Athlete’s Foot

Athlete’s Foot, referred to as tinea pedis, is a common infection of the skin in the foot. It is caused by a dermatophyte, which is a fungus that thrives in warm and moist environments such as shoes, socks, locker room floors, public swimming pools, and community showers. Dermatophytes live on dead tissues of the skin, hair, and toenails.

Athlete’s Foot can be transmitted to the skin through a cut or abrasion on the bottom of the foot. Athlete’s Foot is a fungal infection that causes dry, flaky skin that may make the skin appear red at times. This also causes pain and itching to occur. Untreated or severe tinea pedis could lead to painful fissuring or cracking of the skin and blistering with surrounding inflammation. Athlete’s Foot can spread to the toenails, leading to chronic fungal infections of the toenails.

Diagnosis of tinea pedis can be made by clinical exam, microscopic evaluation of scrapings, growing out the fungal cultures from the skin scrapings, and also examining the foot under ultraviolet light.

Causes of Athlete’s Foot

As previously described, an individual can get Athlete’s Foot from locker rooms, showers, sharing shoes, and other warm and damp places where the fungus could thrive. The term “Athlete’s Foot” was given to the condition simply because athletes spent most of their time in these type of environments with their training regimes and were at a higher risk for contracting the fungus. Common symptoms include itching and scaling of the skin that may lead to redness inflammation and discharge.

Once the fungal spores are on the foot, fissures and open wounds on the foot will allow the fungus to enter the foot itself and soon spreads. Properly washing and drying the feet can help prevent this from occurring.

There are four different types of tinea pedis. The first will manifest itself within the interspaces of the toes (often between the 4th and 5th toes) or on the sole of the foot. As the condition worsens, the infection will cause the skin to become soft and inflammation occurs in the center. This may cause pain and discomfort. After a period of time, the edges of the infected skin will become a milky white color and begin to peel often giving a watery discharge as this occurs.

In ulcerative tinea pedis, the peeling skin will develop into large cracks making the patient susceptible to secondary bacterial infections. The third type of Athlete’s Foot, or tinea pedis, is often described as having a “moccasin” distribution. In this condition, the reddened skin rash will spread along the sole of the foot in a moccasin pattern which later causes the skin to become dense, scaly, and white in color. The last type of tinea pedis is inflammatory or vesicular, causing a series of red bumps to develop on the bottom of the foot at the area of the metatarsal heads. This type will cause more severe itching and less peeling of the skin.

As mentioned, the fungus can spread from the feet and toes to the toenails. The infection can also spread to other warm areas of the body such as the underarms and groin. As with all infections, patients who have diabetes and compromised immune systems are more susceptible and need to regularly evaluate their feet to see if there are any changes or problems. Untreated infections in the diabetic and immunocompromised population may lead to more serious illnesses and medical concerns.

Treatment of Athlete’s Foot

Tinea pedis is a difficult infection to treat and will often recur. Antifungal drugs and early detection offer the best results. Imidazole drugs are used to inhibit the growth and reproduction of the fungus. These medications include clotrimazole and miconazole, which are both sold over the counter as Lotrimin and Absorbine Jr, and can be applied topically to the infected areas. Although side effects may occur, they are rare and may include gastrointestinal distress and liver/kidney problems. Another imidazole drug includes itraconazole, which can be found over-the-counter as Desenex and Tinactin, which also contains tolnaftate. Sporanox is an oral form of itraconazole available. Lamisil and Naftin are used to control stubborn tinea infections. These contain terbinafine and naftifine that are toxic to fungi.

Treatment of tinea infections usually takes approximately 4-6 weeks. If the infection becomes a systemic condition, then stronger oral medications are available, such as griseofluvin. This should only be considered if absolutely necessary because it can cause headaches, nausea, and numbness.

Persistent and careful foot hygiene can prevent tinea pedis. Washing and drying of the feet daily will decrease chances of contracting Athlete’s Foot. Drying in between the toes is of special concern. Do not borrow shoes from others, wear dry airy shoes, rotate shoes around so that the same pair is not worn every single day, wearing thongs or sandals in public washing areas, and applying foot powder daily are ways to help prevent fungal infections in the feet. Early detection and proper treatment will help reduce the chances of chronic and more problems from occurring.

This material is only provided as helpful information and you should always go to your medical doctor or podiatrist for a professional diagnosis.