Symptoms, preventive measures and treatments for Athlete’s foot(Tinea Pedis)
You might be a person suffering from athlete’s foot. If yes, don’t worry as the infection can be easily prevented or treated. Read this article to know more about athlete’s foot regarding its symptoms, treatment, medications, athlete’s foot fungus, skin lesion biopsy for athlete’s foot, skin lesion KOH test and athlete’s foot and many more!
Athlete's foot, an infectious disease caused by fungus is also known as Tinea Pedis in medical term. This is a common fungal infection which is sometimes considered to be contagious. Actually they are commonly seen on the toes and soles of feet but they can even spread to other parts including the palm or groin. Some of you may be little confused while hearing the word Athlete's foot. Remember that they are not restricted to any sports person. That means they can affect athletes and Image courtesy: herbalpress.com, toenailfunguscured.com, life123.com
non athletes alike. The fungus that is respoinsible for this infection can be seen in places like nail salons, swimming pools, locker rooms, contaminated clothing etc. By contact, this is an easily spreadable fungal infection. That means if you walk without slippers or shoes in areas contaminated with this fungus, then you can easily catch this infection. Before going into the details of athlete's foot, remember that this is an example of communicable disease, also known in different names like transmissible disease or infectious disease. Now you may be interested to know the signs and symtpoms, preventive measures and treatments for athlete's foot. Read the rest of this article to know more about athlete's foot.Signs and symtpoms of athlete's foot
Athlete's foot is characterized by symptoms like scaling, flaking as well as itching of the infected skin, pain, swelling, inflammation, 
red skin, burning etc. If you are suffering from any of these symptoms, check the causes and preventive measures for it.Athlete's foot and preventive measures
Before going into the details of preventive measures of athlete's foot, I would like to mention once again that there will be an increased risk for a person to get this infectious disease if he/she sweats a lot and at the same time keeps their fingers wet for a long period of time. So remember that maintain proper hygiene 
is important for a person to get away from athlete's foot. That means try to keep your feet and footwear as dry as possible. Try to keep your feet and the spaces between your toes as dry as possible after swimming or showering. Also you must wear sandals while using a public shower or pool. At the same time you must avoid wearing plastic lined shoes and instead you can wear well ventilated shoes made of leather. Treatments for Athlete's foot
If you are suffering from any symptoms of athlete's foot, avoid self medications and contact your doctor as early as possible. A doctor can easily diagnose the disease by simply looking at your skin. If needed, a small scraping of the skin on your foot is taken and examined under a microscope to check the presence of fungus that casues athlete's foot in it. In some cases, a skin lesion biopsy and skin lesion KOH exam are ordered by the physician. There are different types of skin lesion biopsies like punch biopsy, shave biopsy, incisional biopsy and an excisional biopsy. Stitches are not needed in the case of shave biopsy while for punch biopsy there will be stitches depending on the size of the sample taken. But a numbing medicine will be injected into the affected area in the case of excisional and an incisional biopsy. By examining the affected area with skin lesion KOH test, the presence of fungus can be determined as potassium hydroxide (KOH) destroys non fungal cells. Medicated powders, antifungal creams, sprays and pills are avialble in the market which will help to cure this disease. Keep in mind you have to use the medicines according to the prescription of a doctor only.