Can you treat athlete’s foot at home?
Athlete’s foot is a persistent fungus that can be hard to eliminate. Your best chance of treating it at home is to discover it early before it invades hard-callused skin that topical medications can’t reach. Since it often begins with redness and peeling skin between the toes, it is important to check them often for signs of infection.
Over-the-counter antifungal creams, lotions, sprays, and powders may get rid of a mild infection if used consistently according to directions. At the same time, keep your feet clean to elimination a secondary bacterial infection. Also wear breathable shoes and change socks at least once a day to keep your feet dry.
It goes without saying that you should wear foot protection in damp public places where the fungus thrives. No sense fighting off an infection if you just pick it up again. The same reason applies for treating your shoes as well as your feet with antifungal medications.
If the infection doesn’t improve in a couple of weeks, contact Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle Center in Lakewood or Wheat Ridge, CO. Call (303) 423-2520 or request an appointment online. We’ll check it out and prescribe stronger medication that can help.
How do you catch athlete’s foot?
Athlete’s foot occurs when you encounter the same fungus that causes infections like jock itch and ringworm. The perfect environment for the fungus to thrive includes warmth, humid air, moist surfaces, dead air, and less light. That’s why they are usually to be found in places like pools and pool decks, saunas, communal shower areas, your own bathroom surfaces, and your shoes.
The infection can be spread from direct contact with a person who has it, but seems more often to happen when you walk where they walked or share towels, shoes, socks, or pedicure implements with them. If they touch their feet and then another part of their body, the fungus can spread to those new places, too.
As you can see, there are many different ways to pick up this infection. Do what you can to prevent it by practicing good hygiene, wearing foot protection in public places, and keeping your feet as dry as possible—especially between your toes where it often starts. If you do get it, call the west Denver podiatrists at Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle Center by dialing (303) 423-2520 and we’ll help you fight it.
