above, you'll not only be able to spot a boil right when it first forms, but you'll also make sure that they never ever come back, which is obviously a good thing!