One of my readers who has plantar hyperhidrosis (sweaty feet) is having trouble with athlete’s foot. Here is their question.
Any suggestions for best practices on how to prevent athletes foot? So far, my best regimen for athlete’s foot is washing my feet and using a buff puff between my toes each night. Then I hop in bed and use hand sanitizer on my entire foot, and then put Lamisil followed by a rolled up 1/2 sheet of Kleenex woven between my toes (to widen them for air) and then go to sleep. By morning I’m dry and they feel great. But as the eyes open, so do the sweats! I wear socks all day for absorption, but it just sort of helps. By afternoon my socks are gooey and by bed time, I’m often sluffing off skin between my toes, and the process starts again. I tried sandals but I just create my own mud by picking up dirt and every hair and fiber since everything sticks to my feet – so sandals don’t seem to benefit me.
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. Any type of fungal infection is always harder when dealing with hyperhidrosis on top of it. It sounds like you’re mostly doing the right things so far. The hand sanitizer all over your feet could be exacerbating the problem and causing your feet to become too dry and interfering with the healing process.
With regards to the buff puff, are you using the same one each day to cleanse your skin, or a new one each time? If you’re reusing the same puff, that could be promoting the infection to stay around.
I got chronic athlete’s foot in high school when I was on the track & field team. Long practices running in sweaty socks and shoes combined with the nerves of racing that also triggered my sweat made for a rather sloppy and wet experience for high school sports.
Here are my suggestions for coping with athlete’s foot and sweaty feet.
Wash your feet with an antibacterial soap
I like Dial antibacterial soap.
Make sure your feet are completely dry after washing them.
You can use a hair dryer on the cool setting or place your feet in front of a fan to get them extra dry.
Apply an OTC antifungal cream to the affected area
Lamisil Ultra is a popular brand. If you’re not seeing results with an over-the-counter version, ask your doctor for a prescription strength version.
Use the hair dryer or fan again to help the cream dry.
Socks – make sure they are either cotton or made from a natural fiber like bamboo for breathability.
One hundred percent cotton socks can be hard to find. I do like these socks, which are close to being 100 percent cotton: PZQ Men’s 100% Cotton Low Cut Socks and GoWith Unisex Natural 97% Percent Cotton Crew Socks. And, bamboo/viscose socks are my new favorite! In black, of course, since it hides sweat stains better.
Shake an absorbent powder inside your socks before putting them on
Gold Bond medicated powder can provide some soothing relief for your feet.
Wrap ice packs around your feet to help keep them cool.
Fungus loves warm, moist areas, so keeping your feet cool once you’ve applied the cream and put on your socks may help calm things down a bit, too. I like these NEWGO Gel Ice Slippers.
A few other ideas
In the morning, if you find that reapplying the antifungal cream is too troublesome, you can try some other things. My sweating is always the worst first thing in the morning. The last thing I want to do is try and put on any type of cream or lotion anywhere on my body. Yuck.
Essential oil spray
Mix several drops of tea tree oil and peppermint oil with distilled or filtered water in a spray bottle (ideally glass). Choose a quality brand of essential oils. I like these:
- Auracacia tea tree oil and peppermint oil
- NOW tea tree oil and peppermint oil
- Young Living
- Doterra
Peppermint has a cooling effect, while tea tree oil is antifungal.
Once dry, reapply the foot powder into your socks before putting them on.
Your feet also need to breathe, so any time you can go without socks and wear open-toed slippers or some type of slide-in shoes around the house, that would be good. Or, if you can at least put your feet up on the couch for a bit without socks and not walk around for awhile that might help, too.
Sandals for sweaty feet
Shoes and sandals for sweaty feet are really hard to find. I always worry about slipping and sliding around in them, squeaking when I walk, having them start to smell, etc. However, I’ve done a lot of research and found several sweat-friendly shoes.
If you can find sandals or flip flops that have a bit of a “lip” to them so that your feet sit up a bit higher, it will be less likely to attract fuzz, dirt, etc. when you’re walking around with glistening feet. I’ve found some Birkenstock knock-offs that are great and way more affordable – check out these Cushionaire Luna sandals.
If you’re suffering from athlete’s foot thanks to your stubborn sweaty feet, I hope my suggestions can help you in some way. Otherwise know that I understand what you’re going through, and keep going!
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