Athletes foot how long contagious

You do not need to stay off work or school. Keep following this advice after finishing treatment to help stop athlete's foot coming back. You're more likely to get it if you have wet or sweaty feet, or if the skin on your feet is damaged.

Page last reviewed: 08 June Next review due: 08 June Athlete's foot. Symptoms of athlete's foot One of the main symptoms of Athlete's foot is itchy white patches between your toes. There are many options available, including:.

Also, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly with warm water after applying any medication to your feet. Wash socks, towels, sheets and other items that come into contact with your feet in hot water to help get rid of the fungus and to stop it from spreading. You may need prescription-strength topical or oral antifungal medications to tackle the infection. You may also need antibiotics if a bacterial infection has developed in a blister. While not serious, the itching and irritation caused by the fungus can be unpleasant and uncomfortable.

Take preventive measures whenever you can. Wear flip-flops instead of going barefoot in public areas; keep your feet clean, dry, and well-ventilated; and avoid sharing towels, socks, and shoes with others. Athlete's foot is a bacterial infection that can sometimes occur with blisters.

Treatment includes over-the-counter and prescription antifungals…. As an integral part of your everyday life, your feet experience a lot of wear and tear. When the environment they live in gets warm and moist, they grow out of control and start to cause symptoms.

It spreads in damp environments, such as public showers or pool areas. It can also spread to other areas of the body if a person touches the affected foot and then touches other body parts, such as the hands. Waking around barefoot in warm wet places like locker rooms or public pools can expose the feet to fungi that thrive in those environments. Sweaty shoes and socks add to the dampness and can make the infection worse.

Sharing towels, sheets, clothing, or shoes with someone who has athlete's foot also can spread the infection. A doctor can often diagnose athlete's foot just by looking at it and asking questions about the symptoms and the child's lifestyle.

Sometimes the doctor will want to scrape off a small sample of the flaky infected skin to look at under a microscope or to test in a laboratory. Over-the-counter OTC antifungal creams, sprays, or powders may solve the problem if it is mild.

More serious infections may need prescription medicine, either topical applied to skin or in pill form. Whatever treatment is used, your child should use it for as long as is recommended, even if the rash seems to be getting better.

Special considerations in skin of color. In: Dermatology Secrets. Elsevier; Ferri FF. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor Newman CC, et al.

Clinical pearls in dermatology Disease-a-Month ; doi. Crawford F, et al. Topical treatments for fungal infections of the skin and nails of the foot. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Bell-Syer EM, et al. Oral treatments for fungal infections of the skin of the foot.