Athlete's foot

Diagnosis

Your healthcare professional may be able to diagnose athlete's foot simply by looking at it. Some types of athlete's foot look like dry skin or dermatitis. To help diagnose athlete's foot and rule out other conditions, your healthcare professional may take a small skin sample of the affected area for testing in a lab.

Treatment

Your healthcare professional likely will suggest self-care and antifungal cream, spray or powder that you can buy without a prescription. The antifungal terbinafine (Lamisil AT) has been shown to be highly effective. Other options are miconazole (Zeasorb AF, Lotrimin AF), clotrimazole (Lotrimin AF) and tolnaftate (Tinactin). If these don't work, your healthcare professional may prescribe a stronger antifungal medicine that you apply to your skin. Examples are econazole or ciclopirox.

For more serious infections, your healthcare professional may prescribe antifungal medicines that you take by mouth. Examples include terbinafine or itraconazole. Sometimes you may need both medicines you put on your skin and those you take by mouth.

Lifestyle and home remedies

These tips can help you ease the symptoms of athlete's foot or lower your risk of the condition coming back:

• Keep your feet clean and dry. Wash your feet twice a day and gently towel-dry between the toes.

• Use an antifungal product. After washing and drying your feet, apply an antifungal cream, powder or spray.

  You may need to try various products to find the one that works best for you. Put the product on your skin twice a day. Keep using the product until a week after the rash clears up. It might take 2 to 4 weeks to see results. If the infection comes back, you may need to start treatment again.

• Change socks regularly. Change your socks at least once a day. Or change them more often if your feet get very sweaty.
• Wear lightweight, breathable footwear. Avoid shoes made of artificial materials, such as vinyl or rubber. Try shoes made with natural materials such as leather, cotton or linen. When possible, wear sandals or open-toe shoes to help your feet dry out.
• Rotate pairs of shoes. Use different shoes from day to day. This gives your shoes time to dry after each use.
• Protect your feet in public places. Wear waterproof sandals or shoes around public pools, showers and lockers rooms.
• Try not to scratch the rash. You can try soothing your itchy feet by soaking them in cool water.
• Don't share shoes. When you share shoes, it raises the risk of getting a fungal infection.

Preparing for your appointment

Your healthcare professional or a skin specialist, called a dermatologist, can diagnose athlete's foot. You don't need to do anything special before an appointment to diagnose athlete's foot.

What you can do

Before your appointment, you might want to write down a list of questions to ask your healthcare professional. Examples include:

• What's the most likely cause of my symptoms?
• Are tests needed to confirm the diagnosis?
• What treatments are available?
• Is this condition temporary or long lasting?
• Is there a generic alternative to the medicine you're prescribing?
• Can I wait to see if the condition goes away on its own?
• What can I do to prevent the fungus from spreading?
• What skin care routines do you recommend while the condition heals?

What to expect from your doctor

Your healthcare professional is likely to ask you a number of questions, such as:

• When did you first notice your symptoms?
• What did the rash look like when it first started?
• Is the rash painful or itchy?
• Does anything seem to make it better?
• What, if anything, makes it worse?
• Does a family member also have athlete's foot?
• Have you spent time at swimming pools, locker rooms, saunas or other places where athlete's foot might be spread?