Posted on July 29th, 2008 by admin

Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection (actually ringworm of the feel). which in most cases can be controlled by keeping the spaces between your toes clean and dry with the peeling skin rubbed away. A dustily powder often helps. It’s important to keep your feet dry because it seems that the accumulation of perspiration may be more important in this condition than the fungi. Go barefoot as much as you can.Dermatologist A. Razzaque Ahmed, M.D., at UCLA School 01 Medicine, agrees. “Keep the feet exposed to the air,” he says. “Thai means, no occlusive shoes or sandals that trap moisture, and no nylon socks. If you look at a country such as India,” notes Dr. Ahmed, “you will find that athlete’s foot is seen in the cities that is, where people wear shoes. But you don’t find it much in the country, where people wear sandals or go barefoot.”

However, the condition sometimes resists every treatment in the dermatologist’s bag, and it may spread to involve other parts of the feet and the toenails. According to one reference book, when the toenails become involved, “cure is usually impossible.” Note the word “usually”; sometimes, it seems, even the worst infections can be cured by natural means.

One woman told us she had had a severe case of athlete’s foot for 20 years. It involved her toenails and even her heels, which began to split so that it became very painful for her to walk. “Finally,” she wrote, “I decided to try mixing all the B-complex vitamins, backing them up with brewer’s yeast, and putting them in a carrying agent that would make them adhere to my skin but that would be friendly to the II vitamins. I crush up six tablets of riboflavin, eight tablets of niacin and seven tablets of pantothenic acid and then mix them with two rounded teaspoons of brewer’s yeast powder. Then I add two teaspoons of either crude sesame oil or rice bran oil. I mix them all together and apply once a day all over the feet between toes, on nails, etc. Then I put on a pair of clean white socks to keep it of good socks or bedding. Scrub feet once a day and remove and loose skin flakes. Reapply ’salve’ after drying feet thoroughly. Keep ’salve’ in the refrigerator. If it gets 1041 thick to spread, add a little more oil or water. Be sure that water, II used, is not fluoridated or chlorinated.” The recipe cured her case, at least.

A masseur said that he has had much success relieving athlete’s foot by soaking a small piece of cotton in raw honey and placing it between the infected toes before going to bed. He covers his foot with an old sock to prevent soiling.

The versatile vitamin E has also met with success as a treatment. Another reader found that dabbing her feet with vinegar morning and night did the trick. One reader reported success after following the lid vice of nutritionist Adelle Davis, who said she cured her daughter’s stuborn case of athlete’s foot with yeast drinks and vitamin B supplements. In addition to this, this reader bathed her feet with goldenseal powder, dried her feet and then dusted them with more powdered goldenseal.

Using a solution of dried comfrey leaves and water as a foot soak resulted in “dramatic improvement” for one man.

Tags: Athlete's foot, athlete's foot solutions, fungal infection