Korean Job Discussion Forums

sojourner1 · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:31 am Post subject: The worst athletes foot case?

Many of you guys might have itched between the toes off and on over the years and cured it with some OTC spray or cream ever time it comes back to haunt you while your toe nails are yellowed and hard.

It doesn't look as bad as in some pics I found when googling, but it's a persistent athletes foot that refuses to leave my body. Well, during the past month I washed my feet 3 times a day, cleaned my floors with bleach regularly, and boiling my socks over the stove while I have medicated and medicated nightly. I still have really raw parts between my toes that have made my right foot feel downright sore in the past few days which concerns me.

It all started 1 month ago, I used up a can of Tinactin in only 1 week that normally lasts 1 year! I then got Korean foot stuff several times, all being different products on each pharmacy visit. I since have resorted to vinegar, bleach, dish detergent, and Bacardi 151, while drying my feet and putting tissue between the toes to keep it all dry. While I don't itch any more between my toes after cleaning and dousing my feet with all this stuff for a couple weeks straight, my between toe wounds are still very raw and making my foot sore. I am getting small itchy spots still on top of my foot though while at work in the afternoons.

How can athletes foot be so wretched? There must be a new strain of tinea pedis foot fungus going around now. I know with all this taking off your shoes and walking around in restaurants, airports, and schools, I am picking up all the spores of any kind of tinea pedis that is laying around on public floors. This ones so bad I am about to go to the hospital to see a dermatologist. I just never fathomed that I would got to a damned hostpital on lunch break for a serious case of athletes foot. I know it could be turning into a foot infection with how sore it is and how reddish and bad looking my foot is now. I am disappointed. What would you do? The funny thing is if it's really bad, why doesn't it infect between all the toes and why doesn't everyone get it?

Julius · Joined: 27 Jul 2006

I had the same problem here for ages.

It all ceased when i stopped going to the gym everyday.

Showering twice a day on those gym shower floors...brutal on your feet. They just never dry out.

Another significant factor is: do you wear shoes that are well aerated/ with ventilation holes? Average trainers just don't allow yyour feet to breathe.

saw6436 · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Daejeon, ROK

I used to get the most god-awful AF. Seriously, though my damn toes were gonna rot off. Tried EVERYTHING to cure it. Nothing worked, doctors were no help. Nothing. This went on for years.

Then one day, by mistake, I put some steroid cream on my feet. In 24 hours it was totally cleared up and I have never had a case since then. Give it a shot.

sojourner1 · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:52 am Post subject:

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

Ditto. I think I had mild case years ago in Seattle. But this summer I picked up a bad case, much like yours, that four months later is almost cleared up. First, hit your doctor and get some nizoral cream. He might give you 2 tubes but ask for a double. The problem is lots of it lives under the skin. The nizoral can seep under the skin and kill it. Use it twice a day. After go to the pharmacist and get several tubes of non prescription stuff. Even if it seems cleared up, keep rubbing it on for a week or so after. Any little not killed will soon repopulate.

I would say avoid using baby powder. I suspect the baby powder here has starch (vs talc) and that just provides the fungus a food source.

Soak you feet in warm water and bleach ("raks").

Also finally the cold dry Seoul winter will work to your advantage.

There's also an oral antibiotic you can take but it appears that it has a risk of liver damage and you need some regular blood tests. So I dunno.

I got the blisters too. I think this is a side effect. The body is having a bad reaction to the fungus and not the fungus itself.

mehmeh · Joined: 23 May 2007 Location: South, South Korea

I had the same problem when I came over here. Nothing I used could make the itching stop so I went to the doctor-in-the-box across the street.

He gave me a perscription for Nizoral (15g tube). The stuff worked great and within a few days the itching had stopped. He also gave me two tips to make it work better:

- After you generously apply the med. put on a pair of shoes (without socks) so as to kill off the fungus inside the shoes. Keep doing this each day with a different pair of shoes until they've all been treated.

- Always where slippers into the shower. (At the time I was in an officetell and wan't doing this.)

I think the Nizoral was only 13,000KW and the Dr.'s visit was about the same.

Good luck

nobbyken · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Location: Yongin ^^

I used to get AF in the UK, when I used to run.

Not drying my feet properly, after a shower, before putting them back in socks and shoes was a culprit.
Also, wearing non-cotton socks made my feet heat up to much, when not running. Good in winter, but too sweaty the rest of the time.

Actually not so easy to find 100% cotton socks these days.
Ebay came to the rescue again.

I think I used a cream called #@misil or something, sorry can't remember but it gave relief and helped it go away.

Then good footcare, no powder unless it's designed for feet, stopped it coming back.
In Korea, my feet get too much air if anything Exclamation

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

Good advice here. I've had cronic AF all my life. I cure my occassional attack by:
- wearing cotton socks in summer,
- using army issue 'foot powder'
- Tinaderm cream Very good
- Washing and using foot powder in boots or shoes.

It also helps to wear Jandals/thongs etc in the shower - definately in public showers at pools, saunas, hotels etc.

And I only wear leather shoes/sandals. Cheap footwear sometimes incorporates plastic or nylon and that makes your feet sweat like crazy.
Rubber gumboots and wool socks always give me AF.

Good luck. The Tinaderm is good.

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

I got a persistent case last summer, from a jjimjilbang I'm pretty sure. I went to the Teng Teng Skin Clinic -- expensive, but he gave me an antifungal soap that knocked the *beep* right out of it. I wish I had kept the soap because it came back a year later and I still haven't got rid of it. Pretty gross, man.

http://wiki.galbijim.com/Teng_Teng_Skin_Clinic

Czarjorge · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:52 pm Post subject:

Pee on them. Your feet that is, not another random "them" you might like to pee on, unless that "them" also has athlete's foot.

Dazed and Confused · Joined: 10 Jan 2003

There is the Diflucan pill you can take. It is an anti-fungal oral med. I've never had AF but it worked wonders for another type of fungus I had.

On another note:
are you sure it is AF? My cousin suffered for years with what he and the military doctors thought was fungus but he was finally diagnosed by a dermatologsit with dysidrosis.http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dyshidrosis/DS00804 He has to use steriods to clear it up.

sojourner1 · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:22 am Post subject:

I went to a dermatologist trained in Germany today at a hospital and got oral antibiotic, Nizoral cream, a steroid, and something to help protect my stomach, but only 5 days worth. Boo hoo, only 5 days of medicine. Good thing I have long lunch breaks. I am also soaking my feet in saline solution which is super cheap. I am going back next Monday for a follow up appointment. He explained that tinea pedis fungus is everywhere, but my right foot is having an allergic reaction to it so I break out with itch and open wounds with infection. I have never had sore foot infection from athletes foot nor seen it where OTC anti fungals and washing failed to clear it up, so I was driven to go see an expert on this.

Doctor said that if my foot wounds look better, then he will give me an anti fungal topical that will work in the long run. I already feel better in that my foot is not so sore tonight. Maybe he will give me more medicine. I can tell that Korea has very state of the art health care, but it often under medicates you as I was only getting 3 days of medicine when I sulfured tonsillitis and flu. It still helps to get a little treatment over nothing for maybe it really doesn't require that much if you are young. If you are taking antibiotics, you would want at least 2 weeks supply as it takes time for it to work to my understanding. I just want to know why I am having this severe of a case now when I had athletes foot cases for many years that was easily self treated with OTC tolnaftate sprays and sanitizing feet and floors.

kimchi_pizza · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:35 am Post subject:

I never had a bad case of A.F. but when I noticed it between my toes I found this awesome almost miraculous cure. Here in Korea you can find it everywhere and anywhere almost free. Just apply it in it's raw form or it's minced form as they've both worked just fine for me as I applied it about 2-3 times a day. That 'magic cure' ISssssssss......

Garlic

(btw. washing your feet 3x a day probably isn't good. You wanna keep those bad boys as dry as possible.)

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004