He is only 20 years old, but his feet are weird, with rough skin on the bottoms, and he's always picking at them. What is with that? Has anyone else seen a young guy with that? He does swim a lot and is quite an athlete, but it's not athlete's foot, I know because I've seen both....I am his aunt, and he has no idea that I am asking? He picks at his heels like a bad habit....
2007-10-23 16:59:29 · 7 answers · asked by Guinness 5 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Skin Conditions
I must add that this young man has always had very bad allergies and has been on a "nebulizer" as a child to overcome airborne allergies as well as animal/pet related or earthborne/grass types!? does that help?
2007-10-23 17:44:05 · update #1
He could still quite as easily have athlete's foot. It usually is the sort you recognize between the toes, but it can take what is called a "mocassin pattern" as easily. Or it can progress to that point. At any rate, there are two major causes of skin peeling on the foot- a fungal infection or incredibly dry skin. And of course, you can have both conditions at the same time. I'd suggest your nephew start with a cream or lotion designed to treat athlete's foot infections, Lotrimin is a good one to use. Use the powder form to saturate the shoes and leave them sit in sunlight to dry and bake for a few days. In between applications of the anti-fungal, he can use a really thick cream lotion designed for extra dry skin. The pharmacist can probably recommend a good one, but Eucerin cream is one possibility. And a pedicure to remove any callous and dried built up skin would probably not hurt matters either. The pedicure you could probably arrange harmlessly enough- the rest might be a bit touchy to bring up. This way, you can cover all the major bases of trouble, and if that doesn't work, then it's time to visit the doctor.
2007-10-23 17:15:56 · answer #1 · answered by The mom 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Is it possible that they are rough and peely because he is always picking at them? I used to have this very same habit of picking the skin off the bottom of my feet. Sounds sick but I enjoyed it! The bottoms of my feet were disgusting!! The thing that got me to finally stop was I actually made my heel bleed and the spot was sore and got mildly infected. (it healed quickly w bacitracin ointment and me leaving it alone!!) After this I used a thick layer of plain Vaseline on the bottoms of my feet every night and covered them with white cotton socks. In a few weeks they were completely healed and I have avoided picking them since! Of course this may not be the case for your nephew but it's a possibility.
2007-10-24 10:58:59 · answer #2 · answered by Silva 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like he needs a good skin conditioner.
The one I use is an Avon one that feels as if it has got sand in it, to give the skin a good scrubbing, and another I use before bed.
2007-10-24 09:45:52 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
.I get the same type of thing especially in the summer.I'm very active,alot of sports,swimming and running around with no shoes and I get alot of calloused skin however,I don't pick at them,perhaps it just looks worse than it is. then again I'm from Jersey, so it may just be the water in my case.
2007-10-24 17:21:53 · answer #4 · answered by digger 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it is due to over use and also constant exposure to dry weather!!
he is not using the right kind of SHOE and hence this problem!!
also he can try some local ointment like SILODERM every night before sleep for 2 weeks
all the best
2007-10-23 17:09:49 · answer #5 · answered by nirvana 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you had put this in words and wordplay I would have had a great answer for you...
I'm sorry that was really stupid of me, the first two guys are probably right.
2007-10-23 20:21:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheletes feet?
2007-10-24 10:59:06 · answer #7 · answered by chris j 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋