Sports and fitness are big parts of your life--running, tennis, cycling. Unfortunately, athlete's foot has become a featured player, too, as 
your toes burn and itch. What's the remedy for this common foot affliction? Ask Dr. Gerard Ranieri, your podiatrist at Lake Ridge Podiatry in Woodbridge, VA. Dr. Ranieri sees numerous patients with Tinea Pedis and successfully treats them. You can feel better, too.
What is Athlete's Foot?
The National Institute of Health states that athlete's foot is a fungal infection affecting 15 to 25 percent of the American population. In other words, millions of people across the US have Tina Pedis right now and suffer with:
- Extreme burning and itching symptoms
- Cracks and deep fissures between the toes and along the soles of the feet
- Oozing blisters
- Flaking, red, puffy skin
Picked up in shower stalls, on swimming pool tile and on many outdoor surfaces, foot fungus spreads quickly to other individuals. It also thrives in dark, moist environments such as sneakers, sweat socks, and garden clogs.
Treatment and prevention
Your podiatrist in Woodbridge wants to examine patients who have had symptoms of athlete's foot for more than two weeks. Also, Dr. Ranieri urges diabetics or other people with serious systemic conditions to act quickly in getting Tinea Pedis treated.
Interesting, many of the treatments Dr. Ranieri suggests also effectively prevent athlete's foot. These measures include:
- Diligent foot hygiene (washing feet daily with soap and water and drying them carefully)
- Wearing cotton socks and changing them daily or whenever they get wet or sweaty
- Changing shoes daily and allowing sweaty sneakers to dry in the sun
- Using antifungal foot powder daily
- Cutting toenails with clean pedicure instruments
- Wearing sandals and well-ventilated shoes in the warm weather
- Refraining from going barefoot outside or in the gym and pool (wear flip-flops or sandals instead)
- Drying feet with one clean towel only (wash after use, and do not share towels)
Also, your foot doctor may prescribe an oral antifungal medication or a medicated cream if your infection is severe.
It can come back
Even with the most diligent of prevention and treatment, athlete's foot infections can come back, reports Harvard Health. If this happens to you, see Dr. Ranieri to review your treatment plan. Together, you and he can pinpoint the source of your re-infection and clear up this stubborn and uncomfortable condition for good.
Call us
If you have symptoms of athlete's foot that just won't resolve, please contact Lake Ridge Podiatry for a consultation in Woodbridge, VA. We want you to have happy feet! Call (703) 491-2603.