On the same general plan and with the same remedies (excepting chrysarobin) as in ringworm of the scalp. Depilation is to be practised as an essential part of the treatment. Special mention may be made of an ointment of oleate of mercury, sulphur ointment, a lotion of sodium hyposulphite (ʒj-℥j), and a lotion of corrosive sublimate (gr. j-iv to ℥j). The x-ray has been used in ringworm of this region with alleged success, pushing it to the production of a mild erythema and depilation. The above methods are, however, usually successful, and are without risk of damage.
How is the certainty of an apparent cure in ringworm of the scalp or bearded region to be determined?
By the continued absence of roughness and of broken hairs and stumps, and by microscopical examination of the new-growing hairs from time to time for several weeks after discontinuance of treatment.
Cure of ringworm of the general surface is usually self-evident.
Is systemic treatment of aid in the cure of ringworm?
It is doubtful, although in children in a depraved state of health the disease is often noted to be especially stubborn, and in such cod-liver oil and similar remedies may at times prove of benefit.
Tinea Imbricata.
(Synonym: Tokelau Ringworm.)
What is tinea imbricata?
A vegetable parasitic disease of moist tropical countries, characterized by the formation of patches composed of concentrically arranged, imbricated, scaly rings. It may begin at one or several points as a brownish, slightly raised spot, spreading peripherally; the renewed epidermis of the central part of the patch goes again through the same process; the result is a small or large area of concentrically arranged, imbricated, slightly scaly eruption. Several such areas fusing together may cover a large part of the surface, the ring-like arrangement being sometimes more or less completely lost. The malady is chronic. There may be a variable degree of itching. The cause of the disease, which is of a contagious nature, is a vegetable parasite closely similar to the trichophyton. The treatment is by the parasiticides, being essentially the same, in fact, as ringworm.