The Woes of Athlete's Foot

As the warm weather is starting to come back, so is sports season. There are many things that young athletes can suffer from. These issues include athlete’s foot. School locker rooms are frequented by a multitude of different students. At some middle schools and high schools, you can have 100s or even 1000s of students passing through the locker rooms every day. This means that all of the germs and fungus on each of their feet is growing and mixing together to form one giant cesspool.

Teenagers are not the most cleanly people and as a result they carry a great deal of dirt and grime on their feet. The fungus of athlete’s foot grows best in dark, wet places. So, a locker room shower is the ideal place for the fungus to multiply. The fungus that is involved is extremely infectious and is difficult to treat. You will have a pretty good idea that this is the cause of your children’s discomfort if their feet are itching, have blisters or even have open sores.

There are over the counter medications that work for athlete’s foot, but they are not always very good. They sometimes will work on your child’s feet, but they do not always work. It is very important to seek help from your podiatrist in this matter, because athlete’s foot is very contagious and comes back easily if not completely gotten rid of.

So, if you or someone you know has itchy, dry feet and are having difficulty getting rid of the problem, you should seek help from your podiatrist. If you live in the Bradford or Burlington, Massachusetts area, Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to see you and help treat your feet. We are also happy to announce our Methuen and North Andover offices located at 451 Andover St. Suite 300, North Andover MA 01845 and 87 Jackson St, Methuen, MA 01835.