Athletes foot that won't go away

[CottonSock]

For 6 months + I've tried
3 types of cream
2 types of spray
Treating shoes
Clean socks
Not wearing my slippers.

GP then gave me a course of oral antifungal medication. Worked within a day but now a week on I can see its red and the itching is returning.
Will I ever be rid of this fungal freeloader?

Gp mentioned not being on the tablets too long as can affect liver.

Lamisol once is only thing that works for me, it does still come back but only if I use public swimming pools

@Anythingbutsnow thanks for the suggestion. I was hoping the lamasil once would work but the rash returned after a week. And I tried it twice rather than just once.

I found the "once" creams worked well but also recurred quickly too. In the end I got rid of it , or at least it's been a few years now, but using the Lamisil Once to clear it up and then Daktarin spray daily as a preventative.

Are you still wearing the same shoes and slippers?

If so you may be reinfecting yourself.

Btw I don't think you can effectively remove the infection from most footwear.

I had oral anti fungal tablets for six months precribed by dermatology and had to have regular blood tests to check my kidneys. This is a last resort treatment. I was left with a damaged toe nail which is now impossible to cut.
Sorry, I don't have any other helpful suggestions.

I had athlete’s foot for years and years - kept it at an ok level with creams sprays etc but it never went fully. Only got rid of it after a 3 month course of terbafine tablets after I got a fungal nail infection. GP didn’t mention liver effects I’m not sure I’d have taken them so long if I’d known, but they did sort it once and for all. There are anti fungal tablets which are kinder for the liver, fluconasole maybe? I don’t know if they work on athletes foot though.

Weirdly Caneston works for me, massage feet in it every day
It will be gone

Take a heafty pro biotic every day too

Lush T for Toes talc sorted mine. Rubbed into feet and sprinkled in socks and shoes. I'd tried everything else you could think of over the years.

Canesten cream and probiotics helped me too. I washed all socks and towels with Dettol laundry cleanser to make sure I wasn't reinfecting myself. And when it was particularly bad I dried my feet with a hairdryer - a towel wasn't getting them properly dry between the toes as rubbing with the towel was too painful.

Best of luck, I had this problem for a long time and genuinely thought it would never go away but a combination of the above eventually got rid of it.

Are you sure it's not pompholyx eczema?

I thought i had athlete's foot for ages and it turned out to be this. Steroid cream worked a treat.

See below. Can look similar

I think you should try getting rid of all
Socks and footwear, then getting another course of oral anti-fungals. Do
It in that order and If that doesn't work then it's probably worth asking for a dermatology referral.

I've had it a year. Use cream / gel daily and tried them all. I haven't tried any oral anti fungals yet, mainly because the doctors wanted to see me to have a look and actually there's not a lot to see, just still itching. I could stop the cream, let the rash come then go to the doctor. But I seriously don't think I could deal with the itch!

DH had this for years, tried all remedies. In the end, he went to see a podiatrist privately. She gave him stronger anti fungal cream, some foot soak stuff, cut his nails back lots and told him to get the tablets from his GP.
Now we wash socks and towels at 60, spray inside his shoes, use the cream she gave him and has been on the tablets 3 months. His feet are clear.

Husband lost all the skin off his feet to an allergic reaction to penicillin and it cleared his chronic athletes foot up beautifully 😂

It's now back, but he lives in boots and frequently gets wet feet at work and on the motorbike so it's hard to manage it.

He's currently swearing by Superdrug own brand foot powder as the best one he's ever used. Summer helps when he's in flip flops outside of work.

So..... In the absence of skinning yourself and moving to hotter climes where you live in bare feet, it seems to be foot powder, hotter washes for socks and getting shoes properly dried out after wearing.

My god I don't think I can bring myself to chuck away ALL my socks and shoes.
I do think it's fungal as it smells (sorry). It does look similar to that photo above though. Might see if I have steroid cream at home.
Gp did mention possible blood test so I guess I'll ring back. Wonder if they can sample it too.

@Chihuahuasrule I've read about that pompholyx (what a mouthful) and it could be. I get a rash like it under my wedding ring too and have to take it off for months at a time. Those little dotty blisters are also familiar. I have had peri oral dermatitis before which took years to sort out. My skin is generally very sensitive.

The only thing is though that the rash does respond to antifungal treatment initially. Did yours?

chuck away your socks and buy new ones.
boil wash anything that comes into contact with your feel (towels, bedding etc)

properly and gently dry between toes after washing (and use a towel only once)

Thanks for all the other suggestions. I will try the superdrug powder. Maybe it will reach the hard to reach part of shoe better than spray.
I might chuck all my socks in one 60 degree wash with some bio.
I'll wear shoes that have been in quarantine.
I'll try steroid cream instead of fungal cream and see.
Otherwise back to GP.

and if it's pomph... I sympathise. so so itchy.

unfortunately eczema and the resulting open wounds are perfect entry points for fungal infections.

Not quite the same but I've got jock itch (joy) dr reckons from athletes foot. Be super careful about washing hands after you've touched your feet, you don't want to spread it. I'm now on anti fungal tablets and they are working but slowly.

You can get flucanazole tabs otc as canesten which will help.

Oh and no to the steroid cream, it's stops the anti fungal from working.

@greenacrylicpaint I'm starting to think it is both. Doesn't help that I just scratched it trying to compare to photos.

In the past savlon spray helped. Might try that again too.