Athlete's Foot Treatment and Prevention (2024)

Imagine that your foot is a tree in a dark, wet rain forest, also known as your shoes. Your toes are the roots of that tree. What usually grows near the roots of wet trees? Mushrooms, also known as fungi.

And that's what's happening to you. Fungus is growing on your foot (mostly between your toes), and your foot is reacting to these growths with itching, redness, and, possibly, cracked skin and an odor. But there's not a tasty portobello in sight.

Cause

Athlete's foot is a contagious fungus that thrives in locker rooms and on shower floors (because it's one of the few places we share with others that is wet and filled with germs that touch our feet). However, "the fungus is everywhere," says John Scanlon, D.P.M., chief of podiatric services at Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia.

Despite its name and love of locker rooms, you can, in fact, get athlete's foot even if the most exercise you ever do is click your remote control. All it takes is exposure to the fungus and having wet feet. If you have it once, you're also predisposed to developing it again.

How Serious

Even the mightiest athlete can be brought low by athlete's foot. It won't kill you, but it will annoy the heck out of you. More than that, however, is its potential to become something serious. "Athlete's foot can lead to a bacterial infection," says Dr. Scanlon. "If an over-the-counter antifungal cream or other remedy doesn't work within five to seven days, you should see a doctor."

You should also see a doctor if the skin on your feet is so cracked that it's painful or is beginning to look more like cuts and not cracks.

If the fungus moves to the skin underneath your toenails, then you'll have a very difficult time getting rid of the fungus (which is now a nail fungus) without a prescription for an oral medication, says Richard Braver, D.P.M., a sports podiatrist and head of the Active Foot and Ankle Care Centers in Englewood and Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Nail fungus occurs most often in athletes and people over the age of 65.

Solutions

1. Think "Wet" or "Dry"

"Sometimes athlete's foot is dry and itchy, and sometimes it's moist and itchy," says Marjorie Menacker, D.P.M., a podiatrist with Chesterfield Podiatry Associates in Midlothian, Virginia. "If it's dry, you want to wet it; and if it's wet, you want to dry it." So if your feet are dry, use an antifungal cream or ointment, which will add moisture. But if they're wet, use an antifungal powder, which won't add moisture, Dr. Menacker says.

2. Look for Clotrimazole

Want a fast-acting over-the-counter remedy? "I like clotrimazole, which is available over-the-counter in Lotrimin AF and some other athlete's foot medications," says Dr. Scanlon.

3. Apply Lotrimin AF to the Infected Area Three Times a Day

If you can, let it air dry for 15 minutes before putting on your socks and shoes, Dr. Scanlon says. And don't stop using a cream or powder until two to three weeks after you notice the infection is gone. The fungus could still be inside your foot.

4. Soak to Dry

If you suffer from the moist variety of athlete's foot, soaking your feet in Domeboro solution (available in drugstores) and water will help pull the moisture out. Domeboro is an astringent, which means that it dries up the skin, Dr. Scanlon says. "Soak your feet for about 15 minutes a day, following the directions on the package of Domeboro," Dr. Scanlon says. "You can do this every day until the infection seems to be gone."

Alternative Approaches

1. Cut Out the Candy

Sugar feeds any sort of yeasty fungus, and that's what athlete's foot is. So if you cut out the sugar, you'll cut out one bit of sustenance to the gunk growing between your toes.

"The remedies you put on the outside of your body will only help long-term if you're also feeding the inside of your body properly," says Nancy Dunne-Boggs, a doctor of naturopathy at Bitterroot Natural Medicine in Missoula, Montana. "You need to cut at least simple sugars out of your diet."

That means no candy, sugar, soda, maple syrup, ice cream, or other sweets, says Dr. Dunne-Boggs. "Do this until you can't see the fungus anymore and then for three weeks after that," she says. If you begin to eat sugar again and the fungus comes back, cut out the sweets again, then experiment with how much sugar you can eat without sending your feet back into fungus land.

2. Go for Garlic

Raw garlic has natural antifungal properties. Put several crushed garlic cloves in a basin with warm water and a little rubbing alcohol. "This is my first-choice treatment," writes James A. Duke, Ph.D., the world's foremost authority on healing herbs, in his book, The Green Pharmacy. "A garlic footbath might be malodorous, but it usually relieves itching and burning between the toes."

Preventive Measures

1. Wear Shower Shoes

"Public showers are the number one source of athlete's foot infection," says Dr. Scanlon. "Fungus gets into the cracks of the shower floor and then thrives. If you have dry skin or cracks in the skin of your foot, then it won't be able to protect you against the bacteria."

If your skin can't protect you, you'll need to find something else that will. And the thing that will help you most are shower shoes made of plastic. Be sure to keep them clean and dry, just like your feet.

2. Sock it to Synthetics

Socks made of Coolmax or Thermax and other materials that wick moisture away from your skin will help keep your feet dry and bacteria-free, says Dr. Menacker. This will help cut off the moisture on which fungus thrives. Look for sport socks or sock liners made of these materials at sporting goods stores and camping outfitters.

3. Wash and Dry

Make sure that you wash your feet, using a washcloth and soap, says Dr. Scanlon. It's the scrubbing action, more than the soap you use, that helps. Then, make sure that you dry your whole foot, especially the spaces between the toes, he adds. "Drying your feet thoroughly is the most important thing you can do," Dr. Scanlon says.

Pat dry your feet last so that you do not spread the fungus to other parts of your body. You also want to be sure not to reuse the washcloth or towel until they have been laundered, he adds.