Taking matters in my own hands

This might be a little gross for you with weak constitutions. Consider yourself forewarned.

I talked to a certified natural health professional today in my line of work and asked her about that bad ringworm spot on my daughter's scalp. (Man, I'm starting to itch right now.)

The first thing she said was, "Do you have a cat? Ringworm comes from cats." Well, yes, as a matter of fact we do. There's a whole family of them in my laundry room. The nurse and nurse practitioner we've been seeing about these spots have asked about cats but didn't make the proclamation so bluntly. Sometimes I need to be hit in the head so I can understand things. Hopefully when we get the cats out of the house for the weekend so we can go somewhere they'll stay gone.

This ringworm spot she has on her scalp is also infected. (I told you this was going to be gross. It's going to get worse before it gets better.) She's on a prescription antibiotic for the next several days and a prescription antifungal for the next several weeks. The natural health practioner gave me some good ideas of things to do along with the medication.

The first suggestion she gave me was to give her garlic, a natural antibiotic. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I knew that but it didn't come out when I needed it. As far as treating the spot, she recommended cleaning it first with hydrogen peroxide, then putting apple cider vinegar on it followed by tea tree oil. I actually cleared up a bad ezcema spot on the back of my daughter's neck like that a couple of years ago so I know how it works — very well! I had been putting tea tree oil on it and an antifungal cream with tea tree oil on it, but hadn't used the peroxide or vinegar.

She also said I need to break open a black walnut capsule and put the contents of it on her sore, but I don't have any of those lying around. I do have everything else, though. Since she's on prescribed antibiotics the alternative health advisor recommended giving her a probiotic, which I had already been giving her since I know from personal experience how rough it can be after the antibiotics kill all the good bacteria along with the bad.

Talking about treating the ringworm spot was one thing; I knew this procedure wouldn't be fun in actual practice. After school I doctored her up with the peroxide, vinegar, and tea tree oil and then once the crust that covered the sore was soft I gently removed it, hoping all the while I was doing the right thing. My child cried and carried on as normal when I'm doing her hair, partly from genuine pain and partly for theatrical purposes.

After I had the spot cleared and cleaned to my satisfaction, I had her lie with her back to a fan. That was for two reasons: to soothe her burning sore and so the air could keep it dry. Before she went to bed I repeated the entire process in an abbreviated version. I hope it's doing okay in the morning. At least I hope it won't be any worse, because that would be gross!

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