Home Remedies for Athlete's Foot

Athlete's Foot is caused by a fungus picked up from the swimming pool or communal washroom floor. It gets a hold between the toes where the combina­tion of high humidity and warm temperature encourages the propagation of its spores. Very soon the skin is cracked and macerated which is both painful and very itchy.

The most striking feature of athlete's foot is its intractability-once acquired it will rumble on for years with intermittent acute exacerbations, prov­ing remarkably resilient to the host of antifungal creams prescribed by doctors or purchased over the counter from chemists.

The main reason why athlete's foot fails to respond to antifungal remedies is that after a while the condition is sustained by various types of bacteria that take advantage of the unhealthy tissue between the toes. These in turn are respon­sible for emitting a variety of foul smelling odors with names like putrescin and cadavarine that are mainly responsible for the unappetizing odor that accompanies athlete's foot.

Athlete's foot is thus an ecological wonderland inhabited by both fungi and bacteria which are difficult to eradicate by conventional treatment but respond, often dramatically, to traditional home remedies.

Surgical spirit: 'I cured my athlete's foot over twenty years ago by dabbing surgical spirit be­tween the toes. The old skin slides off, leaving lovely healthy pink skin for ever as long as you keep off the talcum. Thereafter a daily dab of cheap toilet eau de cologne between the toes is all they need.' Mrs Evelyn Woodfield from Devon.

Mr. G. D. Adams from Northamptonshire also found that placing the feet in a bowl of surgical spirit, 'the infection sloughed off, leaving the most beautiful pink baby skin behind with no sign of athlete's foot'. In addition he put his socks on while his feet were still wet and sterilized his shoes by sloshing the spirit into them.

Lavender oil: When spending the weekend at a conference, Lady Yardley from Oxford discovered she had left behind her 'rather ineffective anti-athlete's foot cream'. 'I did have some lavender oil with me which I like to use in the bath and which seemed worth trying. I was amazed to find that after a few days the persistent infection had healed completely. Cracks in the flesh were still there - but the skin was healthy.'

Pasteurization: Mr. Basil Gotto from County Cork picked up his athlete's foot in Singapore and found pasteurization an effective remedy. Instead of using hot water, I used cold. After a hot bath I put my foot straight from the hot water to under the cold tap. It works for me every time.'

Ultra violet light: 'In my experience over many years, ultra violet rays are a far more effective remedy than the usual creams and powders. The lamp I use is more than twenty years old (Phillips Ultraphil Special HP3114). It requires only about five minutes exposure of the top and bottom of the toes turning them to allow the light into the affected area for three days in succession. This is less than causes any reddening of the skin,' reports John Shelton from Middlesex.

Miscellaneous: A reader from Winchester recom­mends 'a small paintbrush dipped in iodine', Mr. P. G. Shingler from Hove suggests Friar's balsam; and Mrs Mary Parsons from Devon aloe vera - 'a veritable panacea'.