I often hear people say “foot odor can not be cured”, the reason is different, the most common are two: some people think that this disease is no treatment, can not be cured; another part of the superstitious, foot odor can not be cured, the cure will get other diseases. And I said this very much, not only patients, but also various ways to make friends. So, can foot fungus be cured or not? As a doctor of medical fungi and a dermatologist for many years, I have decided to make this my first science lesson. First of all, explain what is called “foot odor”, this is the image of the people’s words, there is a common saying is “athlete’s foot”, the medical name of this disease is “ringworm”, is the skin of the feet. The medical name of this disease is “tinea pedis”, which is a skin fungal disease that occurs in the foot, and is a very common superficial fungal infectious disease. According to foreign statistics, one in four people around the world has been or is suffering from tinea pedis. As for tinea pedis is too professional things, here do not do the introduction, just put a set of pictures: people who have studied medicine know, infectious diseases are relatively good treatment, sterilization chant, the pathogenic bacteria killed into the! (Except for some viral infections such as AIDS and hepatitis, for which there is no effective drug cure). Now on the market there are many kinds of safe and efficient drugs to kill dermatophytes, eating terbinafine hydrochloride, itraconazole and fluconazole; topical more, to azole (such as ketoconazole, miconazole, biphenylbenzazole, econazole, etc.) and propylene amine (terbinafine, naftifine) the most common, with the best efficacy, and there are also some other Chinese medicinal preparations and keratolysis agent, and so on. Dermatophyte drug resistance is very rare, poor treatment is mostly due to the use of medication is not standardized, the time is too short. Personally recommended “1 +1” tinea pedis treatment program, that is, “oral + topical” combination therapy, light one week, serious two weeks, can achieve more than 80% cure, which is a very high data. The second problem is often the most worried about: foot odor medicine is safe? Many people refuse to take medication, believing that antifungals will eat away at the liver. I’m surprised to learn where this viewpoint comes from. Why is it that people in this country ask for water (i.e., antibiotics) and amoxicillin, but are afraid of antifungal drugs like a tiger? In fact, the current market antifungal drugs are very safe, such as terbinafine tablets, itraconazole capsules and fluconazole, etc., side effects are rare, and even if there is, the most common is the gastrointestinal discomfort, rather than a come to be a hepatitis. Even the former “Risulau” ketoconazole tablets, although there is the possibility of causing outbreaks of hepatitis, but the incidence of less than one in 100,000 – here I can not help but say more, ketoconazole tablets is actually a very good drug, broad-spectrum, highly effective, inexpensive, in Africa, India and other places where there is a great lack of medicines is an excellent choice, but because It has the potential to cause severe hepatitis and has been blocked by the European, American and Chinese markets, and is currently only used as an ointment and lotion. In conclusion, current antifungals are actually quite safe, and for tinea pedis, which is only taken orally for a short period of time, there is even less risk. Of course, if you have impaired liver function, heart or mental illness, and at the same time when taking other medications for treatment, or to be more cautious, please consult your doctor to guide the use of medication. The third question: is foot odor contagious? This question has already been mentioned, foot fungus is a contagious disease and can be transmitted. Sharing towels, bath tubs, carpets, etc. between family members will allow fungal spores to infect each other between people. Therefore, it is best to treat tinea pedis together as a family to eliminate contagion. Here to add two sentences: tinea pedis infection is very slow, very insidious, the beginning of the toe is often peeling, itching for the performance; blood relations between the more easily infected, some couples a nest sleep for decades, will not be infected, there is a genetic susceptibility to the problem. The fourth question: in the effective treatment of foot odor at the same time, the previous shoes how to do? Throw them all away? On top of the shoes and insoles, there will indeed be a lot of fungal spores hosted, which will turn into mycelium under certain conditions and infect your feet again. So if your shoes aren’t that expensive, or your finances allow it, consider getting rid of them. But for most people, throwing away hundreds or thousands of pairs of shoes would be a bit of a no-brainer. No matter, you can try this treatment: in the shoes sprayed with Daktarin san, sun exposure, ventilation and placed for a period of time. After these treatments, the general shoes will be safe. One last question: if I cure my foot fungus, will I get other diseases? Theoretically, tinea pedis is an infectious disease, these bacteria are bad things, and not necessary for people, you kill the bacteria is a good thing to help the skin back to normal ah. Of course, some scholars have suggested that dermatophytes hosted on the skin can mobilize the body’s immunity and play a role in immune surveillance, but this is just hypothesis, no one has confirmed this. My personal point of view is, can simply cure the disease you keep why, even if you later get a disease of other what, but also do not have to rely on to cure the foot this thing right. Doctors do not give you foot odor treatment, you will not be sick? The above point of view, is personal experience, of course, is also the academic point of view of the scientific test. I hope that some of the patients to play a role in solving the confusion and doubt.