Combating Athlete’s Foot in Kids

A few weeks ago, my daughter starting saying her feet were itchy. A couple of days later, they started to peel around the toes. I suspected athlete’s foot and found out she had been wearing wet sneakers for a day or two, fostering the perfect environment for the fungus.

I started applying Lotrimin twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Several days later, my son’s feet started peeling and itching too. I put him on the same Lotrimin regimen. I read that it can take up to a month to clear, but both kids’ feet appear to be better already. There hasn’t been any mention of itching, so we’ve cut down to one application a day.

We believe we have traced the source back to their karate dojo. Everyone has to be barefoot in the studio, and even parents have to remove their shoes upon entering the building. Some parents keep socks on, but not all. Parents are not allowed in the studio, but my daughter reported that one of her instructors has thick, peeling skin on his feet.

Due to a scheduling conflict, we will be ending their karate classes in about a month. Until then, we’ll keep with the once a day Lotrimin as a prophylactic. I have to think that they’re getting exposed every time they have class, which is usually twice a week. Hopefully it totally resolves once we wrap up this session of classes.