Preventing and Treating Foot Fungus

When people find out that they have a fungus infection on the bottom of their feet they act very surprised and shocked because they equate fungus infections, and especially on the bottom of the feet, with being dirty or not being clean and they insist that they have good hygiene and that they are clean. Well, the reality is that fungus infections on the bottom of the feet have nothing to do with how clean you are or your routines of hygiene and as a matter of fact, they’re just a normal part of life and you can even consider them part of the food chain; in this case, the fungus is the predator and you are the food. Consider these facts. Fungi are everywhere. They’re in your house. They’re in my house. They’re in your office. They’re in my office. They’re everywhere. Fungi thrive on dead skin; they do very well nutritionally when they eat dead skin. The bottom of your feet have a lot of dead skin. Fungi thrive in wet, moist, environments. When your feet sweat, that’s a wet, moist environment. Add all those facts up and it’s not surprising that sweaty feet are an ideal environment and nutrient atmosphere for fungi to grow, thrive and infect. And that’s why almost half of all adults have fungus infections on the bottom of their feet. So this is what you can do to try to decrease the chance of having a fungus infection on the bottom of your foot. First of all, exfoliate the bottom of your feet every day. Exfoliation removes dead skin. If there’s less dead skin, there’s less nutrient material for the fungus to grow on. Powder your shoes or your socks every day to help absorb moisture to decrease the wetness in your shoes. If you sweat a lot, carry two or three extra changes of socks or stockings with you, again, to try to keep things dry. And try to avoid wearing footwear that makes you sweat a lot, like sneakers and boots. This is the bottom line, if you see flaking on the bottom of your feet or if you see little white scales or little white lines in the creases on the bottom of your feet, that’s not dry skin, that’s a fungus infection, and see your dermatologist for treatment.