Sue, if you’re reading this, or anyone else with medical knowledge:
What the heck is ringworm, where did I get it, and what is the usual treatment?
“C’mon, it’s not even tomorrow yet…” - Rupert
If you need a graphic solution, http:\ alk.to\Piglet
It’s not a worm, it’s a fungus. There’s an OTC product that used to be prescription only that works well, I’m sure someone will know the name.
You need to get a fungicide. Which one you need depends upon which type of fungus you picked up. A pharmacist would probably be able to recognize something.
“Jock itch” is a form of ringworm and you can also get in your fingernails. The “classic” form is “body” ringworm, which can pretty much hit any part of your body except scalp, feet, and some parts of the face.
I got ringworm when I was living in Mexico. I picked it up from my cat, who most likely picked it up from one of the stray animals I’d rescued and brought home temporarily.
It’s easy to cure (topical creams), but it’s really imperative that you don’t scratch it because it’s highly contageous. Cover it up really well with a bandage made of clean gauze and medical tape.
And if you have pets, check them thoroughly - that’s most likely where you got it. And if you don’t have pets of your own, but were recently petting a friend’s animal, let them know so they can check their pets too. The pets will also need treatment.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank
I think that almost any “jock itch” or “athlete’s foot” creme should cure it. They usually mention that they work for ringworm also. I’d just put the creme on and cover it with a band-aid or gauze pad to keep the creme from being rubbed off.
Go to http://www.healthcentral.com/mhc/top/001439.cfm for more information on ringworm and how to treat it.
(I didn’t have those gigantic rash areas shown in the photos on that page. I just had a small, ring-like patch on my leg that was slightly elevated and red. I’m assuming that’s the kind of ringworm you’re talking about.)
Try the ‘little kid’ approach… Scratch at it until it’s raw, then infect other people. This also works with Chicken Pox, but those suckers are airborne.
Then, one the others are infected, ask to borrow the rest of their medicine. You’ll save money that way. 
In my experience (scratch, scratch) the best fungicides available are in the women’s health section of the pharmacy. What works on vaginal yeast infections works well on ringworm. Just be sure to buy the cream and not the vaginal suppositories. You can throw the applicator away, unless you are into kinky souvenirs.
Lotrimin is one brand name that is very effective. Miconazol (sp?) is another. There are only two or three different formulations and a lot of brand names but I think these two have different active ingredients.
To help healing and relieve itching you can’t beat a little cortisone cream at the same time. Use the anti-fungal cream for several days after the symptoms disappear – otherwise it will recur and be harder to kill the next time.
One common method of transmission among sexually active people is to infect one another – she gets a yeast infection, you get jock itch. No fun for anyone.
“pluto … a seriously demented but oddly addictive presence here.” – TVeblen
I’ll second Pluto’s opinion of the vaginal yeast creams. They are just as effective as creams specificly for topical use.
I would like to add an additional bit of personal experience here. I live in the tropics and have a nasty recurring problem with skin fungus. Not as gruesome as it sounds, it is casually refered to here as “Haole’ rot”. Quite common actually.
I have found those that the creams are really quite wimpy and take a long time to clear up even “not so stubborn” patches of the stuff. So I have come up with my own patented, “Evil Ghandi’s Brute Force Treatment Regimine”.
Step one.
Saturate a guaze pad with rubbing alcohol and apply to affected area. Cover with saran wrap to prevent it from evaporating and tape in place. Leave this on for a couple hours.
Step two.
In a hot shower, scrub the area with selsun blue or another selinium type dandruff shampoo. Do this during your nightly shower.
Step three.
Apply the woosie cream to the fungal patch.
Do this three days in a row and you should not see the annoying little circles again. That is, unless you live in an area where it never drops below 70 and the humidity hovers around 90% year round. Then my only advice is to get used to it and keep alcohol, dandruff shampoo and monistat in the medicine cabinette.
Just a follow-up, Lamisil is the product I’ve found works well.
I’ve used something called “Lotrimin.” It knocked it out pretty well, but as I have learned from fighting fungal infections, you might need to keep treating it after it appears to have gone away.
It came come back. Right now I’m battling a nail fungus.
I think the reason that I’m especially prone to fungal infections is that IRL, I am such a fun guy. 
Desenex cream (or the generic equivalent). Apply and bandage daily. Spray your shoes nightly with Lysol spray (or a generic equivalent).
DO NOT TAKE FORCEFUL HOT SHOWERS!!! THIS MAY (ALMOST CERTAINLY WILL) GREATLY EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM!
George,
The hot shower will almost certainly make the spots appear redder, this I can attest to. Not sure what you mean by forcefull though.
The hot shower/selsun combo was a doctor prescribed treatment that I had mixed results with. It works better used in concert with the creams and the alcohol. This is from personal experience, your mileage may vary.
Desinex cream is next to useless on stubborn infections if you ask me. (note to desinex people, personal experience only, no libel intended). Tinactin is better, lotrimin/ monistat is best.
I work with soil a lot so I get it sometimes if I don’t wash after.
You get it from soil or something that touched it, usually.