In this article i'm reading about can flip flops protect me from foot fungus in public showers. In this article they say yes. An athlete's foot is the most common name for fungal infections. It is important to clean or bathe your flip flops every time each time is use. It is important to wear flip flops especially if your an athlete because you don't want to get foot fungus before or during a game.
Flip flops may protect you from athletes’ foot, but they are bad for your feet overall. One podiatrist told me that foot doctors love flip flops, since they bring them lots of business from injured feet.
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My podiatrist told me to put Vicks vapor rub cream on my toes. I guess the turpentine in the product kills the fungus.
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@Robert Winchester -- it may be the Tea Tree Oil.
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I’m not sure the photo of such uneven toes aids the article. Yucky!
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@Rad ? Why not? it's a human foot. You wanted a model, maybe? c'mon. It's reality.
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"Once a fungal infection becomes established, antifungal medication will probably be necessary....Also, drying socks in the sun seems to have a fungicidal effect."
i have heard that tea tree oil is a fungicide or anti-fungal agent, both for tinea pedis and for tinea unguium. i have also heard that chlorine bleach is a fungicide for shower surfaces and plastic shower shoes (and socks), but it will burn the skin if applied on the feet or other body parts. chlorine bleach also kills many bacteria and viruses on surfaces.
besides tea tree oil, there are a range of non-prescription (and generic) anti-fungal agents at pharmacies. some might work better than others. check them out.
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@thomas bishop A dilute solution of chlorine bleach (1 tsp in one cup of water) will do the job. And not strong enough to do damage. It's roughly a 1:48 dilution.
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Always dry your feet with a towel, especially between the toes. I also use rubbing alcohol to clean between the toes a few times a month. Has reduced my incidence of athlete's foot.
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But if you do get athlete's foot you might try plain yogurt applied topically after showering. Not sure whether it's effective for all varieties of AF. But I had fought mine for over a decade with the drugstore creams, including several that were rather expensive, with only limited results. I happened to read recently about plain yogurt as a cure, and since I had some on hand thought I'd try it. Within ten days my athlete's foot was gone. Good luck!
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Flip-flops are great for the beach, the shower, and around the swimming pool. But please don't wear them anywhere else. That silly, slappy, flappy sound that has permeated every space, from my workplace to restaurants to public streets to (ugh) even church, has gotten on my last nerve.
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@Martha Goff Yes! THANK YOU!!
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@Martha Goff
Podiatrists hate them!
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When I was in high school, before you walked into and out of the showers, you had to walk through a shallow (about 1 inch deep) puddle of very dilute bleach. When they discovered an outbreak of athlete's foot, it turned out that the custodian stopped adding the small amount of bleach to the puddle of water.
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I got plantar warts when I took swimming classes in college years ago. Nobody was wearing flip-flops in the pool area then. Now when I go to the local pool, I always wear flip-flops in the dressing room and at the side of the pool.
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Good tips. I am always surprised at the majority of men at my fitness club who don't don shower shoes.
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That said, it is my experience that, even with the recommended precautions, showers are likely to have a much higher presence of the fungi in the summer so that a showerer is more likely to get a case from splashing even with wearing flip-flops. So check your feet for spots regularly.
And what you want to use to treat it is Terbinafine, not cheaper Clotrimazole; the former can gradually cure, the latter is merely more of a discourager of further spread.
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