How to Recognise and Treat Athletes Foot

We have over 250,000 sweat gland in our feet. These sweat glands can secret up to half a pint of fluid a day. Crazy right !!

Fungal infections are caused by fungal spores such as tinea pedis. This fungus loves to grow in warm damp conditions just like in your feet. It usually starts in between your 4^th and 5^th toes (but not always) as they are usually the closest together and warm. It can then spread to other toes and down into the foot. Not all athletes foot is itchy all of the time and can go unnoticed until it’s very bad and spreads throughout the foot. It can present as white macerated (broken down mushy tissue) in between the toes. It can also look like dry cracked skin with small red patches. A lot of my patients will say their feet are only itchy the odd time and didn’t realise they even had it until I pointed it out. So keep an eye on your feet.

Management

The best way to keep athletes foot away is to wash your feet at least every 2 days and every day if your highly active or sweaty. Drying in between your toes is very important. Apply powder between the toes if they are very close together and/or have reduced movement. If you do get athletes foot, I advise using daktarin powder for between the toes as it keeps them dry while killing the infection. You can use cream on the base of your foot if it’s not in between your toes, but the powder is sufficient for your whole foot if you have it between your toes and on the base of the foot. Daktarin powders and creams are available to purchase in the clinic.

Top Weird Tip

Due to us having to wear face masks more often, our faces can get damp and spots/rashes can occur. I had a crazy thought that applying daktarin powder in the evening and before putting on a face mask for a long day at work, might dry out the skin and reduce the spots and rash. It has worked amazingly and has completely cleared up my mask acne. I even have my teenager and his friends using it due to them suffering ache normally and the masks now making it worse. I hope it works for you too.

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