# Ringworm mystery



## tinypixiexoxo (Sep 20, 2011)

Hello everyone I'm new to the forum and a somewhat experienced hhog owner.

Izzie is my hog and she is quite a delight.

Except for the fact that since I got her just over a year ago, I've broken out with ringworm on my right hand.

Although I have other pets (3 hamsters and a pug dog who lives at my parents ), I'm fairly sure my breakouts are from handling Izzie.

When I get a pimple, a new outbreak, it feels as though one of her spikes is stuck in my skin. Its sort of an exaggerated irritation that sometimes occurs after holding her. Only the pimple forms and brings fourth more pimples and eventually they form the 'ring'.

I wash my hands religiously and I cover my infection well. I have a prescription which works really well that I must use 4 weeks after recession. Its a long time to have to keep applying and bandaging, but I notice if I stop early, a new pimple often forms.

Izzie went to the vet and they did not detect any lesions, and with the blacklight we saw no trace. Apparently you can see it with a blacklight cus my poor finger lit up. They also did a fungal analysis of her skin from areas usually affected, but they came back negative.

Does anyone have any explanation as to why it feels like her dirty quills are the culprit yet she tested negative? Could she carry the fungus on her spikes? Could it be that when she runs and poops on her wheel the poo contaminates her spikes? Im just trying to figure out where its coming from.

I give her a bath every 2weeks or so with aveeno baby bath powder. She does not have mites or bald patches. Her diet is fairly consistent with what HC recommends and her stools are solid and healthy.

Let me know if you need more information.


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2011)

Sounds like your having a reacting to her anointed quills which is known to happen but that the ring worm is coming from somewhere else.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Was the skin scrape sent out to a lab? If so, then if she is not showing symptoms and has tested negative, then I'd assume she is not the culprit. If she had it, over this length of time she would be showing symptoms. 

It almost sound as if you are never getting rid of it and it keeps coming back whenever you get an irritation, (quill prick). I also think it odd that if you keep getting it, none of your other pets are getting it and why are you only getting it on one hand. 

Have they tested you to make certain it really is ringworm or did they test you initially and keep assuming it still is?


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## tinypixiexoxo (Sep 20, 2011)

I apologize, I may have made it seem as though I break out all the time, but that's not the case. It's happened twice, and each time after the initial outbreak I've had mini outbreaks .. pretty much my skin telling me it's not done with the medicine regimen yet. But I went a good almost full year without a breakout and now I'm on the tail end of my second (and less severe). 

I saw the doctor a year ago during my first outbreak when it was really showing the signs of being ringworm. They never took a sample from me, so we just concluded based on what it looks like. The ointment I was given, for ringworm type infections, worked right away and very effectively. But, no, I have not seen the doc for it since, but like I said, the med really does treat the infection, so I'm fairly sure it is ringworm or a variation thereof.

The first was on my right thumb, and this one is on my right index finger.

Sometimes after holding her and getting rubbed on by her spines, my skin feels irritated, and I always wash (always do anyway, but when this happens I really scrub). It might be from the annointing, I'm not entirely sure.

I agree about the length of time.. and I check her body regularly. It was sent to a lab out of state and it took 2 weeks to process, but still came back negative.

I am extremely careful with my pets so I am sure they never are exposed to the infection, but that could also just be luck. I too find it odd that it is only on the right hand.


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## kaZombie (Sep 12, 2011)

I don't think she has RW- I've had it a couple of times now due to a huge outbreak at my old work at a pet store. I am not a doctor nor a huge RW expert, but it seemed like I would get bitten by a mosquito, and that would turn into a lesion of Ring Worm. Being poked by a quill or a bug bite isn't EXACTLY an open wound, but it might give the fungus an easier route into your skin?


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## tinypixiexoxo (Sep 20, 2011)

Hm that is true, handling Izzie might create a pathway for the infection, but it might not be the actual source.

The timing is interesting to me though, because a month after I brought Izzie home was when I first broke out, and the recent outbreak seemingly occurred after I forgot to wash my hands after spot cleaning her cage and handling her.

So there's no way she could just be a 'carrier' of the disease without being infected herself?

Then again, I talked with my vet, and he said that sometime in his early 20's (I'm 24, not sure if it's an age thing though) he started getting a ringworm outbreak on his arms that periodically come back, and he said we all have the "bug" in us, but certain environmental factors might cause the infection to come about.

If this is the case, that I just naturally have ringworm in my system.. GROSS... perhaps the environment of handling the hedgehog and the skin irritation that comes with it could have triggered it.

In any case, it's too bad I get it because it really worries me to handle any of my animals, and even at work or at school I'm very mindful of what I touch and who touches what I do.. The last thing I want would be to pass it to one of my fuzzies or someone I care about :/


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## kaZombie (Sep 12, 2011)

Did you buy her from a breeder, rescue, pet store? Depending where you got her, you could have come into contact with someone or something else that had it


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## Rainy (Jul 27, 2011)

I brought home my dog, Betty Lou, two years ago from a shelter. At that same time, I started getting tiny blisters on my hands, sometime in a circle, sometimes spread out. I thought I got ringworm from her and I used all kinds of antifungals. I took Betty in to be checked for ringworm and there wasn't any evidence of it. I went to the doctors about my rash and she told me that it was scabies. So, she gave me a cream to put on all over. I took Betty in again based on the scabies diagnosis to check for mites. She did not appear to have mites, but she was put on revolution, as was my other dog and cats. After three months, my rash persisted and my pets revolution cycle was almost finished. Went to my doctor again and she referred me to a dermatologist who told me it was not scabies (he looked at skin flakes under a microscope). He thought it was contact dermatitis and wanted me to limit the health and beauty products that I used, gave me two perscriptions and sample bottles of hypo-allergenic lotions. Finally after two or three more months, he did allergy testing and I found out that I have allergies to fragrances and formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a preservative found in nearly every cosmetic, lotion and personal care items. There's about thirty different names for formaldehyde based products.

Sorry, this is getting long.....the moral of the story is that rashes can be caused by so many different things. Seeing a professional in that field will help you find out the cause of your rashes quicker and more accurately. Try a dermatologist.


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## tinypixiexoxo (Sep 20, 2011)

I got her from a breeder who ran her lil company out of her home/garage.

They had 3 HUGE bull mastifs (or just some gigantic dog, not great dane, a very big pug face)
which gave me a ton of love while we waited for her to bring a tub of baby hogs.


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## tinypixiexoxo (Sep 20, 2011)

Great story, Rainy, that is very odd and applicable to my situation. I will def. contact my dermatologist!!!

I haven't been tested for allergies since I was too young to remember so maybe it's time.


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## kaZombie (Sep 12, 2011)

Yeah I agree with Rainy too- it might be something else. Maybe also just call up the breeder your got her from and ask if any of their animals have had any rashes around the time you picked your girl up?


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## Rainy (Jul 27, 2011)

Great! It was just a tape test, not the kind where they poke your back with needles. The worst part was that it was itchy! Best wishes. Hope it works out.


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## tinypixiexoxo (Sep 20, 2011)

Hm I find mine is itchy too, in fact, the first outbreak I had I woke up one morning having itched my finger's skin practically off it was so bad. and the anti fungal made it itch worse for a while before it got better.

I hope I get the same test as you  we shall see. Thanks again for the helpful info.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I have a similar storey as Rainy only mine does not involve pets. When I was pregnant with my first daughter I developed a off and on rash underneath my eyebrows. It looked like dry raw skin and it would come and go. My then doctor said it was just dry skin and gave me a cream to use and the rash would go away. Sometimes it came back very quickly, other times it would be gone for months. Winter was worse which was assumed because winter is drying for skin. 

This went on for a couple of years and finally the doctor decided it was more than dry skin and sent me to a dermatologist. It was contact dermatitis and I was allergic to perfumes. Once I went to perfume free products, the rash cleared up and thankfully has not returned even though I do now use some perfumed products again. 

I would go back and have some testing done to find out exactly what your rash is.


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## tinypixiexoxo (Sep 20, 2011)

Interesting!!!!! Thanks Nancy!

Allergies sure are fascinating arn't they? Not in a good way, but it's crazy how many different things we can be allergic to, and the wide array of symptomology! 

I know perfumes can give me migraines... Hm!


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## Rainy (Jul 27, 2011)

Just a thought and something that I found surprising.....scented candles can give you skin problems if you are allergic to fragrances. I had to get rid of all my smelly candles. It's not just touching them. If you can smell something then it is already on you. Molecules travel through the air and contact smell receptors in your nose. Those molecules can also settle on your skin. The doctor told me that my hands were effected and not other areas because I was washing my hands with smelly soap (I love Bath and Body Works!) and using smelly lotions. So my hands had more contact with scents and formaldehyde more frequently than other parts of my body. And like Nancy, mine was in the winter too, so there were microscopic cracks in my dry skin that exasperbated the problem. Hope your doctor figures it out. Maybe suggest a tape test up front, letting him know what happened with Nancy and I. And let him know that fragrances also give you headaches. Hope it works out! Keep us posted.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Me too Rainy. Just walking through the perfume department in stores would often start mine back up again. My family doctor thought I was nuts on that but the dermatologist agreed. :lol:


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## tinypixiexoxo (Sep 20, 2011)

Well my dermatologist said he could be of no help to me with no active out break.. guess that cream really works tehe.

I guess we'll just have to see if/when I get another outbreak, which would be mighty fine if I didn't. :lol:


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