Featured Image Credit: Healthline.com
Can sunlight kill ringworms? – If we talk about the diversity of living organisms, there are a lot of things that we are yet to uncover. From being microscopic prokaryotic cells to the multicellular eukaryotic self that we are today, we have come a very long way through the process of evolution.
To gain nutrition, reproduce and grow was the fundamental need for survival. When we talk about nutrition, there are many different types of nutritional intake that happen within species. The most common types are autotrophs and heterotrophs, where the autotrophs are those species that produce their own food i.e. plants.
As far as heterotrophs, i.e. humans and animals, we take food from those who produce food. We also kill each other for food to gain energy. However there are some species of microscopic beings and insects that rely on dead animals, or on a living creature for survival. They are known as saprotrophic and parasitic beings.
Parasitic beings are important when it comes to the food chain. But for the host, it is a very grave problem. Some types of parasites are also present on the human body, such as ticks, lice, and fungus. A very common fungus that has been wrongly named his ringworm.
It is said that it is really impossible for you to contract ringworm or even get Athlete’s Foot. Studies show only 3 to 10% of people in the world are affected by this fungus. If you are affected by this fungus, then this article would be the perfect source of information for you.
Even if you’re not affected by the fungus, there are slight chances that you might get affected in the future, because when we grow old, our immune system gets weaker. This ringworm is prone to attacking people with depressed immune systems.
Contents
- 1 Questions Regarding – Can Sunlight Kill Ringworms?
Questions Regarding – Can Sunlight Kill Ringworms?
What Are Ringworms? How Does It Affect the Human Body?
Ringworm is actually the name of the disease that is caused by a fungus where red patches grow over your skin. Ringworm is a misnomer, because of the fact that it looks reddish and appears in circular shape. Ringworms are caused by various reasons and Athlete’s Foot is a great example of ringworms.
They are very itchy and cause inflammation all over the area affected. They can grow in various places on the body but are usually seen in places like your head, behind your ears, on the chin, on your groins, on your feet, or below your beard. They spread very quickly, and it is good for you to eliminate them if you find them. This is the reason why it is said that you should wash these places with soap often, and you should make sure that you clean it regularly.
Ring worms are caused by various factors such as temperature, humidity, contact with an infected place, feline pets, canine pets, etc. Ringworms are very irritating, and although they aren’t life threatening, they still can affect your daily tasks. If you have ringworms, there are various medications that can be prescribed to you, and these medications usually include antifungal creams.
Ketoconazole and fluconazole are the two different creams that are used to eliminate ringworms. There are also other methods by which you can eliminate ringworms, and we would discuss them later on. There are antifungal soaps available in the market, and I have personally used them. They are great for removing any type of fungus, bacteria, parasite, and germs from your body. They are antifungal and antibacterial, and you can use them every week.
Can You Kill Ringworms in Sunlight?
Sir Isaac Newton discovered that light is made up of particles, and Albert Einstein was the first scientist to name them as waves. However we now know that light is both matter and a wave. Sunlight also has many different properties and different types of electromagnetic waves. One of these electromagnetic radiations is ultraviolet radiation (U.V). Sunlight contains ultraviolet radiations which are filtered through ozone.
The ozone layer present about the stratosphere is responsible for filtering out almost 99% of ultraviolet rays from the sun. However, this 1% that escapes the ozone can not cause any major damage to humans. But, they are deadly for parasitic and microscopic beings. Ringworms are very sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, and they are killed by UV light. Therefore if you want to eliminate ringworms, you can kill them with the help of sunlight.
It is not recommended for anyone to bask in the sun, without a proper sunscreen, and you cannot apply sunscreen to the affected area. But this does not happen usually, and you can always bask in the sun to remove funguses and other bacteria. Even treatments of ringworm that are done for immediate relief includes treating the affected area with UV light.
The blue colored light is famous for treating fungal infections, and that is why we can conclude that the sun is the best antifungal agent for your body.
Is Sunlight Good for Fungal Infections? Show There Is Moisture on the Skin?
As explained above, sunlight is very harmful for ringworms. They are eliminated and knocked out by sunlight because of the presence of UV radiation. This means that you should keep the affected area under sunlight for at least an hour, to kill all the fungus that are present on your skin.
Sunlight is also a very good antibacterial, and it would work on bacteria as well. It is also advisable to wash the affected area with an antifungal soap, where ketoconazole and fluconazole would be a good choice. Regarding the content of moisture, you have to make sure to keep the affected area as dry as possible, and not let water touch that part.
If you keep it dry and wash it with ketoconazole soap, and then bask it in sunlight, you’re bound to be healed with this process.
At What Temperature Does a Ringworm Die and Is It Possible for Me to Apply Wasteland on the Affected Region?
When we talk about the temperature at which ringworms die, it is related to the type of cell wall present in this fungus. Funguses do have cell walls and they are made up of chitin or chitinous layers. This makes the funguses heat resistant, as the layers protect the inner organelles.
However, if you heat them over 60° celsius or 110° Fahrenheit, you can easily get rid of them. As for Vaseline or Aquaphor, you can apply a thick coat of Vaseline, to make sure that it keeps moisture away. It also reduces inflammation. Vaseline is even advertised to be a good antibacterial and antifungal cream, and you can check this. Don’t worry, there are no side effects of Vaseline.
The Daily Buzz combines the pursuit of interesting and intriguing facts with the innate human desire to rank and list things. From stereotypical cat pictures to crazy facts about the universe, every thing is designed to help you kill time in the most efficient manner, all while giving you something to either laugh at or think about!
