For you to have athlete’s foot, you do not have to be an athlete. The fungal infection causes blisters and itching, stinging and burning between toes and the on the soles of feet. While the infection does not create an alarm, it is very uncomfortable. If someone in your home or you has Athlete’s foot, you should know how to handle it, including the myths to prevent transmitting the infection. This post is a guide on how to handle an Athlete’s foot with a particular focus on boiled water effect on Athlete's foot.
Is hot water good for Athlete’s foot?
Can hot water be used for Athlete's foot treatment?
Fungi causing athlete’s foot does well in warm, moist environments. Thus while most people could have come into contact with the fungi, those who are active, have a high possibility of contracting the infection. There are several ways which can be used to treat and prevent athlete’s foot occurrence, including home remedies. There is prescription and over the counter ointments, but the excellent home treatments include soaking your feet in hot water bath. The saltwater solution can also soothe the Athlete’s foot. Immerse your foot in a mixture of 2 teaspoons of a salt pint of warm water. Let it last for five to 10 minutes at a time, and repeat until the problem clears up. Hot water bath provides an unappealing atmosphere for the fungus and lessens excess perspiration. Additionally, hot water bath softens the skin so that antifungal medications can penetrate deeper and be more effective. After treatment takes measures against Athlete’s foot infection.
How to prevent Athlete’s foot?
Prevent further athlete’s foot infection by keeping your socks and shoes off your feet often. By doing this, you are giving your feet enough space to breathe and relax.
1. Always wear clean and if possible cotton socks. Dirty, moisty and tight socks create a thriving environment for fungal infection bacteria.
2. To prevent Athlete’s foot use different types of shoes for different types of weather. For example, wear warm thick and dry socks and shoes for when it is wet and cold. Wear medium thick socks for medium and thin for hot weather.
3. When at home wear sandals to allow your feet and toes to relax, this will prevent athlete’s fungus from invading your feet.
4. Wear shoes or breathable sneakers especially in warm environments or during summer months.
5. Wash your feet as many times as possible. When showering and bathing use a washcloth and a plant oil based soap. Scrub in between your toes and take long baths to soften the foot’s skin and remove the dead skin off your feet and toes. Remove the dead skin from fingernails and toenails, for best results use a pumice stone. Scrub your feet at the end of the bath, when the foot is softest.
6. Look for the following qualities when buying a pumice stone- it should feel heavy for its size, rough and sharp at the edges and slight rust color over time. The rusty color on a pumice stone should come and go with drying and rinsing. It should make a high noise when dropped or banged. You should boil, rinse and scrub the pumice stone to take care of it and avoid fungus away. You can use the stone for up to to 15 years.
Hot water cleaning strategies to prevent the spread of Athlete’s foot fungus in your home
It feels awful, to know that you have an itchy red rash on your feet, athlete’s foot. Bearing in mind that the fungus in infectious, thus you can put the rest of the house members at risk of contracting the infection. Athlete’s foot can spread through direct contact with the infection and by skin particles left on towels, shoes or floors. The best thing is that there are ways to prevent your housemates from contracting athlete’s foot. But there is a need for caution when someone in the household has athlete’s foot. Below are several ways to prevent the spread of foot fungus.
Put on shower shoes while in the tub to prevent Athlete’s foot from spreading
A bathtub is a primary place for the transmission of fungal infections, seeing that athlete’s foot thrive well in warm, damp areas. Use a separate basin from your family members to cleanse your foot if infected with Athlete’s foot. Clean bath mats regularly, use Clorox antifungal to wash the bathtub and keep out of the bathroom until the infection is gone.
Avoid sharing your towel to prevent the spread of Athlete’s foot
A person infected with athlete’s foot should not share towels. They should also wash and hung their towels separately. The towel used to dry athlete’s foot should be cleaned regularly. To avoid spreading athlete’s foot to the other parts of the body, rinse your hands after cleaning or touching the infected area.
Wash sheets immediately, before treatment to prevent spreading of Athlete's foot
Sheets can be a channel for infection transmission to other parts of the body as well. Thus it is best to wash the sheets in at least 140 degrees to kill the bacterias. Wash the sheets regularly during Athlete’s foot treatment to keep bacterias away.
Laundry precautions to prevent spreading of Athlete’s bacteria
Since socks come into the closest contact with the infection, they should be washed separately from other clothes. The laundry bag or basket should be washed and disinfected with an antifungal bleach solution. One can also use chlorine bleach to clean the laundry area and laundry basket. One hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit or 60 degrees Celsius is known for killing fungus; thus one should consider using boiled water.
Floors precautions to prevent spreading of Athlete’s foot
Keeping the feet in socks or sandals is essential during the Athlete’s foot treatment. But walking around the house barefoot exposes your household to the risk of contracting the infection. At the same time, one should allow their feet air out as much as possible to speed up the recovery and prevent more fungus from growing in its ideal environment-warm, moist and dark areas.
What temperature kills the Athlete’s foot fungus?
What temperature should I use to treat Athlete’s foot fungus treatment?
The fungus is more tolerant in a hot and cold environment than your feet are. For your shoes, heat them to boiling water temperatures. Freezing would not have a significant impact on the athlete’s foot unless it is a quick freeze and a deep freeze.
Most of the microbial organisms have features to help them adapt to extreme cold by the internal synthesis of humectants and cryopreservatives. One can also try ozone or bleach. Ozone bleach will make your shoes wear out quickly, but it is useful in killing the fungus.
Bleach vapor in a plastic bag combined with heat can minimally damage the rubber, leather, and adhesives in shoes, mainly if you use the bleach occasionally.
Fungi and bacteria need water to live. Thus microwaving is dangerous to microbes. A home microwave overheats water molecules directly, and mushrooms. But in real life, there can be hotspots and cool zones which could let fungus to survive. But the worry is if the microwave energy might melt anything in your shoe or even soften an adhesive and make your shoe disassemble. This can be reduced by wetting your shoes first, putting the shoe in a plastic bag, and microwaving it long enough for the bag to swell from generated steam.
Can you swim with Athlete's foot?
Athlete's foot is a frequent fungal skin infection, and swimmers are more prone. The fungi thrive well in moist, warm places. Athlete's foot is highly contagious and most picked up around swimming pools, that is why you should avoid swimming pool area in case you have Athlete's foot.
Alternatively, if you have to swim use verrucas socks, they are like swimming caps for your feet but make sure you wash them out thoroughly after each use. However, most doctors advise people with Athlete's foot, to try and get the Athlete's foot under control before you start swimming in pools.
After you have your foot in control, use the following precautions and smart hygiene practices to reduce significantly the risk of developing an athlete's foot infection again, especially when around the public swimming pool.
- Wear flip-flops or water when walking around the pool, saunas, public showers, and locker room
- Do not wear somebody else's shoes especially when at the swimming pool
- Consistently use a clean towel when drying off your feet after a swim or shower
- Thoroughly dry your feet, inclusive of all toes, after showering, before wearing your socks and shoes
- Apply a dusting of talcum powder or antifungal powder to your feet after drying them off
- If possible, wear sandals or other shoes that breathe after a swim and shower
- Do not wear damp socks or shoes after swimming
- Wear socks with closed shoes to absorb sweat and change your socks once or twice during the day if your feet tend to sweat
- Do not wear tight shoes which prevent air circulation
- Try not to wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row, so they have time to air out
How to get rid of Athlete’s foot fast?
Athlete’s foot treatment
For prevention and treatment of athlete’s foot, check out these natural home remedies. Athlete’s foot treatment vinegar
- Prepare a solution of water and white vinegar- in the ratio of one is to four and soak the infected foot in the solution for about 20 to 30 minutes. Redo the procedure two times a day.
Dredge some baking soda between your toes and rinse your feet after 15 minutes.
- Oil variations which can treat athlete’s foot
To give a change of the vinegar treatment, add half a cup of vinegar along with two-three drops of tea-tree oil and lavender oil, both oils have antifungal properties, to warm water. Then immerse your feet for about twenty minutes a day in this solution.
- Treat Athlete’s foot with salt solution home remedy
The salt solution is a cheap and effective home remedy for curing Athlete’s foot. Soak salt can be used in place of ordinary salt. Luckily, the fungus causing Athlete’s foot does not thrive in saline solution.
Dissolve about a third cup of salt in warm water, soak your feet in the water for about 10 minutes or about. Repeat the procedure daily until the problem disappears. Salt has properties which help in the elimination of sweat on which athlete’s foot thrives.
- Beer for Athlete’s foot treatment
The yeast in beer attracts fungus from your feet. To treat Athlete’s foot with beer, get the darkest beer you can get and soak your feet in it. However, you should not drink beer during this treatment as you will raise the amount of yeast in the body.
- Mouthwash home remedy for Athlete’s foot treatment
For immediate relief from itching or burning, do not purchase pricey anti-itch medication. Instead, soak your feet in an antiseptic mouthwash like Listerine. Listerine is inexpensive and effective.
- Nighttime yogurt treatment for Athlete’s foot
To treat athlete’s foot, smear your feet in plain yogurt every night and allow it to dry and then rinse it off. Yogurt has acidophilus bacteria which helps to kill the fungus.
