If you or someone in your family has had ringworm, you likely know how challenging it can be to treat and eradicate. Those who have wrestled with the fungus know all too well how hard it is to get rid of, especially if you don’t catch it right away. If you are a parent of school-aged children, the idea of using hand sanitizer as a precaution to avoid catching ringworm may cross your mind. After all, these products are marketed for their ability to reduce germs on your hands and stop the spread of sickness. Depending on who in your household has had ringworm, it may also feel like a safer option than coming into contact with the same surfaces as them again. In this article, we will discuss whether hand sanitizer could help prevent catching ringworm from someone else, or vice versa.
Does Hand Sanitizer Kill Ringworm?
Hand sanitizer does not kill ringworm. Ringworm is a fungus that lives on the skin. Hand sanitizers work by killing bacteria, not fungi. If you have ringworm, you will need to treat it with an antifungal cream or lotion.
What Is Ringworm?
- Ringworm is a fungus that can be found anywhere on the body. It is most commonly found on the scalp, facial skin, and around the eyes.
- The fungus can spread quickly through direct contact with an infected person’s skin. The fungus grows in moist environments, such as those that contain a lot of hair follicles or sweat glands.
- Ringworm is contagious and can be spread from person to person through physical contact. It spreads quickly through direct contact with an infected person’s skin or hair, especially if it has been scratched or rubbed against another area of skin or hair.
- It can also be spread from contaminated objects such as towels and bedding, clothing, shoes, and bed linens that have come into contact with infected people’s skin or hair.
- It is not known what causes ringworm in some people but it may be related to their immune system or genetics.
Hand Sanitizers Are Not Disinfectants
- Hand sanitizers are not disinfectants. This is an important point to consider because many who have used them in the past may have mistakenly believed they could kill ringworm. In reality, they do not kill anything. They can only clean the hands, but they cannot kill germs.
- Hand Sanitizers do Not Kill Ringworm. Hand sanitizers contain alcohol and a soap-like agent called triclosan that kills bacteria that cause germs to grow on your skin. When used as directed, hand sanitizers can help reduce and prevent the spread of germs, but they cannot eradicate ringworm from another person or from your own body. This is because when used in accordance with the directions on the label, hand sanitizers do not contain any ingredients that can kill fungus like ringworm or other skin infections like athlete’s foot or jock itch; only ingredients that can help clean those germs from your hands so you don’t come into contact with them again.
- Hand Sanitizer Can Cause Ringworm Transmission If a person already has ringworm on their skin and uses hand sanitizer before coming into contact with another person who has it, they could spread it to them as well as expose themselves to further infection by spreading it more easily throughout their body via their hands after touching another person with ringworm (1). According to some experts in infectious diseases, there is no known way to prevent this from happening. It is more likely that you will be spreading ringworm to others than the other way around, especially if you are using hand sanitizer as part of your personal hygiene routine.
- Hand Sanitizers Can Spread Ringworm to Others If a person already has ringworm on their skin, and they use hand sanitizer before coming into contact with another person who has it, they could spread it to them as well as expose themselves to further infection by spreading it more easily throughout their body via their hands after touching another person with ringworm (1). According to some experts in infectious diseases, there is no known way to prevent this from happening. It is more likely that you will be spreading ringworm to others than the other way around, especially if you are using hand sanitizer as part of your personal hygiene routine.
Can Hand Sanitizer Kill Ringworm?
Hand Sanitizer Kills Bacteria
Yes, hand sanitizer in general does kill bacteria. The reason for this is that it is a synthetic version of the naturally-occurring oleic acid found in olive oil. When you put hand sanitizer on your hands and then touch something, it kills all the germs that you have touched. This is why people use it before they go to class or work in their own homes. It works by killing bacteria that are on your hands, but it does not kill germs from other surfaces such as a doorknob or desk where you may have touched something without washing your hands first.
Hand Sanitizer Kills Ringworm Bacteria
Hand sanitizers are designed to be used with soap and water to kill any bacteria on your hands so that they cannot spread to other surfaces throughout your home or workplace. The purpose of using them is not to treat ringworm directly, but rather to prevent the spread of ringworm from touching things that may contain ringworm or have been contaminated by someone who has ringworm (such as another family member). This means that if you have had ringworm yourself, hand sanitizers will not help keep it at bay if someone else has also had it. However, this does not mean that there is no benefit at all in using them! If you are worried about catching ringworm from someone else, using a hand sanitizer can be much better than touching an object that has been contaminated with ringworm.
Hand Sanitizers Are Not Effective Against Ringworm
Hand sanitizers are designed to kill bacteria on your hands, but they are not designed to kill ringworm. The main ingredient in hand sanitizer is usually triclosan, which is an antimicrobial that has been shown to be effective in killing bacteria and viruses such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). It does have some effect on some types of fungi including ringworm, but it does not kill the fungus directly. This is why you should not use hand sanitizer to treat ringworm because it will not be effective at all. However, if you want to use it as a preventative measure, you can use it if you are worried about catching ringworm from another family member or a person who may have had it before or be contagious at this time. This will help prevent the spread of any germs left on your hands by touching something contaminated with ringworm or by touching another family member’s hands after they touch something infected with ringworm.
Hand Sanitizers Have Other Uses Than Treating Ringworm
You can also use hand sanitizers for other purposes besides preventing the spread of germs from one person to another or from someone else’s hands to yours!
Could Hand Sanitizer Help Cure Ringworm?
Hand Sanitizer Can Kill Ringworm
Ringworm is a fungal infection that is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. This can happen when people touch their hands to the skin of others and then touch their own skin, or even when someone who does not have ringworm touches his or her hands to another person’s skin. Once you have ringworm, it can spread through your body without symptoms, but it can also cause symptoms such as itching and discomfort if it spreads too far. Hand sanitizer kills germs on your hands whether they are infected with ringworm or not. If you use hand sanitizer regularly you will reduce the risk of transmitting ringworm from yourself to others.
Hand Sanitizer Can Spread Ringworm To Others
While most people do not catch ringworm from other people, there are some instances where this could happen. If someone does have ringworm on their hand and then touches another person’s skin with that same hand, this could lead to transmission of the fungus from one person to another. One way this can occur is by sharing towels or bed linens that are shared between two people who both have ringworm on them. It can also occur if one person has ringworm on his or her hands and then rubs those same hands against another person’s face while washing it off – so-called “face-to-face transmission” – which might be more likely in a dormitory or hotel room.
Hand Sanitizer Is Not Effective Against Ringworm
Ringworm is caused by a fungus called dermatophytes, which thrive in warm, moist environments and are resistant to heat and drying. Hand sanitizer is not effective against ringworm because it does not kill the fungus itself. If you use hand sanitizer regularly, you will reduce the risk of transmitting ringworm from yourself to others, but it won’t help you treat ringworm once you have it.
Hand Sanitizer Is Not Recommended To Treat Ringworm
While hand sanitizer may reduce your risk of catching ringworm from other people, it is not recommended as a treatment for this condition. This is because hand sanitizers do not kill the fungus that causes ringworm and they do not prevent its spread through your body once you have it. As an added precautionary measure, some medical experts recommend that people with known exposure to ringworm should avoid sharing towels or bed linens with anyone else who has this condition until they are no longer contagious themselves.
Conclusion
Hand sanitizers do not kill all of the microbes on an item, including the spores left behind by ringworm. While they can reduce the number of microbes on your hands, they will not prevent you from encountering the spores left behind by the infection. And when you do touch those spores, hand sanitizers can make them last longer. Hand sanitizers are effective germ-reducing agents and can help prevent the spread of ringworm and other infections, but they should not be used as a stand-in for disinfectants. When it comes to ringworm and other infections, disinfectants are the better choice.