Athlete's foot - What are the symptoms?

Athlete's foot can cause lots of different symptoms, but you probably won't get all of them. The longer you have athlete's foot, the worse your symptoms are likely to be.[3]

Some people with athlete's foot don't have any symptoms at all. These people never know they have the infection. But they can still pass it on to others.[2]

The symptoms of athlete's foot include:[3] [2] [1] [4]

Itchy feet, especially between your toes and between the two smallest ones in particular
Stinging or burning between your toes
Thickened skin on your feet
Cracked or peeling skin
Blisters
Red patches of skin with a white, wet-looking surface.

If your athlete's foot gets worse, you may get other symptoms:

The skin on the soles of your feet may get thick and look leathery and red. This means the infection has spread to the sole of your foot[2] [5]
You may have a ring of scaly, reddish, raised skin on another part of your body, such as your leg. This is sometimes called ringworm but it has nothing to do with worms.[4] It's caused by the same types of fungus that give you athlete's foot and it can be treated with the same medicine

You may have raised bumps or ridges on the soles of your feet.[4] These can be very itchy
Your skin may get hot, red and swollen. This could mean that you have a bacterial infection too.[1] You'll need to get an antibiotic drug to treat this. Otherwise it may spread. [6] If you think you have a bacterial infection as well as athlete's foot, see your doctor.

References

Hay RJ, Moore M. Tinea pedis. In: Champion RH, Wilkinson DS, Ebling FJG (editors). Textbook of dermatology. 6th edition. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK; 1998.
Malcolm B. Tinea pedis. Practitioner. 1998; 242: 225.
O'Donnell M, et al. Tinea pedis. In: Lorimer D, French G, O'Donnell M (editors). Neale's disorders of the foot: diagnosis and management. 6th edition. Churchill Livingstone, London, UK; 2001.
American Academy of Family Physicians. Tinea infections: athlete's foot, jock itch and ringworm. Available at http://familydoctor.org/316.xml (accessed on 23 April 2007).
Murray SC, Dawber RP. Onychomycosis of toenails: orthopaedic and podiatric considerations. Australasian Journal of Dermatology. 2002; 43: 105-112.
Springet K. Merriman L. Assessment of the skin and its appendages. In: Assessment of the lower limb. Churchill Livingstone, London, UK; 1995.

Glossary

infection: You get an infection when an , such as a or , gets into a part of your body where it shouldn't be. These organisms are so tiny that you can't see them without a microscope. An infection in your nose and airways causes the common cold. An infection in your skin can cause rashes such as athlete's foot.
ringworm: A ringworm is a type of fungus that causes infections in your skin. The medical word for it is tinea. A ringworm infection in the foot is called athlete's foot.

This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.