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Nail fungus is a source of embarrassment to many of the people who have it. Some patients in the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas have tried many home remedies before they come into our clinic. I’ve heard of people in Minnesota soaking their feet in bleach, some have used tea tree oil, vinegar and even Vic’s Vapor Rub. On mild cases these home remedies my work but if the fungal infection is very advanced, they won’t touch the fungus. For the dry skin on the toes, heels and bottom of the feet an over the counter medicated lotion, such as Lotrimin, is recommended as that could be athletes foot. Usually if there is a nail fungus, there is athlete’s foot fungus as well. Laser is still one of the best ways to treat the nail fungus.
Some things you can do at home are:
- Clean your sheets in hot water and dry them on high heat.
- Wear socks that are made of natural fibers and not synthetic material. That will allow the feet to breath and help with moisture.
- Make sure your feet are dry and not in a warm and moist environment which allows fungus to thrive.
- Don’t use a nail polish or gel or acrylic nails until the fungus has completely cleared up. When the nail can’t breath the fungus will keep growing.
- Don’t walk barefoot in public places. There are people who even wear flip flop style sandals in a hotel room and even in the hotel shower because they don’t want to catch anything.
- If you suspect a nail fungus the best thing to do is get it checked out right away by a physician who specializes in treating it. The earlier you start your treatments, the better your results will be. You will feel so much happier when you can show your toes and fingers again.
Using a Sterishoe UV light to sterilize your shoes. The light will kill the fungus and bacteria in the shoes. That helps prevent re-infection and you don’t have to go out and buy all new shoes if you don’t want to. We tend to sweat in our shoes especially in the warmer months of Minnesota which creates the perfect breeding ground for toe nail fungus, athletes foot and shoe odor. The end of the day is the perfect time to insert the Sterishoes to kill any microorganisms that are living in your shoes. You can treat both shoes at once as the system comes as a set of two lights shaped like a shoe tree and two bags to keep it dark while the light is treating your shoes. Even open toed shoes and sandals can be treated. A treatment cycle lasts 45 minutes. All you have to do is turn them on and at the end of the cycle; the lights will shut off automatically. The treatment will kill 99.9% of the harmful microorganisms that cause toe nail fungus and athletes foot.
