The main issue for fungus is warmth and moisture, and being in shoes all day provides a great environment for it to grow.
As others have pointed out, change socks regularly, but I would advise even a step further with adding a mild amount of bleach to a wash with socks to ensure that the fungal spores are being killed entirely and don’t re-colonize your toes each time you put your socks back on.
Anything you can add to help keep your feet dry in general can help. You don’t want to go too dry or you risk dry, cracking skin, but you need dry enough to not allow growth.
If you have a dehumidifier, try placing your shoe tree right next to it as well as invest in dessicants you can put directly in your shoe, to suck up excess moisture and similarly prevent fungus from growing in your shoe and re-colonizing your toes each time you wear them.
Along with changing socks, try to have and wear at least three pairs of shoes, so you can let the other two dry on the shoe rack (hopefully with the dehumidifier) with tongues out for maximum dryness. (I know not everyone can afford numerous pairs of shoes, but it really makes a difference. In my twenties, I used to only ever own one or two pairs, and my shoes and feet would always stink. This was the major reason why. My feet don’t stink anymore.)
Wash your feet regularly. A lot of people really slack on washing their feet in the shower, and most people don’t take time for a foot-bath. I would say focus on a good soapy scrub in the shower and then an epsom salt foot-bath soak at the end of the day. I try to add a little extra epsom salt to kind of give an environment where the salts left on my feet will help suck up leftover moisture.
Go shoeless at home as much as possible to help reduce length of time your feet stay in enclosed spaces, and during the summer, if you can get away with it, some nice sandals without socks to allow your feet to breathe.
Finally, antifungals like terbinafine and clotrimazole applied to your feet before you put them in clean socks can help tremendously as well. I’ve personally had very good luck with clotrimazole.
Further, as others in the thread have pointed out, anything that can help keep your feet dry like Tea Tree oil can be quite helpful as well, if you prefer more natural remedies as opposed to straight antifungals.
The main issue for fungus is warmth and moisture, and being in shoes all day provides a great environment for it to grow.
As others have pointed out, change socks regularly, but I would advise even a step further with adding a mild amount of bleach to a wash with socks to ensure that the fungal spores are being killed entirely and don’t re-colonize your toes each time you put your socks back on.
Anything you can add to help keep your feet dry in general can help. You don’t want to go too dry or you risk dry, cracking skin, but you need dry enough to not allow growth.
If you have a dehumidifier, try placing your shoe tree right next to it as well as invest in dessicants you can put directly in your shoe, to suck up excess moisture and similarly prevent fungus from growing in your shoe and re-colonizing your toes each time you wear them.
Along with changing socks, try to have and wear at least three pairs of shoes, so you can let the other two dry on the shoe rack (hopefully with the dehumidifier) with tongues out for maximum dryness. (I know not everyone can afford numerous pairs of shoes, but it really makes a difference. In my twenties, I used to only ever own one or two pairs, and my shoes and feet would always stink. This was the major reason why. My feet don’t stink anymore.)
Wash your feet regularly. A lot of people really slack on washing their feet in the shower, and most people don’t take time for a foot-bath. I would say focus on a good soapy scrub in the shower and then an epsom salt foot-bath soak at the end of the day. I try to add a little extra epsom salt to kind of give an environment where the salts left on my feet will help suck up leftover moisture.
Go shoeless at home as much as possible to help reduce length of time your feet stay in enclosed spaces, and during the summer, if you can get away with it, some nice sandals without socks to allow your feet to breathe.
Finally, antifungals like terbinafine and clotrimazole applied to your feet before you put them in clean socks can help tremendously as well. I’ve personally had very good luck with clotrimazole.
Further, as others in the thread have pointed out, anything that can help keep your feet dry like Tea Tree oil can be quite helpful as well, if you prefer more natural remedies as opposed to straight antifungals.