Barber warns of common haircut mistake that's leaving scores of young men infected with gruesome RINGWORM

Barbers contiguous sounded the alarm implicit a concerning emergence in young men catching ringworm from haircuts.

Cases of the contagious tegument fungus that tin origin disfigurement person jumped importantly successful conscionable a fistful of months, they claim. 

Barbers judge this is owed to much men opting for tegument slice haircuts — erstwhile the sides are shaved short, and magnitude is near connected apical — astatine 'cheap, dirty, unqualified' shops 'littering the precocious streets'. 

But the Government contiguous said it inactive had 'no plans to modulate the hairdressing sector'.

Despite ringworm's estimation arsenic a scalp illness of Victorian slum-dwellers, it is simply a communal fungal infection, estimated to impact betwixt 10 and 20 per cent of the colonisation — chiefly children. 

Transmitted done skin-to-skin contact, contempt its sanction it is not caused by a worm. It tin besides beryllium passed connected done infected objects, specified arsenic bedsheets, combs oregon towels.

Mike Taylor, who runs a barber grooming academy successful Poole, Dorset said helium had seen 'loads of cases' recently.

The barber, who has worked successful the manufacture for 34 years, told the BBC helium believes cheaper shops are failing to support their instrumentality clean. 

He said: 'I'd accidental 70 to 80 per cent of clients travel successful inquire for tegument fades.

'To get that effect you've got to usage the foil clipper, but the occupation is it takes successful hairsbreadth and it needs to beryllium thoroughly cleaned.'

He added: 'The precocious thoroughfare is depleting, it's dying and past abruptly there's 12 barber shops connected the aforesaid thoroughfare and they're each trying to spell a small spot cheaper than each other.

'If the prices person to beryllium knocked down past thing other has to spell and possibly it is each the clip spent cleaning the instrumentality oregon the clip spent getting the due knowledge.

'Sometimes the cheapest terms isn't ever the champion price.'

Gareth Penn, the registrar astatine the Hair and Barber Council, besides called for a 'mandatory registry for those who privation to commercialized arsenic hairdressers oregon barbers'.

The council, based successful Hampshire, is simply a statutory authorization for hairdressing successful the UK. But it is presently lone a voluntary register.  

'This opens up hairdressing and barbering to those that are not trained, oregon qualified, oregon worse, those who privation to usage our manufacture arsenic a beforehand for amerciable activity,' helium said.

A authorities spokesperson said: 'We person nary plans to modulate the hairdressing sector, nevertheless we volition ever earnestly see grounds erstwhile it's provided.

'We enactment intimately with the manufacture to code skills and grooming needs, and HMRC is besides moving to tackle taxation fraud successful the sector.'

Cases of ringworm are usually treated with antifungal medications disposable connected medicine specified arsenic gels and creams. 

But sometimes oral antifungal medicine is needed arsenic well.

Common signs of the fungal corruption see itchiness, a scaly ring-shaped area, scattering of bumps which scope successful colour from reddish connected achromatic tegument to reddish, brownish oregon grey connected achromatic skin.

Slightly raised expanding rings oregon a circular level spot of itchy tegument are different cardinal signs, according to the NHS. 

Dr James O'Donovan, an NHS medic and method advisory radical subordinate astatine the World Health Organization, besides advises radical to debar sharing 'combs, hats, hairbrushes, towels and pillowcases with different people'.

In a YouTube video watched implicit 125,000 times, helium explained this is 'because fungus tin unrecorded for a agelong play of time'. 

If a kid is affected, it is captious schoolhouse teachers and parents of classmates are made aware, helium added.

'Other household members should beryllium examined by a doc and treated,' helium said. 

'Sometimes it's champion for the full household to beryllium treated with a medicated antifungal shampoo doubly play for 4 weeks, whether oregon not a fungal corruption is proven.'