Will covering myself in bacteria keep me safe from fungus?

January 15, 2016 9:21 AM

I have some chronic patches of ringworm and seem to get new patches very easily. I have been treated multiple times by doctors with creams and one six-week course of oral antifungals. I wrestle, play in the dirt, and pet dogs, so I will continue to get exposed. Will ammonia oxidizing bacteria help?

I'm considering taking advantage of a couple concurrent deals and trying Mother Dirt for a few months in hopes that a robust colony of "good" bacteria can help keep the fungus down, either directly somehow or through improving the health of my skin. Mother Dirt themselves are limited in the claims they can make as a cosmetics company (good!), and I'm not seeing any relevant studies or anything elsewhere. Basically I just am hopeful that one of y'all has some anecdata or has seen a study.

PS: Tea tree oil just drove the infection deeper into the skin for me, and if there's evidence to support sugar-free diets to control ringworm, I can't find it for all the systemic candida supplement hawkers.

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

if there's evidence to support sugar-free diets to control ringworm, I can't find it for all the systemic candida supplement hawkers.

Its not so much that sugar-free diets control ringworm as it is that elevated blood sugar levels make people much more susceptible to fungal (and bacterial) skin infections, including ringworm. In patients who are otherwise without symptoms, a serious ringworm issue can be the first sign that blood sugar levels are elevated. If you do a search on 'diabetes tinea' you'll find articles like this one that shows that in general about 40% of people with uncontrolled blood sugar have recurrent fungal skin infections (in some studies tinea is broken out separately).

I can't speak to your mother dirt, but if this has been going on for a while (and particularly if you feel like your immune system in general is lower than average) I'd have your blood sugar checked.
posted by anastasiav at 9:39 AM on January 15, 2016 [6 favorites]

Doubting the dogs are an issue, but could you keep getting re-infected from the mats where you wrestle? I have heard of that being a problem. Agreeing with the previous poster, get a full blood workup to determine if your blood sugar is high and also if your immune system is compromised. I would do this first before introducing any kind of bacteria, even good ones. Do see a doctor again and not just for the ringworm but a full checkup.
posted by mermayd at 10:12 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

I came in to echo anastasiav. I don't have diabetes but I am addicted to sugar, and after I caught ringworm from one of my students a few years back I kept getting it again and again despite spot treating with a topical antifungal and tea tree oil. Then I realized that some of my clothes seemed to be contributing to reinfections (two of my bras in particular were culprits) and I had to ditch those, and bleach/boil wash the rest as a preventive measure. Reducing my sugar intake and using a pH balancing wash has also really helped and I haven't had a case of it in at least a year.*

*Side note: ringworm is horrible -- I eventually got a case of it INSIDE MY NOSE and spent like two weeks feeling like the most gross person ever before one of my doctors told me that most of his pediatric patients get it up their noses too and that's when I realized that I must have gotten my infection after a kindergartener stuck his cute but filthy finger up my nose as a gesture of affection. Being a teacher is hard.
posted by Hermione Granger at 10:20 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

Are you sure it's ringworm? We thought our son had a really stubborn case until we finally saw a doctor who identified it as nummular eczema. They look a lot alike.
posted by goggie at 10:24 AM on January 15, 2016

My wife read about this good bacteria concept. There's a great deal of woo going on here, that's expensive and of dubious benefit that disappears very quickly the second you step off their cosmetic regimen claims.

It had taken me a month to coax a new colony of bacteria onto my body. It took me three showers to extirpate it. Billions of bacteria, and they had disappeared as invisibly as they arrived.

Note in the article that the company is seeking FDA approval for a bacteria-based medical treatment, but it's a completely separate product from the cosmetic one, for which they need no approval to make their current claims.

You should attack your fungus problem with a doctors and doctors with second opinions, not fancy cosmetics.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:13 AM on January 15, 2016

You might want to consider checking your dog too. Dogs and cats tend to carry ringworm fungus even if they don't show symptoms. FWIW we adopted a teeny kitty once which my daughter promptly rubbed all over her face and neck. Two days later the kiddo had ringworm. Kitty had no spots to speak of. A kitty bath and Lotrimin cream for the kiddo and all was well. Also a friend of mines kitty gave all three of her kiddos ringworm, on their scalps. Worse than lice to get rid of she said.
posted by PJMoore at 11:37 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]