Athletes foot

Hello, Thanks for writing to us,

Athlete's foot is known to be the most common foot infection in people who sweat a lot in their feet. The warm and moist environment becomes a very suitable medium for the fungal spores to grow and cause the infection. It is also known as Tinea pedis and is caused by a group of fungi called Trichophyton more so with Trychophyton rubrum.

They cause infection all over the body but named accordingly. Tinea capitis on scalp, Tinea corpris/ Ring worm on the trunk, Tinea unguium in the nails, Tinea cruris in the groin, Tinea pedis in the foot, etc. It usually presents with skin saddening followed by itching, skin flaking, redness, pain, raw skin.

You might have used over the counter anti-itch medications which actually appear to relieve the symptoms just by subsiding itch, but they increase the fungal growth. The other cause of recurrence is that the treatment course is usually not completed by the patients owing to decrease in itch immediately in a few days. The course of treatment is about 4 weeks.

Topical anti-fungals are the basic treatment regimens which include Azoles alone or in combination with steroids. At times oral anti-fungal may be needed in resistant cases.

The best thing is prevention by keeping the feet clean and dry .Avoiding shoes helps free air circulation to the feet. Body talc can also be used over the feet for a simple reason that it absorbs the sweat. I would recommend you to consult a physician and start the medications along with the preventive measures for best results.

Hope this helps.