While some severe cases of athlete’s foot require a doctor’s care, most can be effectively treated at home. The following strategies can help you soothe and heal athlete’s foot and keep it from cropping up in the future.

Move away from moisture. When you think about athlete’s foot fungus, remember that it likes moist, warm, dark environments. All of your treatment and prevention strategies should center around keeping your feet as dry as possible.

Dry between your toes. Don’t just use your damp bath towel to dry between your toes. Use a thin, dry hand towel and thoroughly dry between each toe. If you can’t get your feet dry enough with a towel, try drying them with a handheld hair dryer on the “warm” setting.

Wash those feet. Twice a day, wash your feet in soap and water, and dry them thoroughly.

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Blame the advertising man who misnamed it in the 1930s, but athlete’s foot has nothing to do with athletes. It’s a fungal infection of the feet. Also known as tinea pedis, or “ringworm of the feet,” it has nothing to do with worms either. The Trichophyton fungus that causes the redness, itching, cracking, and scaling of athlete’s foot can also infect the scalp, where it causes hair loss and scaly patches; the body, where it causes round, red, scaly patches that itch; and the groin, where the so-called “jock itch” causes itching and thickening of the skin.

Athlete’s foot is the most common fungal infection of the skin. It affects more men than women, probably because men typically wear heavy, often airtight shoes, and the fungus loves hot, dark, moist environments. Contrary to popular myth, athlete’s foot fungus isn’t just found in locker rooms, although the moist locker-room environment is perfect for fungal growth. The fungus is probably present in your bathroom and in your shoes all the time.

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