Athlete's Foot

One widely touted "cure" for athlete's foot should not be sold to the public, announced the Food & Drug Administration. Reason: this particular mixture, composed of camphor and phenol (carbolic acid) "is capable of producing necrosis [gangrene] and is too dangerous for indiscriminate use." According to the Administration, phenol-camphor should be sold only on a physician's prescription, must be labeled POISON, and be plastered with warnings, instructions, first-aid directions in case of accident.

To combat athlete's foot (dermatophytosis)--the itch caused by the toe-burrowing fungi dermatophytes which infest locker rooms and swimming pools--there are at least a hundred bland salves and powders on the market. Favorites: boric acid and sulfur powders, salves of salicylic acid and benzoic acid mixed with vaseline; an ether-collodion mixture. These generally clear up the mild, itching cases which annoy millions of people.

In the severe cases there is no standard treatment, for every case is individual. Some people, for instance, suffer from a secondary invasion of staphylococcus germs into their broken skin. Others develop various types of inflammation. These conditions should all be treated by a dermatologist with specially compounded lotions and salves, X rays, various fungicides, and--very rarely--with phenol-camphor.

These help to control the disease. But there is no practical cure for athlete's foot on the market. Often the infection will disappear of itself if left alone. Sometimes it will show up again from a new exposure. For the fungi are so widespread that to eradicate the disease it would be necessary, according to one doctor, "to sterilize the whole world."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.