Athlete's Foot
When To Call a Doctor
Call your health professional about a skin infection on your feet if:
- Your feet have severe cracking, scaling, or peeling skin.
- You have blisters on your feet.
- You notice signs of bacterial infection, including:
- Increased pain, swelling, redness, tenderness, or heat.
- Red streaks extending from the affected area.
- Discharge of pus.
- Fever of 38°C (100°F) or higher with no other cause.
- The infection appears to be spreading.
- You have diabetes or diseases associated with poor circulation and you get athlete's foot. People with diabetes are at increased risk of a severe bacterial infection of the foot and leg if they have athlete's foot.
- Your symptoms do not improve after 2 weeks of treatment or are not gone after 4 weeks of treatment with a non-prescription antifungal medicine.
Watchful Waiting
Watchful waiting is a period of time during which you and your health professional observe your symptoms or condition without using medical treatment. You can usually treat athlete's foot yourself at home. However, any persistent, severe, or recurrent infections should be evaluated by your health professional.
When athlete's foot symptoms appear, you can first use a non-prescription product. If your symptoms do not improve after 2 weeks of treatment or have not gone away after 4 weeks of treatment, call your health professional.
Who To See
Your family doctor or general practitioner can diagnose and treat most cases of athlete's foot. You may be referred to a specialist, such as a dermatologist or podiatrist.
To prepare for your appointment, see the topic Making the Most of Your Appointment
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| Author: | Douglas Dana Amy Fackler, MA Debby Golonka, MPH | Last Updated: September 7, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | Patrice Burgess, MD - Family Medicine Tom Bailey, MD - Family Medicine Randall D. Burr, MD - Dermatology | |
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