You had a lot of fun in the pool, but now you have a weird itch between your toes? Bare feet and humidity are not a winning combination and it is very likely that your summer spent swimming has left you with a souvenir: the so-called athlete's foot. To get rid of this fungus quickly, try the following treatments. While you're at it, take all precautions to avoid recurrence and keep your feet in tip-top shape.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Treating Athlete's Foot
Step 1. Use an antifungal cream or spray
Since this is a fairly common infection, there are a number of over-the-counter medications to choose from. Go to the pharmacy and buy a product that can kill the fungi responsible for the problem. Apply it daily for 3-6 weeks, even once the visible symptoms have disappeared, to completely eliminate systemic mycosis.
Step 2. Take a Betadine foot bath
Betadine is a disinfectant solution capable of killing the fungi that cause itching and burning. Buy it and pour two caps into a liter of warm water. Soak your feet in the solution for 20 minutes a day, continuing until the symptoms subside.
Step 3. Use vinegar
If you don't want to use chemicals or go to the pharmacy, that's no problem! You can make a natural foot bath using vinegar. Pour 250 ml (apple juice is fine too) into 2 liters of water and let the infected feet absorb its beneficial action. Apply it for 20-30 minutes a day.
Step 4. Use black tea
Tannic acid is one of the great advantages offered by this substance: it has emollient properties and fights mycoses by helping the healing of the feet. Put 6 sachets in 1 liter of warm water and leave them to infuse. Soak your feet inside or dab them several times a day with a cotton swab dipped in this liquid.
Step 5. Improve foot health with cinnamon
If in addition to killing the fungus you want to perfume your home or simply do not have the products indicated so far at hand, you can resort to a completely natural remedy to kill the fungi. Soak 4-5 cinnamon sticks in 4.5 liters of warm water to release their active ingredients, then soak your feet to relax them while the cinnamon naturally works on the infection.
Step 6. Use a pinch of salt
While not as pleasant as a cinnamon or tea foot bath, a saline foot bath can eliminate the fungi responsible for this infection. Make a mixture by putting 1 teaspoon of table salt in 250ml of warm water. Wait for it to melt and soak your feet for 10-15 minutes.
Step 7. Rub them with cornstarch
This fine powder has excellent absorbency. Spread it on your feet and between your toes to remove excess moisture that promotes fungal growth. You can continue the treatment even when they have healed to keep them healthy, dry and protected against fungal attack.
Step 8. Make a garlic paste
Despite the pungent smell, garlic possesses exceptional antibacterial and antifungal properties, which allow you to defeat the irritation caused by this infection. Chop 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and mix them with a teaspoon of olive oil until it forms a paste (you can add more garlic or add less oil to get the right consistency). Spread the mixture on the feet and the edges of the nails and leave it on for 15-20 minutes. When finished, rinse with warm water and dry them thoroughly.
Step 9. Use lemon juice
Citric acid not only kills fungi and bacteria, it also has a fresh fragrance that leaves your feet smelling. Dilute the juice of 1 lemon in 60ml of water. Dab the solution on the infected area with a cotton ball several times a day.
Step 10. Increase your yogurt intake
Live lactic ferments in yogurt are good for digestion and help heal athlete's foot! Opt for ones that contain lactobacillus acidophilus. For best results, eat one a day (whichever you prefer).
Part 2 of 2: Preventing Athlete's Foot
Step 1. Continue the treatment
Fungi remain in the body for a long time, even once they have disappeared from the skin, so do not suspend treatments for a total of 3-6 weeks even once all the signs of the infection have disappeared. In this way you will be sure that you have completely eradicated it and you will reduce the risk of recurrence.
Step 2. Let your feet breathe, but don't overdo it
The extent to which the feet are uncovered is very tenuous. If you overdo it, you may get the fungus again. On the other hand, if the foot "suffocates", it macerates in the humidity, leading to a recurrence. Try to wear sandals or shoes that allow your foot to breathe, but avoid being barefoot. If you have to walk in humid environments (such as swimming pools and public showers), wear flip-flops or other protective shoes to avoid contact with fungus-contaminated floors.
Step 3. Disinfect your shoes
Any footwear you wore while you had the infection is inevitably contaminated. Buy an antifungal powder specially formulated for this problem and sprinkle it in your shoes once a week.
Step 4. Keep your feet dry
Fungi proliferate in humid environments and sweaty feet are a favorable habitat. Always keep them dry, use a towel to absorb excess moisture between your fingers and on the soles after a shower, swimming or intense sweat. In this way they will be an inhospitable environment for the fungi responsible for athlete's foot.
Step 5. Put on cotton socks
If you suffer from athlete's foot, you need to avoid heavy socks that trap moisture. Use only breathable cotton ones that you can wash and bleach easily. Also, wash them regularly and change them every day.
Step 6. Disinfect the shower
Once you have cleaned your shoes and washed your socks, the only place where the mushrooms can still lurk is in the shower. Clean the plate with bleach every week. All sponges and brushes used to wash the feet must be thrown away and replaced or disinfected.
Step 7. Avoid sharing your personal items
Stay away from anything that might contain fungus or foot sweat, unless it belongs to you. Towels, shoes and socks are not to be shared with anyone else.
Advice
- If you scratch your foot, immediately wash your hands with soap and water.
- Avoid pulling on dry skin that peels off, otherwise you make the situation worse and risk spreading mycosis further.
- Always consult your doctor. Your opinion is an effective security measure.
Warnings
- Athlete's foot is contagious.
- If the fungal infection does not go away or gets worse quickly, see your doctor right away.
