The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Boric Acid
Posted by Dallas (Hayesville, NC) on 04/05/2008
★★★★★
I had athletes foot for several years that I could not get rid of from any of the high priced medications. I had heard from someone tha Boric Acid powder in your socks and in your shoes would cure it. Sure enough, after about a week the fungus was completely gone.
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Heather (Santa Clara, CA) on 04/03/2007
★★★★★
Starting when i was very young i would get terrible athletes foot, so bad i could barely walk. I found out that all the messy creams help for short term, but it comes back. My mom heard about tea tree oil, which dries out your skin, and it cleared it up within a week. every once in a while i use it even when i don't have athletes foot just to make sure i don't get it again. it also clears up pimples you dilute about 1 drop with 2 of water, you have to dilute it if you use it on your face and a little bit really goes a long way.
Calcium
Posted by Jess (Victoria, British Columbia) on 02/09/2007
★☆☆☆☆
I had athletes foot, I never had it before so I used different creams from the drug store. THEN I got an itch on my hand and the skin started getting very red and pealing off there! I went to the drug store and they gave me a different athlete's foot cream to apply to both the foot and the hand. I did this and it got rid of athletes foot from my toes but only helped a little bit with my hand. It didn't go away on my hand, it stayed the same size on one part of my hand and grew BIGGER on another part and was spreading up my thumb. I had tried a few home remedies from your site, none worked too well: Cider Vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, Borax etc. Over four week later it was still the same, itching and very red and getting bigger and spreading to other parts of my hand! I was about to go to the doctor when 'that little voice inside' said take Coral Calcium. I did and after taking a double and sometimes TRIPLE dose within 3 days the itchy circle began to subside. The skin one week later is still a little pink from healing and the center is normal skin color but there's NO itch or flaking skin left anymore. Will continue with the Coral Calcium for another two weeks and ingest cider vinegar on a regular daily basis for the rest of my life.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by John (Long Beach, CA)
★☆☆☆☆
I first washed my feet with soap and water to clean them. I then dipped my feet in hydrogen peroxide with water, and rubbed peroxide on my feet a little after, but it had no large effect. OTC antifungal cream doesn't work either. Does peeing on your feet really help Athlete's foot?
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Joe (Somerville, NJ) on 02/04/2007
★★★★★
I've used hydrogen peroxide, 3% pharmacy grade cut 50% with water, to rinse my mouth before brushing, which has been a great help with eliminating bad breath and plaque. But here's a remedy that no one may have thought - a treatment for "tinea cruris" commonly known as jock itch. I had an issue with this for several months and during this period, several times a week, I used Curex and other over-the-counter options to eliminate it, spending $20.00 to $30.00 to no avail. I knew hydrogen peroxide was effective in killing bacteria, so, as a last resort, I cut the pharmacy 3% grade 50%, just like the mouth wash, and used it-in 2 days!!! the itch and soreness was gone! No joke. Total cost 20 cents!
Ketoderm, Black Walnut Oil
Posted by Catherine (Tahiti)
★★★★★
I tried doctors prescription of ketoderm, ciclopiroxolamine, econazole and numerous other things. I also tried the ACV and garlic oil rubbed on the skin. Lime rubbed on skin and left for 20 minutes. Also vera gel, colloidal silver, black walnut oil and iodine. I believe that the ketoderm works but my problem is that from all the drying products my skin would look worse so the aloe vera gel counteracted that and I've used the black walnut oil three times and it is working rapidly. I used the paragone liquid that I use to kill internal parasites on my skin topically. It has red clover and some other stuff in it but works great. I've been to three doctors and have had this for 3 months. It does go away with convectional medicine but will return the minute you stop treatment. I looked for every type of holistic cure and I think the problem with some like ACV is that they would make little wounds on my skin that would burn when I applied it. the doctors prescribed medicine did the same. I also eat raw garlic and drink a little bit of ACV each day. I also take noni which is a tahitian drink they sell at Costco. I stopped eating cheese and cut down on starch. I was using coconut oil last week but it didn't seem to do anything.
Garlic
Posted by Anonymous (USA)
★★★★★
I had athletes foot badly between two of my toes. I taped a cut piece of garlic onto the wound in the morning and looked at it the afternoon, and the skin was totally healed and looked like new. I couldn't believe it!
White Vinegar
Posted by Richie (Newport, NC) on 02/28/2007
★★★★★
Great way to relax and get rid of athletes foot; find comfy spot to sit for 20 min., get container feet fit in, have close to hot water ready, white vinegar, sea salt. Sit down with feet in container, pour enough vinegar to cover feet, add sea salt, marinate for 5 min. the add water, sit for ten min., last 5 min brush feet with soft bristle brush while in water. Take out, dry, repeat for 2 to 3 days. Worked great for me and was also an excellent stress reliever.
White Vinegar
Posted by Kathleen (San Antonio, Tx) on 02/06/2008
★★★★★
Apple Cider Vinegar is wonderful to clean out my German Shepherd's ears, when his ears are bothering him. He will shake his head, and I just put an apple cider and water solution on a cotton ball, and clean out his ears, and in ten minutes he stops fussing and lays down and finally can rest. My husband takes white vinegar and soaks his feet in it, and no more athelets foot! It is wonderful for killing any kind of fungus or bacterial infections. Thanks so much for the advice!
Apple Cider Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Laura (Orlando, FL) on 08/24/2006
★★★★★
I am 3 months pregnant and had athlete's foot near the beginning of my pregnancy. I wanted to avoid over-the-counter chemicals to treat it if possible, so I tried using ACV, and it seemed to work miraculously. However, as soon as I stopped soaking in ACV, the fungus came back with a vengeance! Next, I tried soaking my feet in a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water. I soaked them once for about 30 minutes. Then I just applied straight hydrogen peroxide to the affected area every night and every time after I showered. Within a few days the fungus cleared up. I used a pumus stone to exfoliate the dead skin. It has been about three weeks since it cleared up, and my feet look better than ever!!! Note: The hydrogen peroxide did fade the suntan on the top of my feet when I soaked them, and it dried out the skin on the bottom of my feet. I applied some unrefined organic coconut oil to my feet and the dry skin went away! Pretty amazing!
Coconut Oil
Posted by Dianne (Mansfield, MA) on 07/02/2006
★★★★★
within 2 days of using my athlete's foot has totally cleared. My husband has also had the same results.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Shelly (Medford, OR) on 03/22/2006
★★★★★
I had a stubborn case of athlete's foot for several months. Tried every kind of natural/herbal cure that I could think of, but there was no relief. I read about coconut oil bringing healing to skin rashes, so I decided to try it. After a week of applying the oil, twice a day, the rash is gone. I'm also feeding it to our dog every morning with his food. He LOVES it! He 's a young dog with no apparent health problems, but I look at as a preventative measure and I anticipate that it will also help him with flea and tick problems. It's great to have such wonderful natural remedies!!!
Coconut Oil
Posted by Klaus-Christian (Osaka, Japan) on 05/03/2007
★★★★★
Coconut oil cured my 20! years long athlete's foot problem plus a lot of epidermic fungus, [j-itch, behind the ears, chin] constipation and digestive problems. 3 times a teaspoonful per os and external. see: health-science-spirit.com/candida.html
Cayenne
Posted by Vince (Philadelphia, PA) on 09/21/2006
★★★★★
I had Athlete's Foot between 2 toes that sit against each other. I had it off and on for years. It was hard to dry them after a shower, and when in a rush, I don't think I did it that well, and then sitting against each other, I would probably really have to, and sweating probably cause it also. I only applied cayenne in salt water one time, and it has been gone for years. Usually it has to stay in place for a while on skin surfaces, so I soak the gauze on a bandaid, but since my toes touch, I didn't have to.
Cayenne
Posted by Melvin (Garner, North Carolina) on 07/19/2007
★★★★★
This website has been a major blessing to me and my family!
From 1989 to about 1994 I suffered from athlete's foot on both of my feet. I tried several OTC (over the counter) drugs that eased the pain and itching somewhat, but never cured it, in spite of what the avertisements claimed.
A friend of mine told me about the benifits of applying cayenne pepper to cuts and acratches to stop the bleeding. Out of desperation one night, I applied cayene pepper to the affected areas between my toes. I was amazed at the almost immediate sense of relief I experienced. I applied it every morning after showering and at night after washing my feet. Within a day or two the pain & itching was gone. Within a week the fungus had dried up and skin had hardened. Within two weeks I could peel the dead skin away and by the third week the AF was gone and the cracked skin began to heal. By the fourth or fifth week there was no evidence of the AF- AFTER FIVE, LONG YEARS. I had forgotten what it felt like not to have AF.
The key for me was to wash and dry my feet daily before putting a dash of cayenne between my toes. No more over-the-counter treatments for me. I keep an ample supply of cayenne available, just in case.