Every illness requires responsible treatment, including fungus on the feet - home treatment must also follow certain rules.
For information
Much depends on the area and intensity of skin and nail damage, whether there are other comorbidities, even the patient's age is taken into account. In any case, all funds are divided into 3 main groups. If you want to treat athlete's foot at home, you can use topical preparations - these are special ointments, plasters and other similar products that are sold in every pharmacy. You can also drink drugs for internal use. And finally, it is possible to treat athlete's foot exclusively with folk remedies - with a reasonable approach, of course. In addition, some experts believe that the most effective therapy is complex, that is, it is necessary to treat the disease with funds from different groups.
First you need to make sure that you are dealing with mycosis (this is the scientific name of the disease). It has pronounced symptoms such as itching and inflammation of the skin. There is a membrane-type fungus when peeling scales appear on the skin - usually they are localized between the 4th toe and the little finger. Sometimes this can be accompanied by a bacterial infection, which aggravates the symptoms described. The presence of infection can be indicated by the appearance of fluid-filled blisters on the skin. This is how vesicular mycosis manifests itself. However, the moccasin fungus manifests itself less by itching than by painful sensations in the foot, accompanied by roughening of the skin and its cracking.
medication
If you are confident of this diagnosis, you can treat the fungus at home with topical products. However, remember that they are effective only in the initial stages of this disease. In advanced cases, you need to drink and take medicines for internal use.
If the fungus has only affected the skin, you will usually need to use some sort of topical cream; Pharmacies offer a wide range of such products. The course of treatment in this case is from 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the dosage and intensity of use. If this isn't just athlete's foot, then the disease has also invaded keratolytic spots that help clear affected areas of the nail.
As for the means for internal use, they are quite radical means.
It is better to use all of them as directed and under the supervision of a doctor. The course of application will take quite a long time, until not only the symptomatic manifestations, but also the harmful organisms themselves completely disappear. As a rule, in such cases, pulse therapy is used when the antifungal drug is taken at certain intervals, for example, they drink this drug for a week, then withstand a three-week break, then a new weekly course of therapy follows. Although it is believed that other medicines can be taken at this time, it is better not to.
home remedies
Of course, not a single doctor will advise you to treat the fungus on your own, if only because you first need to make the correct diagnosis. However, if you are sure that this is such a disease, then athlete's foot can also be treated at home with folk remedies. Which is considered the most effective?
Treatment of fungus on the legs is often recommended with the help of washing powder. Such a tool contains a lot of alkalis that kill these microorganisms. You can cure the fungus as follows: soak your feet in hot water previously diluted with 100 g of this cleanser for at least 2 weeks. In about 2 weeks, the symptoms of the disease will disappear. But to be sure of the result, it is best to continue for 2-3 more days. The disadvantage of this tool is a possible allergic reaction to the washing powder. In order for alkali to act on a fungal infection, other means can be used, for example, ordinary baking soda diluted with water.
Hydrogen peroxide is used to treat athlete's foot. It is especially effective when the disease has also affected the nail plates. With this method, you must first steam the skin and nails in a soda solution, for which 1 teaspoon is taken. baking soda and diluted with hot water. When the nails are sufficiently steamed, you can use hydrogen peroxide - cotton pads are impregnated with this composition and applied to the affected areas. To prevent the peroxide from evaporating too quickly (and to create a wrapping effect), the foot is wrapped in plastic wrap or wrapped in a plastic bag for about an hour. Athlete's foot is treated with this method over several weeks, depending on the degree of damage to the skin and nails. Ideally, compresses should be done 2 times a day, morning and evening.
Athlete's foot at home can also be treated with ammonia (sold in pharmacies). It is not used in its pure form, but as an aqueous solution (1 tablespoon of alcohol to 1 tablespoon of boiled water). This solution requires you to dip a cotton cloth and make a compress that stays on the leg throughout the night. Boric acid is considered an effective remedy. You can buy it in powder form at the pharmacy. They are used as a powder. 10 sessions are enough to forget about the infection.
Another popular remedy is garlic. The cloves need to be cut in half, dipped in table salt and rubbed the affected areas. Garlic can also be used for compresses. The most common onion works the same way. From herbs you can advise chamomile, mint, sage. Dry herbs are mixed and placed in socks to be worn throughout the day. In summer, it's even better to use fresh plants, including chamomile flowers, instead of dried herbs.
At the initial stage, you can fight the fungus with the help of ordinary medicinal alcohol. It is enough to put cotton swabs between your fingers for 2 weeks and leave them overnight.
prevention
It is possible to get rid of athlete's foot, but in order for the treatment to be effective, it is necessary to disinfect the objects with which the sick person came into contact. At home, of course, these are a shower, a bath, the patient's personal belongings - from shoes and underwear to nail care tools. For processing, washing powder or a chloramine solution is usually used. Shoes are best treated with an acetic acid solution (40%). Particular attention should be paid to the insoles and side parts of shoes or boots. After applying acetic acid, the shoes should be aired. Linen must be boiled in soapy water and ironed with a hot iron.
In the future, you need to pay special attention to hygiene issues - when going to the sauna or gym, use antifungal ointments and varnishes. In addition, you need to dry your shoes very carefully, especially sports shoes.