Athletes foot arrgh!!

[MoaningMcMyrtlepants]

My feet started to get a bit dry and cracked which usually means I haven't been drinking enough. But it got worse and worse and I have great bit splits in the joints of my toes and the skin is raw on the pads of some toes and the foot is itching like mad. The pain is quite horrendous to.

I have got some anti fungal powder and started using it wednesday night. It has made a tiny difference but I was up last night in agony so i had to take some ibroprufen to help with it and try to get some sleep.

My DH reckons I ought to be putting something like sudocreme on them as well to stop them getting to dry and to help the splits knit together.

Does anyone have any other advice on how I can deal with it? How long should it take the powder to work?

I reckon it comes from a pair of sandels I bought a few weeks ago and have been wearing with no socks on.

Sorry gratuitous bump!

I find that athletes foot cream works better than powder for me (put some on then put some socks on top while it sinks in to stop it rubbing off).

Another alternative is athletes foot spray which is also quite good.

I find with cream it usually clears up in a couple of days, but if its causing you a lot of pain and not improving, go to the GP, they might give you something better than over the counter stuff.

I don't obviously have any medical knowledge, but if it's very painful and itchy it might be infected.

It can be horribly painful, I use the cream to cure it and the powder once it is gone as it seems to prevent it coming back - make sure you dry your feet really well before you apply it (I wash mine adding a drop of teatree to the water - a hairdryer is best (on a v low setting)

KurriKurri, will get DH some cream for me tomorrow while he is in town, then if it doesn't start to ease by Monday I'll ring the doc's.

Tarquin I hadn't thought about using a hairdryer, it has been hell on earth trying to get them dry with a towell. Will rumage around in my drawers to dig out my tea tree. Will definatly be putting powder into those flipping sandals.

oh you so want an anti-fungal cream, myrtle! it works like a charm, honest

Scholl & others do a specific anti-athletes foot cream, but you can also use eg Canesten or Daktarin if you happen to have some in?

& wash your feet a lot, then sit with your toes apart (wedge them with eg little rolls of loo paper if you can't hold them apart) & put the cream on after they're dry

sudocrem is good for sore cracked skin though, & so is calendula cream - it's an excellent standby (works well on those cracks you sometimes get on your finger joints too)

Cheers Ponders Hopefully by Sunday I will be feeling a lot better.

He bought me cracked heels cream. Reckons it will help heal the huge great gashes where my toes meet my foot.

I'd get an anti-fungal as well if you can because otherwise it will just keep coming back

You need Lamisil Once you only need to apply it once and the itiching stops almost straight away - really bad cases within a day or two. Your feet will still be a mess for a while while the skin heals, but the soreness and itching will be gone.

Cheers girls. I was so cross when I saw what he bought but he reckons he knows best I gave specific instructions that I needed an anti-fungal. I can't get out till Tuesday so I will have to stick to the powder and then get the Lamisil.

You definitely need an anti-fungal CREAM. You do not need cracked heel cream which contains an acid to soften the skin. This will not help!

Yeah! this is what I told him, but........

It has eased up a lot with the powder but still not great, roll on Tuesday.

Have you got any antihistamine tablets? They will stop the itching. Then you need the cream. The powder is not meant to be used to treat it, it's more to prevent it, though the one I had did not state that on the packaging, it was on the peel-off label bit, annoyingly.

Yep! got some Clarytin, thanks for the tip. I'll pop some now as I am going up to bed. Hopefully should help over night.

Only another day to go. I will get through this.

Yes it will help! Unfortunately, I have much experience in this field

I sympathise Tricky It is hellish.

Have you tried Eradicil, it worked for our family of sports made teenagers? It's a laundry wash for fungal infections like athletes foot (and I think it is on BOGOF at the moment). It did also have a discount code of 'hotfoot' for a further reduction but I don't know if it's still current.

Cheers for the info Roddom will pick some up tomorrow.

It has fairly much run it's course now. still there a little bit but I am coping with it now. I have some sore patches on the tops of a couple of toes and also underneath but we are going down to Cornwall on Monday and will be spending 3 weeks on the beach more or less and I reckon that will clear it up totally as I will be shoes off for most of the time.

I'm using daktarin intensive and boots athlete's foot powder atm. Also started washing my socks at 60 degrees. Have a nice holiday

OP, fungal infections (and cracked skin) are linked to zinc deficiency, antifungals are only likely to work short term, but if you take a zinc supplement you will fix underlying problem and infection will go away and skin should also get better.
My ds suffered for years with on-and-off fungal infections and nothing worked. I even was worried as he had so many diff prescribed creams/ointments and some said you shouldn't use them for prolonged periods of time.
In the meantime I had him tested for something else and it showed he was v zinc deficient. When we added zinc supplement, fungal infection went away on its own with no more ointments. I swear by Zn now.

That's interesting nightcat, will try some zinc ad I'm always getting it.

as

Nightcat that is interesting. Will have to get some zinc methinks.

I know this is ancient but bumping as I'm afflicted at the minute!