7 Ways To Avoid Athlete’s Foot
If you’ve ever experienced athlete’s foot, you know how miserable it can be.
Burning, itching, and misery - ugh. It seems like once you’ve had it, you always up fighting it.
Curious if you have athlete’s foot? Here are some of the symptoms you may experience:
- Dry-looking skin
- Itching and burning between the toes, which may increase as the infection spreads to other parts of the feet
- Scaling or peeling skin
- Inflammation or swelling
- Blisters, which often lead to cracking or peeling skin to the feet and toes. When blisters break, small raw areas of tissue are exposed, which may cause swelling.
At Pedicurian, we receive a lot of questions from our customers about the condition, especially how they can avoid athlete’s foot altogether. Before we answer that “burning” question (get it?!), it’s essential to understand what athlete’s foot really is.
To put it in simple terms, athlete’s foot is a fungus infection also called tinea pedis. It’s called athlete’s foot because it’s frequently seen in athletes.
You see, fungi THRIVE in dark, moist places, and your shoes and socks, which keep light out and moisture trapped in, are the perfect environment for fungi to settle in and get real cozy.
Fun fact you may not know:
Your feet contain 250,000 sweat glands!
So, when your feet sweat,and you’re keeping them warm and cozy in shoes and socks, fungi just love this and an uncomfortable and unsightly infection is often the result. (We know - it can be gross!)
The best way to avoid athlete’s foot is to take control of your foot environment. Here’s how:
7 Ways To Avoid Athlete’s Foot
Take an extra few minutes every day and follow these steps - you’ll be able to keep athlete’s foot at bay!
- Wear a pair of clean socks every day
- Alternate your shoe gear
- Sanitize your shoes regularly
- Throw out old, worn-out shoes
- Clean your shower with bleach regularly.
- Wash your feet and dry them thoroughly every day - especially between toes.
- Wear flip flops and don’t walk barefoot in public bathing areas.
If you are prone to fungal infections and do all the above steps, you can use an OTC to stave off infections prophylactically.
Every product on the Pedicurian website has been rigorously tested and recommended by a board certified podiatrist. In fact, we’ve been testing foot products for over 25 years and won’t sell anything we wouldn’t use on our own patients.
You’ll find a wide array of products here to help you avoid athlete’s foot - such as cleansers and wipes that clean without drying your skin, Aarica anti perspirant, formulated for your feet to control sweat, shoe sanitizers to kill the organisms in your shoes, socks embedded with copper and silver fibers (clinically proven to control fungus), and antifungals in cream or aerosol form.
Check out the entire Athlete’s foot prevention selection here and please reach out to us if you have any questions.
When you take care of your feet, you look better and stay healthier!
