Athlete's foot driving me mad!?

Question

I've had the thing for a few years now & its so much better than it used to be - just residing to the top of my feet. The annoying thing is I have to apply powder twice a day with the foot deodorant I use (if I don't use foot deodrant my Athlete's Foot eats away at my foot like nobody's business) and it stays the same i.e. doesn't get worse, doesn't get better. I've used cream & spray. As I alternated between the cream, the spray & the powder it seemed to get better but appears to have now reached a permanent plateau. Basically, any ideas how I can get rid of the damn fungi?

Answer 1

Keep your feet clean and dry and get lots of natural sunlight. You'll have to clean all of your shoes to get rid of the fungus. Use soap and water and fungus powders from the store. Also make sure that you use socks with natural fibres...cotton, wook or silk. Anything artificial holds sweat in and feet can't breathe properly. Take your shoes off at work as much as possible. No pantyhose allowed! Wash your sheets in hot water, soap and bleach, and hang them out in the sun to dry. Shampoo your carpets with an anti-fungal soap. And you can get anti-fungal soaps to wash your feet as well. One of the best on the market is Spectro Gram '2'. Don't forget that funguses are spread by spores, which can live forever in hostile environments. It will take weeks to make sure that you've gone through all generations of those fungus spores. And that means a non-ending cleaning regimen until you have been fungus free for at least a week.

It's certainly easier to get a rx for a fungus cream now isn't it?

Other Answers from other people:
vinegar. just soak your feet in it. it doesn't smell great, but it'll kill just about anything.

cheers to that tea tree mention. that's an excellent idea. tea tree oil twice a day. Stings, but works. Try tea tree oil or go barefoot Tea trea oil gets rid of athelete's foot 100%. Pee on your feet in the shower. i know this sounds super gross, but my grandpa swears it works ... anyways pee on ur feet while ur in the shower ... the urine will kill it .... i know gross right? Er, this is going to sound awful, but my ex husband (he was in the Air Force) said in the desert to help with athletes feet and jungle rot from being in combatboots was to ...Pee on their feet when they showered.. I swear i'm not making this up.

my boyfriend says pee on your feet, but i would opt for some gold bond and wear flip flops until your feet dry out, then use 100% cotton socks, they breathe better. change them every time they get wet or sweaty. Soak your feet in warm water with epsin (not sure if that is spelled right ) salt. When you wear your socks and shoe, put a sprinkle of baby powder in them. This also helps foot odor. Soak them in water and white vinegar, or use a paste made with baking soda. Always make sure you dry your feet really well when you get out of the shower. Between the toes. Dip your feet into luke-warm salty water.
You can pour talcum powder into your shoes. Clean your floor with betadine or carbolized antiseptic ingredients. Wash your feet with detol soap. Keep your feet dry, and clean. Athletes foot is ringworm of the foot. I use alternative medicine the majority of the time, but this is one that can take you forever to get rid of. Tea tree oil is your best defense if you choose, but you have to kill it on the surfaces of your shower, shoes, etc. You will infect anyone else around you using the same showers etc. I have seen it get so bad that patients are unable to walk and secondary infection sets in. Nothing to mess around with, seriously.

Answer 2

Warm damp conditions, provides an ideal environment for the spread of this fungus. This explains why it often appears on feet which as you know are frequently warm and damp. If you travel abroad to beach locations, spend as much time as possible walking in the sand bare-foot. Frequently 'paddle' in salt water. After your walk, make sure your feet are dry and then treat them with Mycil foot powder. A few days of the salt and sand therapy will toughen your skin and eliminate the fungus. While at home were 'flip-flops' to expose your feet while regularly using the foot powder. If possible get to a sandy area and do regular bare foot walks. Basically, eliminate the warm damp conditions and the fungus can no longer incubate. Good luck!

Answer 3

Ther are various antifungals for use for athletes foot. They are available over the counter (e.g canestan which contains clotrimazole) Even with use the fungi can dissapear but if the creams are not used for sufficiently long can cause problems and appear again. There are various antifungals available on presciption - a combination of oral tablets and creams can often work quite well for resistant types. Often have to use them for quite a few weeks to eradicate it completely as can come back. At the same time need to wear open toed shoes e.g sandals with no socks as sweat attracts fungi. There are various strengths of antifungals e.g clotrimazole, fluconazole and terbinafine (strong stuff) which come in various forms (cream or oral medication). But mild antifungal should be sufficient to get rid of it as long as you are applying the cream for good length of time and refraining from wearing sports socks and trainers. It is definately going to the doctor to just check that it isn't anything different to athletes foot.

Answer 4

Cream from the chemist always sorted it for me within hours. Maybe you have a bad attack and need extra help. Go to your GP and tell him how long this has gone on for as it can't be doing your body and good. If he can't offer you anything that will work then you must ask to be referred to a specialist. If he wont, then just turn up at your A&E dept at your local hospital and tell them that your boss has insisted you leave work and see a doctor! Good luck!

Answer 5

i've had similar issues, and recently the best thing i've found was dactarin which i got from my GP. this worked a treat - ladle the stuff on twice a day, and you can add moisturiser over the top if needed. if that doesn't work your GP ought to be able to give you something with hydrocortizone in, which might work better for you.
also make sure you clean socks and shoes/slippers and if possible carpets(!) as the fungus can stay resident in these and you can catch it back again..

Answer 6

I had to keep it guessing, alternating between two and three different creams. I also resorted to bleaching my feet in a watered down bleach solution (hey don't sue me if it burns your feet man!) now I use talc in my socks to prevent it coming back/ soak any perspiration up. I think in my case there were a couple of subtly different strains and one cream wasn't necessarily killing both ... maybe? Also I read a thing on the web somewhere about buying brand new shoes or the old shoes act as a store of the fungus & it will keep re-infecting you!!

A mate of mine swears by washing his feet in a water & salt solution. He has the water damn hot so he probably literally swears too!

Answer 7

Throw out old shoes, get new. Wear white, absorbant socks, treat athelets feet till the deep (showing blood) cuts are gone. Soak feet completely in a bleach/water solution. In a small tub not much larger than feet, enough water to completely cover tops, almost to ankles. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of plain, bleach. Do it every week or so to keep it away. I do it & my feet are without that icky stuff!
Make sure all open sores are closed, it stings like hell!

Answer 8

Try LAMISIL. It's like $16 at Walmart. Also, make sure you use Lysol in your bathtub or shower floor to kill the fungus. You might just be spreading it back and forth. If this doesn't work see your dermatologist (skin doc) or even a podiatrist (foot doc).

Answer 9

ther are a lot of home remedies but i hate to tell you a presciption med. is the only thing to completey get rid of it.

CLEARASIL CLEANSING PADS will help also. it kills bacteria, germs and fungus.
sit with your feet in the sunlight.
also put all of your shoes in the washing machine with a litlle bleach and put them in the sun to dry. fungus hates the sun.

My son was a wrestler and he got ringworm,( the same type fungus as what you have) we tried everyone's home remedies for a about a year and we finally ended up at a dermatologist and he gave him an oral pill and a cream, it went away in just a matter of days.
The doctor also told him to clean the area with clearasil pads and apply "certain dri" antiperspirant to the area before he would wrestle in order to help keep the fungus off his skin.

i have heard that your own urine is sterile and is a fungicide.
i have also heard that regular LISTERINE will kill fungus on toe nails so it may work on this.

Good luck and i hope you find something that works.

Answer 10

You have to kill all the fungus where ever it is. All shoes have to be sprayed with a strong anti fungal agent. All bedding must be stripped and hot water washed with the mattress sprayed as well. All floor surfaces have to be sprayed and bathtub bleached. Then, soak your feet in a solution of warm water and household bleach (not too much or you will harm your skin) for a least a half hour. Once that is done, dry them and apply your anti fungal powder for a couple of days. That should do it, the bleach will kill it outright and your job is to not get re-infected.

Answer 11

You've told us all this, but there's no mention of a doctor ever having been involved. If, as you say, the A/F "eats away at your foot" then it's NOT A/F - it's something more serious, so stop farting about and get some proper medical attention.