Ayurvedic Management of tinea Tinea (Ringworm) :

Ayurvedic Management of tinea Tinea (Ringworm) :

Ringworm is a skin infection caused by a fungus. Ringworm can affect skin on your body (tinea corporis), scalp (tinea capitis), groin area (tinea cruris, also called jock itch), or feet (tinea pedis, also called athlete’s foot). Often, there are several patches of ringworm on your skin at once.

Causes :

The ring worm infection, also known as tinea, is caused by fungi called dermatophytes and not by worms. The fungus can live off the dead tissues of skin, hair, and nails.

Symptoms :

Itching
Red, circular patches on skin.

Ayurvedic View :

According to Ayurveda fungal infections come under kshudrarogas.Generally there is kapha predominanace with raktadusti.we can correlate this to ‘dadru’ of kshudrarogas.

Severe itching indicates increased kleda of kapha in rakta and ras dhatu (skin). Reduction in immunity is trigger factor for such skin infection. Kapha and dooshit rakta manifest in the skin and cause accumulation of toxins. These toxins accumulate in deeper tissues of skin like rasa (nutrient plasma), rakta, (blood), mansa (muscles) and lasika (lymphatic). These toxins cause contamination of deeper tissues. Contamination of deeper tissues and aggravation of kapha/vata dosha leads to ringworm.

Ayurvedic Treatment :

As the disease is due to predominant vitiation of kapha and rakta, measures are taken so as to pacify these two doshas first.
If the condition is severe and disease is chronic in nature,Vaman Panchakarma (emesis) is to be carried out.
Ayurveda have many herbs which acts on skin diseases and also very effective in tinea infections and they also helps to re-occurrence of the disease.

Personal hygiene is other important factor to avoid infections like fungal / tinea.
Oral Ayurvedic Herbal medicines and Ayurvedic creams and lotions for local applications are very safe for all ages and immune compromised patients
Ayurvedic shampoos for tinea infections are effective and harmless.
Treatment lasts for Few weak to some Months .

Diet & Lifestyle Advice :

One should avoid oily, spicy, sour and excessive sweet foods. Citrus fruits (lemon, lime, orange), chutneys, sauces, pickled food, mustard and vinegar should be avoided.
One should avoid foods made up of white flour such as bread, cakes, pastries, pizza etc.
You should avoid artificial foods, fast foods, cola drinks. Tomatoes, excessive salt should be avoided.
Non- veg foods should be avoided completely.
Tea, coffee, alcohol and smoking are also pitta aggravating. Milk product like yogurt should be avoided. Rather than these foods stress on foods, which are sweet, blend, alkaline in nature.
Foods that should be included are grains, rice, pasta, beans, breads, dairy products, sweet drinks and juices. Fresh vegetables and fresh fruits should be taken.

Preventive tips for Tinea :

Keep the affected skin clean and dry. Wash daily. Take care to kkep skin dry between the toes and in the skin folds , use a hair dryer to dry it if you feel necessary.
Use your own towel for bath every time and frequent wash it with hot water.
Wash the cloths and bed sheets, pillow covers frequently to remove fungi.
Bath towels hand towels and undergarments should be washed daily.
During swimming , sauna and shower use clean flip-flops or plastic shoes.
Wear cotton and loose fitting clothes to help moisture move away from your skin.
Alternate pair of shoes should be used one another day so that shoes may dry.
Usage of Soak pillow , hats , combs , scissors and other common things with caution.
Hot wash of socks , bathmats and towels at the temp. at least 60C.
Don’t walk barefoot in soil and other dirty areas.
Regularly wash floors with antiseptic where you walk bare foot.

Home Remedies :

Boil 20-35 Neem leaves in 1bucket full of water for bath purpose. Wash the tinea lesions with this water.
Sidharthak snan is also helpful for external treatment.
Apply turmeric on tinea lesions. Wash away after half an hour. Do this 3 / 4 times a day.
Avoid to rub by scrubber otherwise it will spred over skin.

Key Note :

Tinea infections are very common and it may affect at any age group. Proper hygiene, regular health care, avoidance of the allergic chemicals are the easy ways to prevent from the possibility of this illness.