Home Remedies for Athlete's Foot

Are your feet itchy with painful cracking skin? You just might have athlete’s foot. Try these home remedies for athlete’s foot and feel better soon!

Last week I realized that a painful cut on my toe wasn’t from stepping on one of my kid’s blocks. My skin was cracking because I had athlete’s foot! This has never happened to me before. Even when I was distance running, I never had to deal with athlete’s foot. Since I was already self-diagnosing, I decided to look for some home remedies for athlete’s foot before seeing the doctor.

Athlete’s foot is actually a fungal infection, and the home remedies below have been helping me fix my feet. If you don’t see improvement within a few days of trying this regimen, I would suggest seeing your doctor. You could have something else going on, or you could have a more severe infection.

5 Home Remedies for Athlete’s Foot

1. Tea Tree Oil

I read a lot of articles on home remedies for athlete’s foot, and tea tree oil is the natural treatment that everyone agrees actually works. There are several studies showing that tea tree oil may even work as well as antifungal creams to treat athlete’s foot.

I started out using undiluted tea tree oil twice a day. I was afraid that it would sting where the skin was broken, but it actually relieved some of the pain as soon as I applied it. One of the tea tree studies found that some folks got skin irritations from using 100 percent oil, so I began diluting it.

A 1:1 or even 1:2 mix of tea tree and a carrier solution has been shown to help athlete’s foot.

Normally I’d recommend mixing your tea tree with a carrier oil, but I found an even better solution that works for athlete’s foot! Instead of oil, squirt a quarter-sized dollop of your favorite lotion into the palm of your hand. Add 5-10 drops of tea tree oil, depending on how sensitive your skin is. Use your hands to combine the oil and lotion, then rub the mixture onto your feet. It absorbs well and doesn’t leave your feet greasy.

2. Wash, Wash, Wash

Keeping your feet as clean as possible helps your athlete’s foot heal faster and prevent infection where the skin has broken. This is another chance to expose those fungi to more tea tree. I’ve been washing my feet twice a day with Dr. Bronner’s tea tree soap.

3. Keep Your Feet Dry

After you bathe, let your feet breathe for a bit, so that they can completely dry. I know, it’s hard to stay barefoot in the winter! The floors in my house are freezing. Just do what you can.

4. Thin, Cotton Socks

Once your feet are totally dry and you’ve treated them with tea tree oil, put on a pair of thin, breathable socks. I’ve tried wearing thicker socks because of the aforementioned freezing floors. They make my feet feel worse. Fungus likes dark, moist environments. Thin socks help your feet absorb the oil without getting your feet sweaty.

5. Antifungal Cream

I really wanted to treat my feet with just tea tree, but after a day I broke down and used an antifungal cream on the worst areas. The tea tree helped for sure, but the antifungal cream has helped faster. Right now, I’m using both twice a day. An antifungal double whammy!

Have you used any home remedies for athlete’s foot that helped? Tell us about them in the comments!

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