Feebs
I didnt have the normal athlete's foot. This stuff seemed immune to any creams. Foot doc said it was probably Trichophyton mentagrophytes. It started as an itch once in a while and progressed to itchy/burny feet constantly. In the beginning, I could only see them if I pushed on my skin a few seconds then released. There would be several reddish blotches. Those blotches became more noticeable and turned into bumps (see pic 1 and 2) which eventually joined into like a big scab (pic 3). I tried several types of OTC creams which did nothing and eventually went to the foot doc. He prescribed a cream of Clotrimazole 1% with steroids. A month later it had worsened so I did more research. Eventually I got rid of it but it took me like 1/2 a year.
Change your socks very often. Keep them feet dry. Use absorbing foot powder. I used some antifungal stuff inside my socks and cheap powder in my work boot. At work breaks and lunch I'd switch my socks and reapply. Doc suggested cotton socks.
At home I'd wash my feet and then spray Lysol Mold and Mildew on my feet and let them sit for 5 minutes in the tub. Then rinse and go soak my feet in Borax hot soak for 30 mins. Let my feet dry thoroughly then apply a thin amount of Clotrimazole 1% cream and put cotton socks. I would do this routine 3x a day when it was bad. Eventually 2x after I was sure I had it on the run, then just for my daily shower. I still did this for like a month after I thought it was gone just to be sure.
Lysol is by far the best and really the only thing that worked for me. My skin was not broken; for broken skin it may be too painful. Also, I had trouble sleeping since my feet itched / burned SO MUCH. Spraying with Lysol Mold and Mildew for 5 mins got rid of most of that itching for the night. In the 3-4 months it took to get a good hold on the problem I ran out of Lysol Mold and Mildew and used Tilex Mold and Mildew for a few days (It says contains Bleach but doesnt smell like it). I had my one and only outbreak so discontinued Tilex and everything got back on track.
That Clotrimazole 1% cream is like 6 bucks for a huge tube at Walmart. If I applied anything other than a very thin layer my feet would sweat and the fungus would break out. Nowaday I'll rarely get a little pinch of what felt like the beginning of this fungus on my feet. It's at the top side crease of my toes where there's dead skin I can't get rid of and it seems a perfect place for the fungus. I just dab a q-tip in straight bleach, wipe off the excess and swipe. I read somewhere that this worked and tried it. I was suprised it didn't burn my skin but I guess if it's not pooled it'll evaporate pretty quickly. If it burns, dilute it a little.
A part of why I couldn't get rid of this stuff is because I had a bunch of dead skin on my feet. After soaking in hot water/borax use a brush or something to scrub them puppies.
Btw I sprayed Lysol Mold and Mildew in my porcelean bathtub and it made my tub rust super quickly. I'd spray my feet and then rinse the bathtub down very well.
Water to borax ratio I used was like 1 gallon hot water with 1/4-1/3 cup borax. Borax is super cheap, sold at Wal-mart, K-mart for laundry.
Hope this helps and God bless. It's been over a year since I've been good. Here are a few photos I found searching Yahoo. The foot one looks so like what I had.
//www.curezone.org/ig/i.asp?i=62834
//www.curezone.org/ig/i.asp?i=62835
//www.curezone.org/ig/i.asp?i=62836