Natural Remedies to Treat Athlete's Foot Effectively

My 15 year old son who is in secondary school, but a boarder, started developing athlete foot, that kind that will tear your heels open and develop boils and pus. The two legs were so much infected. I have bought some drugs and fungal cream from a pharmacy but to no avail. He was even given some anti fungal tabs to take.

But when I came to the earthclinic.com and read the testimonies of other people using vinegar and coconut oil I was excited. Now my son is on Easter holiday, he came back last week. I quickly went to the store, bought ordinary white vinegar, and started soaking his feet in a solution of half water/half vinegar.

After soaking for 30 mins, when it air dried I mixed Vaseline and coconut oil and rub on the feet. Today is the 6th time of doing it and the whole infection has disappeared and his heels are as smooth as ever. I am grateful to God and to earth clinic.com. Earthclinic has been a blessing to me since I found. Thank you so much.

Borax powder for Athlete's Foot cure

I have not read this one on the site, so thought I would share.

I sprinkle a liberal amount of borax powder, like the 20 Mule Team brand, over inside-out socks, then flip again to get them right side out. I wear them during the workday and after 2-3 days, all crusty feet are gone and I am left with, by comparison, baby-smooth skin on my feet. Amazing cure and much simpler than soaking your feet in ACV, etc.

Typically, I follow up with this every 3-4 months, or when I start noticing any rough skin between my toes, and a few days of this will stop it.

Be advised, if you have severe athlete's foot, you may lose a significant amount of dead/diseased skin on your feet the first day, which can be alarming. I recommended this treatment to a family member who had a very bad case and he was a bit disturbed by the amount of skin coming off his feet the first day. He decided to do borax soaks in a foot bath instead, so the reaction would be slower and less alarming, which it was. It was a complete cure for him in about a week, and he does the 3-4 month powder in the socks follow up as needed.

Other thoughts: Something about the heat, pressure, and moisture on your feet of a normal day's work seems to make this work better, as I have tried follow-up treatments on the weekend with just socks and does not seem as effective.

Also, more powder seems to work better than less, which can feel a bit odd as it seems you are walking with fine sand in your socks, but the sensation is unnoticeable to me in a few hours. I would estimate the quantity per sock at about 1-2 tablespoons. I have tried follow-ups with just a small sprinkling and that does not seem to work as quickly as the 1-2 tablespoon amounts.

Rarely have I found a home remedy more effective than prescription medication, but in the treatment of athletes foot apple cider vinegar is much more effective and inexpensive. In spots that are about the size of a coin I tear paper towel patches to fit, then soak them in vinegar and place them to cover the spot. Leave it on until it eventually dries, which is about half an hour. Two treatments a day for two days will usually stop the fungus in it's tracks, depending on how deeply the fungus has penetrated the skin layers. Vinegar is an acid of just the right strength to kill the fungus without causing tissue burn, as does clorox. I use the bleach solution to soak my socks in and spray the inside of my shoes. Afterward, allow shoes to dry in the sun. Works like a charm.

My husband has had athlete's foot for at least 3 decades. He had it when I met him, I think it would be classified as the "moccasin type." If it was really bothering him he would use an OTC cream. At some point I learned about soaking the feet in vinegar (1/2 distilled white vinegar and 1/2 water.) I would buy that by the gallon. When his feet bothered him he would soak them morning and night for 30 minutes. But relief was only temporary.

About a year ago I started giving him borax in his water for another health issue. The recommended 1/4 teaspoon of borax in a liter of water was too much for him, even though he is a big guy. It caused digestive distress. So, I put small amounts of borax in his water jars that he took to work each day. (I didn't measure, it was probably 1/16 of a teaspoon spread over about 6 cups of water.) I probably did this for an average of 4 days a week.

Last night I realized the skin on his feet is soft and smooth. He hasn't done anything for athlete's foot in months. I realized it must be that the borax slowly healed him from the inside out.

While sometimes there are quick solutions to problems that have gone on a long time, often "slow and steady wins the race" with problems that have been going on for years (or decades, in the case of my husband.)

~Mama to Many~

I had a case of very itchy AF between my toes that I just couldn't kick - it had gone on for months. Lamisil was keeping it under control - sort of- but not eliminating it. I read about using vinegar diluted with water and tried it a while ago, but it seemed even less effective than the Lamisil.

Then the AF took a turn for the worse - the itching was waking me up several times a night, and was at the "want to claw your skin off with your fingernails" level. So I went back to the web and saw the posts about undiluted vinegar. I was worried that it might be too harsh on my skin, but was getting desperate it this point so I was willing to risk it.

I didn't have ACV in the house, so I used distilled white vinegar at 5% acidity. I put it in a Tupperware container elevated on one end so it mainly covered my toes. I also followed earlier posters' instructions and let it air dry without rinsing it off.

As some others have said, the results were amazing. The itching went away during the first soak. On day two, I soaked my foot twice. Since then I really haven't had any itching. But at this point (3 days after the first vinegar soak) I am continuing with daily soaks of 10-15 minutes until I'm confident it's all gone.

I also haven't noticed any ill effects from using the undiluted vinegar.

And one final thing -- I also started using antifungal powder between my toes when I need to wear shoes/tights/hose. That seems to help too.

Very happy with the vinegar!

Athlete's foot fungus can become much more than an itch on your little toe as I've learned. It started that way for me but over the years migrated elsewhere on my body so that it manifested itself anywhere my skin touched skin - toes, crotch, underarms, inside my elbows... Initially, the fungus was just on my feet. I sort of managed it by using anti-fungal ointment. After about eight years of sort of dealing with this problem, the fungus migrated elsewhere so I began an intensive effort to get rid of this scourge. Many suggestions can be found at this excellent, well-intended resource, but none of the treatments helped over the long term. Many were painful and I think some are dangerous health-wise such as applying bleach.

I even tried the prescription form of the anti-fungal ointment that is taken internally and requires blood test monitoring to ensure no harm to your liver. There were so many spores around the house that I was immediately re-infested after the treatment finished. Washing clothes with very hot water or just throwing them away after a single use weren't enough.

I had the thought of trying probiotics after using a heavy chlorinated whirlpool bath to kill the fungus was counterproductive as this permitted the fungus to go everywhere. This indicated I had killed my natural defenses.

Natural, bacterial defenses are the solution. I applied a top grade, multi-bacteria probiotic to the infested areas and it worked!! No pain, no fungus. These probiotics are anaerobic as they normally live in a person's gut. So, they don't have a long life and must be reapplied daily or whenever you feel a little itch.

After more research, I found the probiotic that attacks the fungus: lactobacillus rhamnosus. It is readily available online for a reasonable price. Mix the contents of one gelcap with about one teaspoon of water and apply to infested area.

This is an internal problem that is being fed by sugar foot baths creams etc will improve it only in the short term you need oral herbal medication will a detox to flush it out of your system. Fungus spores are everywhere but only affect people who aren't in peak condition.

borax for athletes foot

after trying everything else you could buy at the store for his pretty much life long athletes foot problem - and not having results my boyfriend finally decided to try the remedy i kept telling him to try... borax - which he thought was poison him instantly but he 'trusted' the OTC stuff at the store!!! LOL

he wet his feet and then took a handful and rubbed it all over his feet.

he said they stopped itching immediately! he was stunned.

a few weeks later i asked him how his athletes foot was and he said: oh wow! it hasn't come back! that stuff totally cured it!!!

now he tells all his friends about borax ;)

Hello Lily,

I'm replying to your post because when you combine Hydrogen Peroxide with ACV or vinegar, which both contain Acetic Acid in the 3% to 6 % range, you create Peracetic Acid/Peroxyacetic Acid. Peracetic Acid, while being a potent disinfectant is corrosive and harmful to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes of the respiratory tract! What you are recommending can be harmful or dangerous!

Peracetic acid is used as a commercial disinfectant by people trained in its use to disinfect hard surfaces while wearing protective gear. It is not meant to be applied to the skin!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220001/

https://www.analyticaltechnology.com/analyticaltechnology/gas-water-monitors/blog.aspx?ID=1343 - What Is Peracetic Acid and Is It Dangerous?

https://synergist.aiha.org/201612-peracetic-acid-uses-and-hazards

It may have worked for you, but it is generally dangerous to most people! It may be a good idea if you ask Earth Clinic to remove your post for the safety of others, please.

Art

I apologize for being long winded. But figured this information could prove useful to someone out there.

(TLDR version: I have moccasin type athletes foot.
Wipe with alcohol, cover area in iodine. Dremel off dead skin (Yes I said dremel) This should not hurt. (Don't peel, it will tear.) Soak freshly exposed layer in ACV daily for 30 mins. After soak use essential oils. If the area starts to get hard again. Repeat.)

Well, truth be told science IS nature. How did ACV cure your athlete's foot? Scientific processes. Science is the outcome of nature, which man tries to understand an then harnesses. It's a beautiful and inescapable fact of reality. So I have to laugh when people juxtapose 'nature' and 'science' as though they are mutually exclusive. A remedy is a remedy whether you're conscious of its scientific processes or not. While you may not be following a scientific process to PROVE it's effectiveness, science as reality still happens.

Glad to hear it worked for you. I'm in the process of using ACV. I've used every anti-fungal essential oil you can name, creams, powders, iodine tincture, hydrogen peroxide, etc... and it still clings on. It's a LOT better but I have been treating it daily for about 3 or more months now, and it's really only in two spots. A spot on the pad of my foot under my pinky toe and between my pinky toe. I think it may have started on my heel now, so I am going back to apple cider vinegar foot soaks. Which is what I started with as treatment months ago, but now with a twist.

I'm certain it's the moccasin type, that started inter-digitally about 6 months ago. If I had gotten to it when I first saw symptoms I think it would be gone by now.

The most effective thing I've done so far has been to wipe down the area with a cottonball soaked in isopropyl alcohol (do NOT soak your foot in alcohol). I then take tincture of iodine and cover the area. I also make sure to get outside the area where the visible fungus is because it usually exists outside the area as well. This dries it out very quickly and effectively. Then I dremel.

Since it's the moccasin type, the outer layer is already hard to begin with (moccasin-type athletes foot basically makes a shield with your skin) so after a few days of wiping with alcohol and applying iodine twice a day, the outer layer is ready to be dremeled. This should NOT hurt. I use a small electric dremel you plug into the wall with a relatively soft sandpaper like tip. I haven't had this hurt yet. If this hurts your foot, you're either dremeling soft tissue or your skin isn't dried out enough yet... or your dremel is too powerful/tip is too rough. Use common sense. Also, make sure to dremel in a location that's not going to likely spread the fungus to someone else. While the outer layer of skin is dead, and comes off in a fine powder, fungus could still potentially be living so just be cautious. The whole point of this is so that you can actually put your medicine of choice on your moccasin athletes foot and it be more effective... or effective at all. Personally, after the soft tissue is now exposed, I soak in ACV for 30 minutes. THIS WILL HURT. Then use oils.

Also, a word of advice, DO NOT PEEL your dead skin tags. The way that this specific fungus sheds your skin is like a hangnail. You'll get a tag of dead skin, want to pull it, but it will tear down into fresh tissue opening a wound for the fungus to dive right in. I made this mistake and it's lasted a lot longer than it should have, my foot was incredibly sore and treatments were EXCRUCIATING.

Side note: I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would use Hydrogen Peroxide with the type of athletes foot I have. Maybe mine is just really imbedded. The levels of pain I experienced from Hydrogen Peroxide were ridiculous. Literally ridiculous. I skipped all the normal reactions from pain and went straight into laughter. I don't know how you all do it. We're talking nerve pain. Hundreds of thousands of needles jabbing into your foot, pain. I'm a tough guy, and I don't cry, and I toughed out 30 min soaks a day or more for more than a week that didn't get rid of it. So no more. God bless you all who want to go that route.

Currently on my second foot soak with ACV after dremeling. Still stings just as bad as yesterday's soak. Crossing my fingers. I will also be applying essential oils all day. Currently I have Melaleuca, Lavender, Oregeno, Clove, Cassia, Fennel, Cumin, Lemongrass, Frankincense, Arborvitae, Helichrysum, Rosemary, and Bergamot essential oils at my disposal after my foot soaks. All of these apparently have anti-fungal properties which you can read more about at organicfacts.net.

Hot oils that will burn: Cassia, Oregeno, & Clove. Peppermint is so cooling it will feel hot around privates. Do not use any of these for jock itch unless you want to feel miserable. Peppermint being the least miserable.

All others are relatively mild and give a sense of mild cooling and relief, and should be ok to use should you have jock itch around sensitive areas as well. Cumin and Lemongrass are especially smelly. You will smell like lemongrass for about a day (sweet smell) and cumin (spicy smell kind of like BO) for about two days.

Dear Michaela,

Sorry to hear this is causing you so much misery!

Here are some things to try:

• Turmeric internally to reduce itch and inflammation
• Borage oil internally to reduce inflammation
• Calendula tincture for topical use. Add 1 dropperful of calendula tincture to 1 ounce of water and rub into hands and feet twice a day. This knocked out a chronic fungal issue I had over 20 years ago after a year of different remedies.
• Keep sugar and processed foods to a minimum.
• Add coconut oil to your diet and apply to hands and feet if they are dry feeling. (After using calendula )

I hope you feel better soon.

~Mama to Many~

I have found Apple Cider Vinegar to be very effective to eliminate athlete's foot. I soak my feet in 100% full strength, undiluted ACV for one hour whenever the athlete's foot gets active. One or two soakings makes it go away. Daily soakings for an extended period of time might eliminate it altogether. The athlete's foot comes back when my feet don't get enough air. The worst thing is winter sleeping under synthetic (polyester or acrylic) blankets. I have to use cotton-only bed linens and blankets to allow my feet to "breathe." And I use 100% cotton socks.

We had a case of athlete's foot. From my personal experience tea tree was only keeping it from getting worse and coconut oil did not stop it getting worse (spread from one or two toes to all of them, peeling skin but not painful). However I saw on this site about apple cider vinegar. Since we just bought a huge box of limes and couldn't eat them all up I thought I'd try it. I rubbed a 1/2 fresh sliced lime on the toes, top and bottom, squeezing the juice all over it (yummy smelling toes! ) and air drying. After about a week it was completely cleared up. This proved to be a very effective cure for us this time. I will remember it. I imagine lemon would work the same. Thanks for your great site!

Soak the athlete's foot in a mixture of 1/4 c. Borax and warm water! This will cure it! You can also rub vinegar (reg. white) on the feet, but the borax works wonders!

The vinegar any type will kill the fungus. I use it in a spray bottle. 2-3 days and it is gone. I continue for a week. Sprayed the inside of my shoes too.

I have used garlic oil too, it also works.

I had athlete's foot for many years, feet & shoes smelled terrible. One day I was reading the side of a box of borax, & there it stated that it removed odors. So I began to sprinkle borax into my shoes, and also into my socks. It made my feet hot, but in a few weeks it cured my athlete's foot, & has never returned. Now use it occasionally as insurance to prevent return infection.

I had chronic athletes foot, i could never get rid of it. Over the counter creams such as lamisil controlled the problem but did not get rid of it. I then tried not using the creams and only apple cider vinegar instead. The result was disaster, rampant athletes foot. I was almost about to give up but did a final search and found postings on both Salt and Cayanne, so I decided to try an experiment. I made up a mixture of half salt and half cayenne pepper. I then Put a little bit of Lamasil cream on the infected area. Then while my finger still was sticky from the cream i dipped my finger in the salt/cayenne mixture and worked the powder into the infected area. The result was incredible. Noticible improvement after 24 hours. After two weeks, once a day, for the first time in years i am athletes foot free. I have no idea if it was the salt, the cayenne or the combination. I don't know if the Lamisil did anything more than provide a sticky base. But my feeling is don't change success. This combination worked fantastic for me.

For my Athlete's foot, activated charcoal cured it in three days. Clean the affected toe with rubbing alcohol, let dry, then apply charcoal powder in between the affected toe. Do this twice a day avoiding socks and covered shoes while treatment lasts.