I’ve had Athlete’s Foot (tinea pedis) on and off between my pinky toe and the next toe for the past several years. I’ve tried lots of prescription anti-fungal treatments, but none of them really worked. They would reduce the severity of the infection, but never completely get rid of it.
Athlete’s Foot can be pretty resistant to treatment. My GP said that it is difficult to know which combination of anti-fungal drugs will work best with an individual infection. For me, none of them seem to get rid of it completely.
In this post I am going to discuss treating Athlete’s Foot with a combination of Hydrogen Peroxide and Iodine. Both Hydrogen Peroxide and Iodine are well-known substances for treating skin infections, and are strongly anti-septic: anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.
Iodine
Iodine is a potent anti-fungal agent that…
rapidly penetrates through the walls of the cells of the microorganisms and disrupts the nucleic acid along with the structure and synthesis of protein, thereby leading to the death of germs.
https://clinicinus.com/does-iodine-kill-fungus/
You can apply Iodine topically using cotton pads on an infected toe-nail or in-between toes and it will get to work deep within the tissue right away. It is also cheap and fairly widely available at any chemist or pharmacist.
Side-effects are rare, but include: Blistering, crusting, irritation, itching, or reddening of skin. [1]
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen Peroxide is a mild anti-septic and is typically used topically to treat the surface of the skin to prevent infection of minor cuts and wounds. It should not be used to treat deep wounds, serious burns or injuries.
There is a low risk of side-effects, although mild irritation can occur. Peroxide is widely available and can be found at supermarkets, chemists, and pharmacists.
Combining the two treatments
Each of these substances are anti-fungal and each have been used on their own in order to treat Athlete’s Foot, however, one substance on its own may not be enough to get rid of your infection. I am across an interesting paper called:
Co-operative inhibitory effects of hydrogen peroxide and iodine against bacterial and yeast species
by Elena I Zubko1 and Mikhajlo K Zubko1
The paper can be found here. It discusses the effectiveness of each of these substances in fighting fungal growth (in vitro) compared with the synergistic, additive effect of using both on the same fungal specimen.
The results state:
Synergistic or additive inhibitory effects were shown for hydrogen peroxide and iodine mixtures against all 19 species used in the study.
And the conclusion:
Iodine and hydrogen peroxide used concurrently interact synergistically or additively against a range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms.
Personal Experience
In my personal experience, a combination of these two substances completely got rid of my Athlete’s Foot where other prescription anti-fungal treatments failed. I used Hydrogen Peroxide at 3% by volume, and an Iodine ointment at 10% applied topically. I would try alternating days using one and then the other. I stopped after three weeks of treatment
If anyone has a treatment-resistant infection, they could try combining these two treatments. I would suggest people read more about these substances and their potential side-effects. (also: Iodine will stain your clothes!)
Ask your doctor or pharmacists for guidance
I am not a doctor, and suffice to say that you should always ask a medical professional for the suitability of any treatment for you. Every individual’s circumstances are different.