Athlete's Foot (Tinea Pedis):
Information for adults

To confirm the diagnosis of athlete's foot, your physician might scrape some surface skin material (scales) onto a glass slide and examine them under a microscope. This procedure, called a KOH (potassium hydroxide) preparation, allows the doctor to look for tell-tale signs of fungal infection.
 
Once the diagnosis of athlete's foot has been confirmed, your physician will probably start treatment with an antifungal medication. Most infections can be treated with topical creams and lotions, including:

• Over-the-counter preparations such as terbinafine, clotrimazole, or miconazole
• Prescription-strength creams such as econazole, oxiconazole, ciclopirox, ketoconazole, sulconazole, naftifine, or butenafine

Other topical medications your physician may consider:

• Compounds containing urea, lactic acid, or salicylic acid to help dissolve the scale and allow the antifungal cream to penetrate better into the skin
• Solutions containing aluminum chloride, which reduces sweating of the foot
• Antibiotic creams to prevent or treat bacterial infections, if present

Rarely, more extensive infections or those not improving with topical antifungal medications may require 3–4 weeks of treatment with oral antifungal pills, including:

• Terbinafine
• Itraconazole
• Griseofulvin
• Fluconazole
• Ketoconazole

The infection should go away within 4–6 weeks after using effective treatment.