What is Athlete's Foot?
Athlete's foot is a fungal condition of the skin of the feet and toes. It is characterised by red scaly and itchy skin on the feet, affecting mainly the soles and between the toes, but in severe conditions it will also affect the top surface of the foot. There may be formation of small blisters which will burst and then peel.
Causes
The main culprit is a fungus called Epidrmophyton floccosum, although different fungi could be involved. Fungus likes warm, damp dark places to grow, and what more warm damp and dark place could there be than an athlete's trainer! Of course nowadays not only athletes wear trainers. Another reason for it being called athlete's foot is that the original fungus is often picked up from the changing room floors of gymnasiums. Once a fungus has been picked up and takes residence in the skin of your foot it can be mighty hard to shift.
Orthodox Treatment
Usually severe cases may be treated with an anti fungal drug given orally, the most common one being Grisofulvin. Topically you might be prescribed an anti fungal cream such as Miconazole Nitrate in a 2% solution.
Natural Treatment
There are a number of things that you can do to help yourself. Firstly as fungus thrives in damp and dark make sure you do not spend a long time in sweaty socks and trainers. If your feet are prone to being sweaty take an extra pair of socks out with you to change into mid way through the day. When you get home, wash your feet and put on a pair of flip flops.
Calendula talcum powder is good for helping to keep sweaty feet dry, and the Calendula helps to heal the skin.
An old naturopathic tip is to soak your socks in vinegar and dry them, then wear them for two hours every day before washing them and repeating the process.
Barefoot Botanicals S.O.S foot soldier refreshing foot balm should be applied once or twice every day. It contains a blend of botanical ingredients which help to combat fungal infections. One of the ingredients Ajoene, comes from deodorised garlic and is an essential extract to help combat athlete's foot.
Diet
Some people who are particularly prone to fungal infestations may benefit from eating a diet low in sugars and yeasts, including alcohol and bread. A supplement of lactobacillus acidophilus might help. This is the friendly bacteria found in live yogurt and is available in tablet or powder form from most good health food stores.
Homeopathic Treatment
As usual the advice is to see a professional homeopath if the problem is very long standing or severe. You could try whichever of the following remedies sounds most suitable, in a 6c potency once daily for a month. Tablets should be sucked or chewed.
Sulphur is a leading homeopathic skin remedy and it is one of the best for athlete's foot. The skin is usually dry and cracked and very itchy. The itching will get worse when the feet are hot and after a warm bath. The sulphur patient may stick his or her feet out of the bedclothes at night, or get up and put their feet against a cold floor.
Silica is useful where fungal problems occur as a result of having very profuse sweat on their feet. This leads to the perfect conditions for athlete's foot. There may be dry flaky skin and painful cracks between the toes.
Graphites types will have scaly patches on the feet and between the toes which will weep or become moist after scratching. The fungus may travel to the nail bed causing the nails to become thickened and distorted.