Should I Wear Socks to Bed with Athlete's Foot? Treatments, Remedies (2024)

FAQs

Should I Wear Socks to Bed with Athlete's Foot? Treatments, Remedies? ›

Wearing socks to bed can help prevent transmission of the fungus. Even if you avoid contact, your partner can still develop athlete's foot if you walk around the house barefoot. The fungus can attach itself to floors when you walk or stand on them.

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.

Change socks daily. While the athlete's foot infection is active, put socks on first, and then underwear. The same fungi that cause athlete's foot are responsible for jock itch. Air out shoes between wearings.

For patients using this medicine for athlete's foot: Carefully dry the feet, especially between the toes, after bathing. Avoid wearing socks made from wool or synthetic materials (eg, rayon or nylon). Instead, wear clean, cotton socks and change them daily or more often if your feet sweat freely.

Like hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol can help kill off the fungus that's on the surface level of the skin. You can apply it directly to the affected area or soak your feet in a footbath of 70 percent rubbing alcohol and 30 percent water for 30 minutes.

Wearing socks to bed can help prevent transmission of the fungus. Even if you avoid contact, your partner can still develop athlete's foot if you walk around the house barefoot. The fungus can attach itself to floors when you walk or stand on them.

Wear well-fitting, ventilated shoes. Alternate your shoes to allow for air drying. Wear socks that keep your feet dry. Change shoes and socks each day or more often when they get wet.

This can help whether you're the one with the infection or not. Wear clean, breathable socks to bed. If you share a bed with another person, the fungus may transfer to them via shared linens. Wearing clean socks to bed and washing sheets regularly minimizes transmission risk.

Know What to Disinfect

Make sure that any clothing, socks, towels or bedding that have been exposed to the infected person are washed separately in hot water (at least 140 degrees F). If water isn't hot enough it won't be able to kill the fungus.

Athlete's foot treatment can take anywhere from one to four weeks. You should notice improvements within the first few days of treatment. If the symptoms don't show any improvement within a week, you should consult your healthcare provider to determine the best method of treatment.

Does athlete's foot fungus wash out of socks? ›

An anti-fungal disinfectant like Pine Sol helps kill any athlete's foot fungus left in the sock fibers. After soaking for a while, wash the socks as usual. Washing with hot water and a hot dryer also helps to kill germs.

Fungus can't survive extremely high temperatures. Boiling your socks for 10 minutes at 55-60 degrees will kill off any fungus that might be lurking in your socks. But remember, simply washing your socks on a regular (40-60 degree) wash cycle will do nada to nuke fungal spores.

Always leave about 30 minutes between applying different products to the same area of skin, to give them time to be absorbed.

Foot fungi can easily spread to a partner when you sleep in the same bed or wear the same shoes. Sharing a shower with someone who has athlete's foot is also a risk. In a rare case where two partners have open wounds on their feet, an untreated infection of the foot can be transferred from one person to the other.

The fungus can even contaminate bed sheets and spread to other body parts through rubbing and scratching. To control the spread of infection, keep bathroom surfaces clean and don't share towels The best way to prevent athlete's foot is by wearing sandals or shower shoes when walking around a locker room or pool.

Over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription antifungal creams, ointments, gels, sprays or powders effectively treat athlete's foot. These products contain clotrimazole, miconazole, tolnaftate or terbinafine. Some prescription antifungal medications for athlete's foot are pills.

If you have athlete's foot, it's a good idea to wear socks to bed, especially if you share your bed with another person. This can help prevent transmitting the fungus to others. Athlete's foot (tinea pedis) is a fungal infection caused by a ringworm.

3 tips to keep athlete's foot under control include the following: Let your feet breathe - Allow your feet plenty of air circulation every day by taking off your shoes and socks and airing them out. Wear shoes made of breathable fabrics like leather, canvas and Goretex.

For control of athlete's foot infection, persons with active tinea pedis infection should: Keep feet clean, dry, and cool. Avoid using swimming pools, public showers, or foot baths. Wear sandals when possible or air shoes out by alternating them every 2-3 days.

A simple and easy fix at home is to “sanitize shower bases with a potential disinfectant like bleach. It kills spores of fungi,” Tierno says. Try a diluted bleach solution to kill off any potential threats.

Should you moisturize athlete's foot? ›

So moisturizing your feet regularly can help. If you're prone to athlete's foot or have a history of nail fungus, Lipner recommends daily treatment with a drugstore antifungal product — it reduces your chance of recurrence threefold, she says. “Athlete's foot tends to be a chronic condition,” Lipner says.

How Long Is Athlete's Foot Contagious? As long as the fungus is still on the skin of the feet, even during treatment, you can still pass it on to others.

Like the skin on the rest of your body, the skin on your feet needs to breathe. Wearing socks and shoes all day prevents your feet from getting fresh, dry air.

Athlete's foot is highly contagious. Many people catch it by walking barefoot in public areas such as swimming pools, locker rooms, and showers. These environments are warm and moist making them the perfect breeding ground for fungi.

Copper compression socks are designed to wick away moisture and prevent fungal growth. Thus, eliminating or controlling the ideal growing environment that exists inside a shoe. Copper compression socks are the best socks for athlete's foot and also against other fungal and bacterial infections.

Use hot water (140°F or 60°C) and your regular detergent for infected laundry. Lower temperatures will not kill the fungus and can transfer spores to other fabrics in the same load. For white cotton socks, you can use chlorine bleach along with hot water to disinfect the fabric.

Use hot water and detergent when washing bedding and any infected clothes. Hot water alone can kill the fungus. As an extra precaution, add borax or bleach to your wash along with regular laundry detergent. Borax and bleach can be purchased from a grocery store, and they also kill fungal spores.

Most mold spores will die at temperatures above 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), so cold and warm water cycles won't work. Add laundry detergent (regular detergent is fine). Add any other disinfectants, like vinegar, bleach or baking soda. Run two complete cycles on hot water.

If you have a fungal (i.e. Athlete's foot or fungal toenails), a bacterial (which causes smelly feet), or viral (i.e. warts) infection, try to reschedule your appointment. If you cannot, let one of the pedicurists know so that they can take appropriate steps to protect other people's feet.

Butenafine (e.g., Lotrimin Ultra Cream) will cure tinea pedis between the toes (e.g., the interdigital form) in only 1 week if used twice daily or in 4 weeks if the patient uses it only once daily. Thus, the pharmacist should urge the patient to apply the product each morning and at night.

How long does it take for athlete's foot to go away with antifungal cream? ›

Apply the product to the affected skin as directed — usually twice a day until a week after the rash clears up. It might take 2 to 4 weeks to see results. If the condition comes back, you might need to start applying the product again.

Keep Socks and Towels Separate, Too – Socks of those with foot fungus—especially athlete's foot—should be kept in a separate hamper and washed separately from other laundry.

To prevent or mitigate the spread of the fungal infection, an individual might consider being particularly careful with how they handle their laundry. This is because spores can often spread from clothes to clothes.

Fungus is made up of millions of tiny spores that can survive in a washer without the proper techniques and water temperatures. Here's how to successfully disinfect clothes from fungus in the washer: Keep items infected with fungus separate from other laundry items until washing.

The best way to disinfect shoes from athlete's foot is to use a UV shoe sanitizer. However, you can also use hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to get rid of fungus from athlete's foot. Vinegar is also effective at slowing down fungal growth in shoes.

Temperatures above 60 degrees kills the fungal spores. Otherwise soak socks in boiling water and wash at normal temperature. If you have sweaty feet, use an antiperspirant and talcum powder. Ensure you store the OTC treatment appropriately and you use it within the expiry date.

Fungus is already a difficult infection to get rid of, and what surprises many people is that fungus can live in your shoes for up to 20 months. Thus, continuously treating your shoes throughout treatment is essential. There are many ways to treat shoes including Lysol, anti-fungal mists and UV shoe cleaning devices.

If you use too much clotrimazole cream, spray or solution or use it more often than you need to, it may make your skin irritated or red. If this happens, use less the next time.

For topical dosage forms (cream, lotion, and solution): Fungal infections (treatment): Adults and children—Use two times a day, morning and evening.

Antifungal resistance can occur for many reasons. It sometimes develops spontaneously. Or it may result from antibiotic overuse or misuse of antifungal medicines. People with compromised immune systems are most at risk for developing fungal infections that can lead to antifungal resistance.

How often should you wash your feet with athlete's foot? ›

Wash and dry your feet twice daily: You may only shower once a day, but if you have athlete's foot, you should wash your feet morning and night to help clear up the infection. Remember to scrub between your toes where the itchy rash is bound to be at its worst.

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.

The fungus can live on towels, clothes, sheets and household surfaces for months.

Athlete's foot is contagious and can be contracted by touching someone who has it or infected surfaces. The most common places contaminated by it are public showers, locker rooms, and swimming pools.

Health experts do not recommend using hydrogen peroxide to treat foot fungus. It is not an effective treatment for athlete's foot and can slow wound healing.

As vinegar has antifungal properties, soaking the feet daily in a vinegar foot bath could help fight off fungal infections, such as athlete's foot. However, there is currently no reliable evidence to suggest that any home remedies, including vinegar, are useful in the treatment of athlete's foot.

If left untreated, it can spread to a nail and cause a fungal nail infection. The infection can spread to other areas of skin, such as the hands, but that rarely happens. Very rarely, and only in severe cases of athlete's foot, it can also lead to a bacterial infection.

After applying this medication, wash your hands. Do not wrap, cover or bandage the area unless directed to do so by your doctor.

Apply the product to the affected skin as directed — usually twice a day until a week after the rash clears up. It might take 2 to 4 weeks to see results. If the condition comes back, you might need to start applying the product again.

Wash sheets, towels, socks, underwear, and bedclothes in hot water (at 60 °C / 140 °F) to kill the fungus. Change towels and bed sheets at least once per week.

How do you clean sheets after athlete's foot? ›

Make sure that any clothing, socks, towels or bedding that have been exposed to the infected person are washed separately in hot water (at least 140 degrees F). If water isn't hot enough it won't be able to kill the fungus. For any white clothing or materials, you can also use bleach with hot water.

Research suggests that wearing socks to bed can help people not only fall asleep faster, but sleep longer and wake up fewer times throughout the night. One study found that young men wearing socks fell asleep 7.5 minutes faster, slept 32 minutes longer, and woke up 7.5 times less often than those not wearing socks.

The fungus can even contaminate bed sheets and spread to other body parts through rubbing and scratching. To control the spread of infection, keep bathroom surfaces clean and don't share towels The best way to prevent athlete's foot is by wearing sandals or shower shoes when walking around a locker room or pool.

Athlete's foot is caused by the same type of fungi (dermatophytes) that cause ringworm and jock itch. Damp socks and shoes and warm, humid conditions favor the organisms' growth.