The fungus among us

Sorry about that...

RING worm. It happens. It's a fact of a fighter's life. However, it's not unavoidable.

The first thing to do is educate yourself. I probably can't do it better then this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_worm

What I can do is give you the breakdown on some tips to help you prevent/treat the fungal infection:

Clean everything, your gear, your SELF. Don't come home after training and lay on your bed, sit on your couch or grapple around with your girlfriend/boyfriend/roommate/dog, etc. If you spread it to someone else, you just gave yourself another source of infection.

Wear clean clothes! Should be part of the first hint but it's one of the most overlooked forms of prevention. Some people will see their training gear as 'stuff that's meant to get dirty' and therefore not seeing anything wrong with it being dirty already. I'm not one to point fingers but in my experience at different camps, with different trainees I have seen everything from blood, to dirt, grease, and yes, food & alcohol-- this on clothing that people put on BEFORE training.

Clean the mats. At our gym the mats/bags/gear/etc is cleaned daily. However, take the initiative to keep things clean. Help out around the gym, you will benefit from it and it's not brown nosing.

TELL people. It's not something you should keep as a dirty little secret. Spreading ringworm is a no-no in training circles. If you have it, your instructors will help you keep training while avoiding transmission. Be considerate, if you have ringworm, don't rip off your shirt and go grapple everyone in sight. True, you might be the shunned member for a limited amount of time, but don't let yourself become THAT guy (even if you're a girl).

Watch your feet! Take your shoes off before entering matted areas. PUT YOUR SHOES ON when leaving the mats. If you're walking around barefoot to your car, think through and realize what you're doing. Keep your shoes and socks clean as well. If you're sticking your barefeet into dirty sneakers, you're not helping anyone. Basically any place that is shoes on, should be shoes on; any place that is shoe off, should be shoes off.

Lotrimin and other ointments are a first line of defense, but read the directions. Some medications require you to use the product twice a day for a month straight... not to doubt anyone's diligence, but their are products that are intended for just 7 days.

Dandroff shampoo is a good option as well. Use it as a kind of secondary shower gel. Use it as an ointment. Just make sure your skin can handle it. A tingle is OK. Burning is not.

A bleach SOLUTION can sometimes be used. It's a bit more of an old school method, but remember that even as hard as those old schoolers are, you should significantly dilute the bleach with water. Don't put bleach directly onto your skin... the chemical burn will be much worse than the ringworm (and can leave scarring).

There's plenty more to it, but this should get you started. it's not a death sentence to your training. If anything else, ask a more experience fighter and I assure you, they'll have ring worm stories for you. Mat Herpes on the other hand...
(that one's nasty, you find it on your own)