It is very easy to pick up foot fungus, also known as athlete’s foot because we often walk barefoot on the beach, in swimming pools and hotel rooms. But it is not so hard to keep your feet healthy. Geniusbeauty.com will advise you on how to avoid picking up athlete’s foot.
Foot mycosis or dermatomycosis is a group of viral diseases caused by fungi getting on the skin or nails. Our immune system keeps fungi off. That’s why children are not likely to pick up foot fungus. Fungi mostly attack people over 30 years old when the immune system starts declining. And then…
On Vacation: Protecting Yourself against Athlete’s Foot
Don’ts
Never walk barefoot on the pavements around your hotel or near a swimming pool.
Do’s
You can walk without your flip-flops on the hot beach where there is a minor risk of picking up foot fungus. You can walk barefoot in your hotel room, too, where a thorough disinfection is supposed to be done. A special sticker attached to a toilet lid, sink or walls indicates that your bathroom has been disinfected.
Precautions
Treat your feet to foot deodorant or a powder every day. Not only will they remove bad smell but also protect against fungus that is known to thrive in a damp environment. In addition, foot powder will prevent callosities.
How to Avoid Foot Fungus in Sauna
Don’ts
Never should you walk barefoot in sauna or a swimming pool because these are breeding-ground for fungi.
Do’s
You can be barefoot in a hot dry sauna.
Precautions
Before visiting sauna, apply some antifungal remedy to your feet. It can be a gel or a cream. Doctors advise using antifungal creams to everybody who has an active lifestyle and is a frequenter in shower cabins at such public places like gyms, swimming pools, or saunas.
Tips to Avoid Picking up Athlete’s Foot in the Gym
Don’ts
Never should you be in the gym barefoot. That‘s where you put yourself at the greatest risk of picking up the infection. Even if the place is disinfected, it cannot be performed several times a day.
Precautions
When you change your clothes, avoid stepping on the floor with bare feet. Never walk in a shower cabin or sauna without wearing your flip-flops. Always wear throw-away shoe covers in a tanning salon. After taking a shower or a bath, towel your feet and area between your toes dry. Wear only dry shoes and socks.
How Do I Know That I Picked up Foot Fungus and How to Cure it?
What does it look like? If you’ve picked up foot fungus, your toe nails grow dim and are getting covered with yellow, whitish or grey specks. Intertrigo, redness and inflammation develop in between the third and the fourth toes. Tiny bubbles and scaling appear on the upper feet. Calluses, and sometimes cracks, develop in sole foot. Athlete’s foot inevitably causes foot itching. When untreated for a long time, feet grow yellow in color and start crumbling.
How to Cure Foot Fungus
Today’s medicine is offering a variety of treatments for the infection. Some kind of fungi are effectively treated with special creams, the others can be fought only with antifungal therapy. Professional treatment takes no more than several weeks.
Mycosis is a very mean thing. If not rooted out, it will lurk inside and undermine your health, weakening your immune system, causing the exacerbation of asthma, gastritis, dermatitis and even fungal allergy. Mycosis can be diagnosed only by a skilled doctor after proper medical testing. So if you’ve had any doubts, go to your dermatologists, not to your pharmacy, and ask for the test of scrape from your affected nail or skin.
Who Is in the Risk Group?
If you had foot fungus before, it’s better to double your precautions. In this case, you are even more likely to pick it up again. Also, the risk group includes people suffering from:
- chronic diseases like flat foot,
- varicose veins,
- diabetes,
- cracked feet.
Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/melga.
