A Natural Remedy for Athlete's Foot : This Tea is Also Used to Treat Many Other Ailments

Many people experience the unpleasant condition called athlete's foot. And one doesn't have to be an athlete to get it. It can be contracted by walking barefoot on places other people who have athlete's foot have walked. A shower room in a public place, such as a gym, is one of the most likely places to get it. A public swimming pool would be another.

It's a good idea to always keep a pair of flip-flops handy if one anticipates the necessity of taking a shower in such a place. Flip-flops may not offer complete protection from the fungus, but they are certainly better than no protection at all. I keep a pair of flip-flops in our camping trailer so if I choose to use the public bathhouse while camping, I won't be forced to enter a shower in my bare feet.

Wearing another person's shoes is also a bad idea. One can never know who might have athlete's foot.

Neither is it a good idea to use another person's prescription medication for athlete's foot. When my friend realized she had the condition, she took the medication her husband had been prescribed for it. She was unaware that the dosage was prescribed according to body weight.

She weighed considerably less than her husband, so every time she took the drug she was overmedicating herself. It was a mistake that almost cost her her life. Her liver was so badly damaged that she almost failed to recover. Her condition eventually improved greatly, but she will always have to be careful about any medications she takes in the future.

My parents both had a fungus on their feet when they were well advanced in age. Their toenails became black and thickened to the extent that it was almost impossible to cut them. My mother had had a red, scaly, itchy condition on her feet for years, but never knew what caused it.

I read about Pau D'arco tea, which is also called lapacho tea and other names, in a newspaper column. Pau d'arco has been used by forest inhabitants throughout the Amazon for fungal infections, malaria, anemia, arthritis and rheumatism, poor circulation, colitis, respiratory problems, colds, cough, flu, fever, snakebite, poor circulation, boils, syphilis, and cancer.

The newspaper column I read advised making a strong tea of Pau D'arco and soaking the feet in it for thirty minutes a day for several weeks. It seems to take a long time to work, partly because it takes a while for the nails to grow out and one may not see the difference till they do. A person can make fresh tea every day, but if that proves to be too expensive, he/she can save the tea and reboil it every day for a while.

My Mother had Alzheimer's disease by this time and it was hard to keep her still long enough to soak her feet as much as she needed. So after a few days I gave up on it. But I was surprised to see that the scaly condition cleared up and when her nails grew out and were cut, the fungus was gone from them. My dad's also took a while to work, but as they grew out, they were greatly improved.

Our pharmacist's mother told me one day that she had a fungal infection on one of her fingers and neither the doctor nor her son had been able to find anything that helped. I took her some Pau D'Arco, which she apparently used right away. The next time I saw her she joked that her son had said I was trying to steal his patients. But she was greatly relieved to have her finger well.

Pau D'Arco can usually be found at a health foods store, online, and some other places at well. It isn't expensive when compared to prescription or over-the-counter drugs. But some kinds one might find aren't the real thing, so it would be wise to do some research online to determine what kind might be best.

While it takes a while for Pau D'arco to work, wouldn't we all benefit by taking time to soak our feet in warm water every day, anyway?