My 5 month old may have ringworm of the scalp, are oral medications safe?

seaveraquil

I noticed two small red patches on the back of my 5 month old baby boy's head 2 weeks ago & thought it was eczema so I treated it with light washing daily followed by a special moisturizer. It went through some changes in the past 2 weeks. It was red scaled up & when that sloughed off if wasn't red but was a little bigger red brownish/yellow & looked like the telltale ring with ringworm. I also noticed another new red area of skin with a tiny pimple looking mark in the center that stayed even when the redness faded so I freaked out & brought him to the doctor. She thought it looked like ringworm, but took a skin sample to be sure because the treatment is an oral antifungal for 6 weeks! I'm so nervous & hope it's not ringworm, but the only other condition I think it could be is nummular eczema but that seems just as bad as it's usually a chronic condition. Has anyone had to treat an infant this young for ringworm of the scalp? I'm including a picture from 2 weeks ago also to ask what you all think. Will post recent pic if possible. Does it look like ringworm? I hope I hear back from the doctor soon!

seaveraquil

This is what it looks like now...

redhead610

I know it is hard waiting for the results to come back, but to answer the question in your title - if your doctor is prescribing a medication for your baby, it would be safe. If you do not trust your pediatrician, then you should look for a new one.

EmR22

My DS had something similar and doc just told us to keep it clean and dry and it went away with no meds. I would wait to see what your doc thinks before giving meds. 

seaveraquil

I ended up seeing a Ped. that isn't familiar with my family but at the same office as DS & DDs regular Ped. I'm glad she is doing a biopsy. She said to use Lotrimin AF for a week until I hear back - if it is a fungus it is growing very slowly. Six weeks is a long time to take medication at DS age. I worry about allergy development. My DD became allergic to 2 different types of antibiotics because she had frequent ear infections.

JaysonandKristin

Lotrimin should be fine.  Also, it could just be eczema.  FX it's nothing but dry skin!!  

I just took my daughter in for a well-baby yesterday and also had a ringworm scare.  It turned out to just be eczema -- ruled out ringworm by black light.

seaveraquil

Testing of tissue came back negative. Yay! Dodged a bullet. Most likely eczema. Ped. recommended hydrocortisone cream. Thank you for your responses!