Natural remedies for athlete’s foot

How to prevent and treat athlete’s foot with natural remedies, a mycosis of the skin typical of those who frequent swimming pools and gyms that causes itching, flaking, inflammation, blisters and abrasions.

What is athlete’s foot
Athlete’s foot symptoms: how to recognize it
How to cure athlete’s foot: natural remedies
Causes of Athlete’s Foot
How to prevent athlete’s foot

What is athlete’s foot

Athlete’s foot, tinea pedis , or ringworm of the foot is a mycosis caused by a group of fungi that affect the skin of the feet causing redness, scaling and itching. The name itself suggests that it often affects sportsmen or those who attend sports centers, swimming pools and gyms because transmission occurs by direct or indirect contact of any small fragments of epidermis dispersed in the environment, on shared surfaces. This foot mycosis most commonly affects men in adulthood.

Athlete’s foot symptoms: how to recognize mycosis

Symptoms that characterize athlete’s foot are itching , sometimes pain in the soles of the feet and lateral parts, interdigital mycosis of the foot evident. Other manifest symptoms may be white and red spots , resulting in pain and cracked skin that can lead to bleeding .

How to cure athlete’s foot: natural remedies

A simple natural remedy for the cure of athlete’s foot is to take foot baths every other day with hot water and salt , or with baking soda as an alternative to salt.
For an effective foot bath against athlete’s foot, immerse your feet in a liter of hot water in which you have dissolved 50 grams of salt or baking soda . Leave your feet in the water for 15-20 minutes, then dry them very well with a clean towel.

An additional help for the treatment of tinea pedis comes from the essential oil of Tea tree . Tea tree essential oil is in fact an excellent natural remedy against athlete’s foot: you can use it by mixing two drops in a tablespoon of aloe vera gel and massage the gel on the feet, insisting between the toes. Apply the gel, or even the calendula cream or ointment every day, even twice a day, to clean, dry feet as a Tinea Pedis therapy.

In addition to the foot bath, baking soda can also be used as a natural remedy against athlete’s foot by sprinkling a spoonful of it into your shoes : let the baking soda work overnight, repeating the operation every evening.

The bicarbonate will absorb the humidity inside the footwear and thanks to its alkaline pH will make the environment unsuitable for the proliferation of fungi. They may seem like grandma’s remedies, but they work because they are sanitizing and absorbent solutions, which guarantee a healthier condition for the athlete’s foot and can also be applied in the case of athlete’s foot in children.

Natural remedies for athlete’s foot are effective when the infection is mild, that is, when the feet have slight cracks, redness or itching between the toes: if the lesions are extensive and accompanied by significant redness, flaking and itching, and it seems to be faced with an athlete’s foot that does not heal it is advisable to contact your doctor.

Find out how to prepare 3 do-it-yourself natural foot creams

Causes of Athlete’s Foot

To ensure health and beauty to our feet it is not enough to defend them from the appearance of blisters and prevent the formation of corns and calluses: another danger for our feet is represented by mycoses, fungal infections responsible for both onychomycosis (nail fungus) and of athlete’s foot, or Tinea Pedis .

The mycoses affecting the feet are in fact quite frequent, especially in men, they depend on the proliferation of fungi normally present on our epidermis and can be very annoying as they cause itching, redness and flaking.

The most common causes of the uncontrolled proliferation of these fungi are excessive moisture in the foot , weakening of the immune system and exposure to pathogens .

High humidity favors the proliferation of fungi and can in turn be caused by excessive sweating of the foot or by superficial drying after cleansing. It is also necessary to pay attention to socks and footwear: the former must be made of cotton and must be worn when both the feet and the socks are perfectly dry; footwear must allow adequate transpiration to the foot.

How to prevent athlete’s foot

To limit exposure to pathogens, it is advisable not to share towels, linen or shoes with other people and avoid walking barefoot, especially in very busy places such as swimming pools, gym changing rooms or public showers: in all these cases, slippers should always be worn. .

Regularly applying natural antifungals when attending swimming pools or gyms can be a good remedy. Then simple rules of hygiene help prevent this mycosis: