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First, it needs to be determined why you are having repeated fissuring of the skin between the toes. It may be that you have a chronic fungus infection, or maybe you have especially dry skin, perhaps compounded by excessive sweating or soaking of the feet unnecessarily, or you may have very fragile skin. What is to be done for it is determined by the cause, but fissuring and cracking of the skin between the toes is a potentially dangerous problem, as it allows bacteria to easily invade into an area that is a terrific incubator of disease. Salves and lotions and such do not cause healing, but they might help to mitigate situations which promote the cracking. If there are deep, open wounds, general principles of wound care are in order, and certainly, if you have any condition, such as poor circulation, diabetes or any complicating situation which slows the healing process, you should be evaluated by a podiatrist or other appropriate medical specialist before attempting self treatment.
I have had this recurring problem for about eight months now. I have had great luck with a large dab of Neosporyn on a bandaid. It usually clears up in about three days; but, I'd like to know what causes it and is there a prevention. Ed O'
I wear work boots almost on a daily basis, and for 12+ hours a day. The skin on my left foot, on the underside and between the outer three toes is usually rubbed raw after a day at work, followed by dryness and splitting. It's getting progressively worse. I can't avoid the hours upon hours of sweat moisture, but what do you suggest? From what I can induce, this is do to the constant moisture. The skin is calloused in some places and just dry in others.
Every time it comes time to wear flip flops my daughter after about 1 week of wearing the flip flops her feet between her toes, and on her toes they start out looking like scratches and like a few days after that they split wide open and each of them are not even a quarter inch long, anyways I have taken her to doctor several time and they all tell me to put valasilene really thick on her feet at bedtime and cover them with socks and it may help just a little but not alot at all.....please someone if you can help me with this I am really worried about her little feet she is 8 and last year she was a cheerleader and at the end of the games her little feet would hurt really bad.....I might add I tried several times to get her to quit due to this problem and she is just flat out wouldn't she is very tough but I am worried really really worried so please help me if you have a tip of advice or anything I will be tickled to get that!!
I had trouble with my feet cracking and splitting and peeling and getting very red and itchy. I was tested for fungus but the dermatologist discovered I was allergic to carbo compounds including latex. So, shoes with rubber coming in contact with my feet caused reactions that seemed similar to fungus infections. Most shoes are made with rubber glue so contact with any residue of that could also cause reaction. I have found that using a thick zinc oxide cream like in baby cream works well as a barrier. and airing out my feet a lot. It takes a while to heal up and patience. If your feet have reactions similar to a fungus but do not heal up readily, check for allergies to latex, etc. as well.
I am not at all a doctor but this sounds more like Excema. My sister would get it on her hands often. She would have to sleep with vaseline on her hands and socks over them every night to let it heal. It helped a lot. But I would do this overnight to allow a longer exposure period. There are things a doctor can do to prescribe, too. Hope it helps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Concerned Mother
Every time it comes time to wear flip flops my daughter after about 1 week of wearing the flip flops her feet between her toes, and on her toes they start out looking like scratches and like a few days after that they split wide open and each of them are not even a quarter inch long, anyways I have taken her to doctor several time and they all tell me to put valasilene really thick on her feet at bedtime and cover them with socks and it may help just a little but not alot at all.....please someone if you can help me with this I am really worried about her little feet she is 8 and last year she was a cheerleader and at the end of the games her little feet would hurt really bad.....I might add I tried several times to get her to quit due to this problem and she is just flat out wouldn't she is very tough but I am worried really really worried so please help me if you have a tip of advice or anything I will be tickled to get that!!
I get this a lot and I find it helpful to get the sink bowl fill it with hot water and salt and soak for abit. Make sure you dry your feet and toes properly afterewards though.
The first time this ever happened to me was about 15 years ago. It started out as I think minor foot fungus and it made the area between my left pinkie toe and ring toe itch and I used the nails of my other foot to scratch it overnight in my sleep. The most important thing is NOT TO SCRATCH IT. Resist the urge, get some foot cream to stop the itching, clean the sock bits from between your toes and invert your sucks and fluff the excess lint out. Scratching will break the skin and drastically increase your chances of infection. I learned this the hard way. After a while that area of my foot started to swell. I thought it was a spider bite. The swelling started to spread up to my ankle and it hurt trying to get my shoe on. After a day or two of this a friend informed me that there was no way it was a spider bite and I'd better go see a doctor because it was more serious. I needed antibiotics to get rid of it. The doctor figures it started out as fungal infection, and turned into an opportunity for something else to infect the open wound between my toes. Maybe a year later, the same starting symptoms, and I recognized the feeling of the infection starting up again. So again I went to the doctor and got antibiotics. Since then I think I've had 3 instances where I've had a crack open up between my left pinkie and ring toe (always seems to be the same spot) but I've done several steps each time and have not had a repeat infection since. I resisted the urge to scratch my foot with the other foot. Every time, I take my shoe off and try to let the area dry up, and I take off my sock and clean out any link between my toes and from inside the sock. I also use a bit of rubbing alcohol to try to kill anything on the surface (stings like crazy) and I use a bit of polysporin to promote healing. What I also find works if I absolutely have to wear a shoe is I take some paper towel (stiffer seems to work better) and fold/roll it up so I get something like a 1/2 inch wide by 5 inch long strip. I then stick the middle of that over the crack between the toes and fold the ends back over my foot, putting a sock on over it before putting on a shoe. The motion of putting on the sock and show should pull the towel strip and keep it between the toes. I think this works because it not only removes excess moisture and possibly sucks up bacteria, but it also keeps the toes apart and exposed to air so sweat doesn't collect in the wound to incubate anything. This strip I need to replace every hour or so since it can collect all the sweat and probably bacteria. The only drawback is having this "wedge" between the toes can cause a bit of physical pain due to the pressure of forcing the toes apart, but I gladly accept this bit of discomfort over a repeat of that infection experience any day.
Here is what works for me. Liberally whip the toes and feet with rubbing alcohol and let it dry out the area. Usually clears up the fungus in a day or two...
Splitting between toes
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