As students return to school and locker rooms, husband-wife dermatologists Bill Danby and Lynne Margesson share their patient handout on athlete’s foot. As Drs. Danby and Margesson explain to their patients, athlete’s foot is common and can be contracted from contaminated surfaces and spread from one part of the body to another. However, it largely can be prevented with good hygiene, including avoidance of direct contact with surfaces where the fungus is most likely to linger, and that is the main focus of the handout that can be downloaded in the PDF above.
Prevention First
The first line of prevention involves lifestyle modification, personal hygiene and nail care. Their handout repeatedly warns against bare feet: “Do not walk barefoot on surfaces that can contain fungus (e.g., showers, bathmats, bathroom carpets, bedroom carpets, locker room floors), and “Use sandals in public pools, hot tubs and hotel bathrooms.” In addition they suggest wearing properly fitting shoes and keeping feet clean, cool and dry, wearing “socks made of cotton, wool or similar absorbent material,” adding, “If you exercise and perspire, use polypropylene socks.” As for nail care, they advise keeping toenails short and cut straight across; “do not round the edges.” Other preventive approaches include washing feet using antifungal shampoos with ketoconazole or selenium sulfide, a triclosan cleanser like Dial or Cetaphil Antibacterial Bar, or ZNP Bar.
To Make It Go Away
Treatment can be tricky, they say, as the fungus can move to other body parts or other people. “If you have toenail fungus, you will continually spread the fungus from the toenail out onto the toes and the soles of your feet and at times up to other places on your body, particularly the groin.” It is for this reason they add these words of wisdom, “Do not use the same clippers to cut normal and abnormal nails,” and “If you have fungus feet, always put your socks on before your undershorts.” They encourage patients with nail fungus, especially the elderly and diabetic, to clear the nails with oral medications. When this is not possible, aggressive topical therapy is the next best approach.
To Keep It From Coming Back
Infection and subsequent clearing only occasionally provide future immunity, so affected patients are warned to be regularly on the alert for the return of tinea pedis and other superficial fungal infections, and to check family and close associates to be sure they are not infected. While Drs. Danby and Margesson still suggest tossing footwear that may have the fungus after feet have cleared, they recognize that this is an expensive “cure.” They have incorporated into their handout an alternative — to treat shoes with terbinafine spray on a weekly basis based on a study that found that one application of terbinafine 1% spray consistently decontaminated shoe insoles colonized by Tricophyton rubrum–infected skin scales. Download the PDF above for a copy of the patient handout. Both Dr. Danby and Dr. Margesson are Adjunct Assistant Professors of Surgery (Section of Dermatology) at Dartmouth Medical School and maintain a private practice in Manchester, NH.
As students return to school and locker rooms, husband-wife dermatologists Bill Danby and Lynne Margesson share their patient handout on athlete’s foot. As Drs. Danby and Margesson explain to their patients, athlete’s foot is common and can be contracted from contaminated surfaces and spread from one part of the body to another. However, it largely can be prevented with good hygiene, including avoidance of direct contact with surfaces where the fungus is most likely to linger, and that is the main focus of the handout that can be downloaded in the PDF above.
Prevention First
The first line of prevention involves lifestyle modification, personal hygiene and nail care. Their handout repeatedly warns against bare feet: “Do not walk barefoot on surfaces that can contain fungus (e.g., showers, bathmats, bathroom carpets, bedroom carpets, locker room floors), and “Use sandals in public pools, hot tubs and hotel bathrooms.” In addition they suggest wearing properly fitting shoes and keeping feet clean, cool and dry, wearing “socks made of cotton, wool or similar absorbent material,” adding, “If you exercise and perspire, use polypropylene socks.” As for nail care, they advise keeping toenails short and cut straight across; “do not round the edges.” Other preventive approaches include washing feet using antifungal shampoos with ketoconazole or selenium sulfide, a triclosan cleanser like Dial or Cetaphil Antibacterial Bar, or ZNP Bar.
To Make It Go Away
Treatment can be tricky, they say, as the fungus can move to other body parts or other people. “If you have toenail fungus, you will continually spread the fungus from the toenail out onto the toes and the soles of your feet and at times up to other places on your body, particularly the groin.” It is for this reason they add these words of wisdom, “Do not use the same clippers to cut normal and abnormal nails,” and “If you have fungus feet, always put your socks on before your undershorts.” They encourage patients with nail fungus, especially the elderly and diabetic, to clear the nails with oral medications. When this is not possible, aggressive topical therapy is the next best approach.
To Keep It From Coming Back
Infection and subsequent clearing only occasionally provide future immunity, so affected patients are warned to be regularly on the alert for the return of tinea pedis and other superficial fungal infections, and to check family and close associates to be sure they are not infected. While Drs. Danby and Margesson still suggest tossing footwear that may have the fungus after feet have cleared, they recognize that this is an expensive “cure.” They have incorporated into their handout an alternative — to treat shoes with terbinafine spray on a weekly basis based on a study that found that one application of terbinafine 1% spray consistently decontaminated shoe insoles colonized by Tricophyton rubrum–infected skin scales. Download the PDF above for a copy of the patient handout. Both Dr. Danby and Dr. Margesson are Adjunct Assistant Professors of Surgery (Section of Dermatology) at Dartmouth Medical School and maintain a private practice in Manchester, NH.
As students return to school and locker rooms, husband-wife dermatologists Bill Danby and Lynne Margesson share their patient handout on athlete’s foot. As Drs. Danby and Margesson explain to their patients, athlete’s foot is common and can be contracted from contaminated surfaces and spread from one part of the body to another. However, it largely can be prevented with good hygiene, including avoidance of direct contact with surfaces where the fungus is most likely to linger, and that is the main focus of the handout that can be downloaded in the PDF above.
Prevention First
The first line of prevention involves lifestyle modification, personal hygiene and nail care. Their handout repeatedly warns against bare feet: “Do not walk barefoot on surfaces that can contain fungus (e.g., showers, bathmats, bathroom carpets, bedroom carpets, locker room floors), and “Use sandals in public pools, hot tubs and hotel bathrooms.” In addition they suggest wearing properly fitting shoes and keeping feet clean, cool and dry, wearing “socks made of cotton, wool or similar absorbent material,” adding, “If you exercise and perspire, use polypropylene socks.” As for nail care, they advise keeping toenails short and cut straight across; “do not round the edges.” Other preventive approaches include washing feet using antifungal shampoos with ketoconazole or selenium sulfide, a triclosan cleanser like Dial or Cetaphil Antibacterial Bar, or ZNP Bar.
To Make It Go Away
Treatment can be tricky, they say, as the fungus can move to other body parts or other people. “If you have toenail fungus, you will continually spread the fungus from the toenail out onto the toes and the soles of your feet and at times up to other places on your body, particularly the groin.” It is for this reason they add these words of wisdom, “Do not use the same clippers to cut normal and abnormal nails,” and “If you have fungus feet, always put your socks on before your undershorts.” They encourage patients with nail fungus, especially the elderly and diabetic, to clear the nails with oral medications. When this is not possible, aggressive topical therapy is the next best approach.
To Keep It From Coming Back
Infection and subsequent clearing only occasionally provide future immunity, so affected patients are warned to be regularly on the alert for the return of tinea pedis and other superficial fungal infections, and to check family and close associates to be sure they are not infected. While Drs. Danby and Margesson still suggest tossing footwear that may have the fungus after feet have cleared, they recognize that this is an expensive “cure.” They have incorporated into their handout an alternative — to treat shoes with terbinafine spray on a weekly basis based on a study that found that one application of terbinafine 1% spray consistently decontaminated shoe insoles colonized by Tricophyton rubrum–infected skin scales. Download the PDF above for a copy of the patient handout. Both Dr. Danby and Dr. Margesson are Adjunct Assistant Professors of Surgery (Section of Dermatology) at Dartmouth Medical School and maintain a private practice in Manchester, NH.
