Friday's Natural Remedy - Athlete's Foot

Athlete's Foot

• Apple cider vinegar.  Soak your feet in hot water with apple cider vinegar - one part white vinegar to four parts water - a couple of times a day for 20-30 minutes.  This seems to kill the actual fungus.  Dry your feet.  Apply a moisturizer to your feet.  As your skin cracks and peels from fungus, that skin dries out and dies, yet makes more spots for the fungus to take hold.  The remedy kills the fungus, then medicates and moisturizes the skin so it can heal. If you have fungus underneath your toenails you may need to file them down until they're pretty thin so the remedy can reach the fungus underneath. A good moisturizer would be the crushed garlic in oil that you can find in the grocery store.  Other good choices would be tea tree oil, sesame oil and olive oil.  Note: Garlic oil, tea tree oil and sesame oil are effective by themselves against athlete’s foot, as noted below.

• To prevent future outbreaks of athlete’s foot, repeat the above remedy once each week.

• Hydrogen Peroxide. Apply hydrogen peroxide with a Q-Tip or cotton swab especially just after a bath, shower or foot soak. Allow to dry.  If you wish, you may follow with an application of apple cider vinegar and then, after your feet have dried, apply one of the moisturizers mention above.  Repeat twice daily until all signs of athlete’s foot are gone.

• Tea tree oil. Rub on feet twice a day.  Tea tree oil kills the fungus that causes athletes feet.

• Sesame oil.  Rub the oil all over the infected area once a day. Athletes feet will usually be gone within a few days.

• Hair Dryer. Wash feet and dry thoroughly using any good bath soap. With hair dryer on high heat setting, dry feet well especially between toes. Get as close to feet as you can without burning. If dressing afterwards always use clean dry socks (preferably white cotton socks). Do this at least morning and evening.  If you regularly blow dry your feet, you should never have athlete's feet again.

• Grandma's Gallberry Root Remedy - Boil some gallberry roots and soak your feet in the solution (let it cool somewhat, don't want to scald yourself). Do this each day for a week. This is a very old remedy that works. Note that this is a foot soak, so do not drink!

• Be sure to wash all your white socks in water containing bleach.  Then wash your other socks and wash or clean your shoes regularly.  From time to time, mist the inside of your shoes with Lysol. 

Note: Use of anti-bacterial soap actually makes athlete’s feet worse and increases the chance of getting athlete’s feet by killing the good bacteria as well as the bad, often allowing bad bacteria to take over and to accumulate and grow in the shower.

Taken from the book  Collected Home and Herbal Remedies by Tony Isaacs