It don't think its Athletes Foot....

My feet stink.

And on the soles of my feet are thickening, hard areas of skin (more so than is normal):
on the heel,
on the area between where the toes join the foot and the arch and
on one of my little toe.
Basically, wherever my foot touches the ground (except my toes).

There is nothing between the toes, no itching or pussy/flacky bits so I do not think it is Athletes Foot.

Normally the areas are rough but relatively uniform, when "wet", ie; in trainers after a run there are little pock-marked craters.

Very bizarre.

Occasionally when the lumps are really big I soak my feet and attach them with a rough stone from the Body Shop.

Is it fungus?

Comments

  • The 'little craters' sound a bit like a bacterial infection called pitted keratolysis. Check it out online to see if it sounds/looks the same. If so its a trip to the G.P
  • fascinating

    Just done a medline search
  • Vrap knows about this 'cos she answered it for someone else, but WITHOUT A SEARCH FACILITY I can't find it for you.

    Vrap?
  • Yup, sounds just like pitted keratolysis. Just hope your GP has heard of it!
  • That was it! I knew she'd come up trumps!
  • I'm just copying Sir David, really ;-)

    My oldest daughter had pitted keratolysis a few years ago. She used her feet as a biological weapon - she'd sit in the back of the car and dangle them over the shoulders of the sibling in front.

    A course of erythromycin (penicillin doesn't work in this condition) sorted out the problem, and I still have the ode she wrote to the trainers I threw out.
  • Hi, i have noticed similar pits on my feet in the past, but they cleared up themselves, does it necessarily need antibiotics for treatment, or can it clear up itself ? My hubby has them and has smelly feet and always has his boots on, i keep telling him to take them off and let his feet breathe, but you know what men are like. If that is what he has do you need to chuck out all the smelly shoes as well, will the bacteria survive there and then just reinfect the feet ? Are most doctors likely to have heard of this ?
  • Wow, thanks everybody (best Dr Nick voice - that's Dr Nick from the Simpsons, not our own Dr Nic).

    Not painful at all, just when the lumps get big they can be uncomfortable when walking.

    Not sure that the picture is very helpful so I may do some related surfing this morning to get a confirmation.

    Ironic really that keeping my shoes on is bad for them because the smell often prevents me from taking the shoes off for "social" reasons!

    My only query would be is it contagious, ie; does my girlfriend need to protect herself?
  • Mrs O, I have a sneaky horrible feeling that many doctors would misdiagnose it as athlete's foot or bang on about hygiene. GPs are notoriously bad at identifying skin conditions that don't present often. And I'd throw the shoes away just because nothing will get rid of the smell (I put Kevin's trainers in a wash with biological detergent and soaked them in disinfectant and they still stank).

    It's not contagious, DTs, and whether you keep your shoes on or take them off won't make any difference - it needs treating properly if you're going to have sweet feet again.
  • Ta! Now lets bury these stinky feet.
  • Hi all, I have signed up for this too pass on the news I have found over the last few months. When I was running a lot a few years back, as well as doing triathlons etc (wet, dry, hot and cold feet) I developed pitted keratolysis. It has been with me for years and has progressively gotten worse. It doesn't itch, but my feet sweat and smell and they just look gross - well I should say looked gross. THERE IS A CURE

    I tried all sorts of creams and ointments, the doctors kept trying new things as noting seemed to work. I changed doctor and he saw my feet and said he wasn't aware of a cure, but he has a chap who had a similar issue and he went to the pet store and purchased a bottle of Hibiscrub. I didn't go to the pet shop but did what everyone else does now and brought from Amazon. I soaked my feet in Hibiscrub diluted in water 3 times n the first week, and my pitted keratolysis was gone - just like that.

    You can also use Hibiscrub as a kind of shower gel, so could just rub it in but its nice to soak your feet. Only 15-20 minutes in a shallow tray (of foot spa if you have one - just don't turn the air on as it does get very bubbly.

    It has come back after i stopped for a few months when I couldn't get any during lockdown, but I would 100% recommend this as a cure to those foot problems that seem to affect a lot of us but yet no one seems to know how to really sure it.

    Good luck - hope it works for you as well - pass it on!
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