wa371@sdcc12.UUCP (Senior Gnome) (08/24/85)
Help!
For nearly two years now I have been battling athlete's foot
between the same two toes and I can not get rid of it. I have tried
nearly every over-the-counter medication ... without success.
I am beginning to wonder if it perhaps even thrives on these ointments.
I am ready for some more creative approaches.
For starters, can anyone tell me if athelete's foot likes an alkaline
or acid enviroment? I have tried both household bleach and vinegar;
but perhaps not long enough.
Cheers,
Bernd <bear-nd> *** hooray for USENET ***
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcc12!wa371, ARPA: sdcsvax!sdcc12!wa371@noscnotes@harpo.UUCP (08/26/85)
Have you tryed Micatin? It worked for me and other brands did not. It contains Miconazole Nitrate 2%.
smh@rduxb.UUCP (henning) (08/26/85)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA rduxb!smh > For nearly two years now I have been battling athlete's foot > between the same two toes and I can not get rid of it. I have tried > nearly every over-the-counter medication ... without success. > Cheers, Are you perhaps getting reinfected before it can heal. Whenever I use a shower where the floor is wet like at the YMCA I always wear shower shoes. I also wear them in motels and hotels. I have never gotten athletes foot since I was a kid over 25 years ago and I see it all the time at the Y. I fact I feel like saying something to people who heap on the foot powder and ointment after they get out of the shower. Perhaps they should put their feet in bags before they shower. In schools, when a child gets athletes foot of the head, which is ring worm, the kid is usually sent home. The best cure for athletes foot that I have seen used is potassium permanganate.
sdyer@bbncc5.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (08/27/85)
> Help! > For nearly two years now I have been battling athlete's foot > between the same two toes and I can not get rid of it. I have tried > nearly every over-the-counter medication ... without success. > I am beginning to wonder if it perhaps even thrives on these ointments. I can add my own recent experience with a case of tinea cruris so bad that Tom Stanions might even describe me as "dying of accute jock itch." :-) I had the same unsuccessful experience with most OTC preparations--I was practically bathing in Tinactin, and if anything, the condition was getting worse. Luckily my doctor at my local HMO suggested a several-point approach, and things are improving rapidly. Athlete's foot and jock itch are caused by the same fungi, and they share many of the same symptoms and treatment. First, KEEP THE AREA DRY. These fungi like their home warm and wet. Generally, this means ensuring that perspiration doesn't collect around the area: for athlete's foot, this means avoiding tight shoes, applying powder to adsorb moisture, etc. For jock itch, changing from jockey shorts to boxer shorts (ugh), using powder. Also, you'd be amazed at how much moisture remains after thorough towelling after a shower. My doctor suggested lying for 15 minutes beneath a 100 watt bulb 1 foot from my, ahem, affected area. I compromised and am now using a hair dryer set to low heat. I've also found that cornstarch is tremendously adsorbent and, unlike talc, you don't have to worry about inhaling the stuff. Second, use an effective medicine. That means not bothering with fungistatic creams like Desenex (undecyclenic acid). You want something that will kill the fungi. Tinactin (tolnaftate 1%) has been the most popular OTC treatment for several years, but it turns out that it has only about a 60% cure rate. If it works, great, but this latest case of mine was too much for it. My doctor prescribed another antifungal agent, clotrimazole, in a cream. This is available only by prescription. It turns out, however, that a related drug, possibly even more effective, is now available without prescription: it's miconazole, available as a cream under the name "Micatin". In clinical studies, it achieved a 95% cure rate in jock itch and athlete's foot. This is perhaps the best showing in topical antifungal drugs. Third, don't stop treatment too early. Most of us (myself included) when faced with JI or AF simply slap on some gunk, and hope it goes away, and usually it does, or at least the flare-up is taken care of. Unfortunately, some viable fungi remain, and the next time the environment gets too favorable, POW! I'm in the first week of a four week regimen, and I intend to keep up the treatment for the full four weeks, even though clinically, everything feels just fine now. And, of course, even after successful treatment, prophylactic measures (keeping the area dry, adequate hygiene around pools and shower rooms, etc.) are still called for. Finally, in some really BAD cases, there is also an oral medicine known as griseofulvin, which may be useful. It has enough side-effects that most doctors don't prescribe it casually, and the topical agents generally work as well or better, when they work at all. -- /Steve Dyer {harvard,seismo}!bbnccv!bbncc5!sdyer sdyer@bbncc5.ARPA
werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (08/28/85)
> Help! > For nearly two years now I have been battling athlete's foot > between the same two toes and I can not get rid of it. I have tried > nearly every over-the-counter medication ... without success. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I realize this is a radical suggestion in this newsgroup, but have you considered going to either a dermatologist or podiatrist, who presumably specialize in such things. Prescription drugs are almost always stronger than OTCs. Also, if the recognize the particular fungus, they can treat it specifically. See a doctor. Remember, someone who treats themself has a fool for a patient. -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner "The world is just a straight man for you sometimes"
ahs@burl.UUCP (Spinks Albert H. ) (08/28/85)
> Help! > For nearly two years now I have been battling athlete's foot > between the same two toes and I can not get rid of it. I have tried > nearly every over-the-counter medication ... without success. > I am beginning to wonder if it perhaps even thrives on these ointments. > I am ready for some more creative approaches. > For starters, can anyone tell me if athelete's foot likes an alkaline > or acid enviroment? I have tried both household bleach and vinegar; > but perhaps not long enough. > > Cheers, > Bernd <bear-nd> *** hooray for USENET *** > UUCP: ...!ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcc12!wa371, ARPA: sdcsvax!sdcc12!wa371@nosc The best cure for athlete's foot that I have found is to place my shoes in direct sunlight for several days. The sun of course dries them out which indirectly kills the fungus; but I speculate that the suns radiation itself directly plays a part in the cure. good luck -- Albert H. Spinks - 71BU072120
wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly) (08/28/85)
In article <556@bbncc5.UUCP> sdyer@bbncc5.UUCP (Steve Dyer) writes: >It turns out, however, that a related drug, possibly even more effective, >is now available without prescription: it's miconazole, available as a >cream under the name "Micatin". In clinical studies, it achieved a 95% >cure rate in jock itch and athlete's foot. This is perhaps the best >showing in topical antifungal drugs. Here's another vote for Micatin. It's the only thing that worked for me (and I tried EVERYTHING available over the counter). Results were achieved quickly and were lasting. -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly
peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (08/31/85)
> Help! > For nearly two years now I have been battling athlete's foot > between the same two toes and I can not get rid of it. I have tried > nearly every over-the-counter medication ... without success. > I am beginning to wonder if it perhaps even thrives on these ointments. I had the same problem, and finally just stopped wearing shoes except when absolutely necessary (for the sake of others feet I wore sandals or thongs) for about 6 months. I kept up the barrage of *powder* fungicides (I'm dubious about ointments efficacy) and eventually it cleared up. Perhaps someone could say something authoritative about moisture or something to back me up?
oliver@unc.UUCP (Bill Oliver) (09/04/85)
In article <135@graffiti.UUCP> peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes: > >I had the same problem, and finally just stopped wearing shoes except >when absolutely necessary (for the sake of others feet I wore sandals or >thongs) for about 6 months. I kept up the barrage of *powder* fungicides >(I'm dubious about ointments efficacy) and eventually it cleared up. > >Perhaps someone could say something authoritative about moisture or something >to back me up? Indeed. While many of the anti-fungal agents are good, few work well if you keep reinfecting yourself by wearing shoes and socks which have not been cleaned and dried out. I had a bad case of athelete`s foot while in med. school. My solution was to buy seven pair of sneakers (they allowed med students the luxury of not having to wear `real` shoes), and wear a different pair every day. Thus, but the time I had cycled to wearing a a pair twice, they had dried out sufficiently to allow my feet to not be reinfected. Within two weeks, my troubles had cleared. Bill Oliver