I described earlier my theory about foot fungus — that mine, at least, has been caused by socks. It recently got worse. Consistent with my theory, I had just gotten a dozen new pairs of socks of a new material. My theory suggested I buy new socks of a different material (I did), change socks more often (I did), and go sockless more often (I did). As soon as I made these changes, the fungus went away. More support for the theory. A few other people (see the comments to my earlier post) and a friend have had experiences that also support the theory.
My Berkeley doctor didn’t know this theory. He looked at my foot fungus and repeatedly suggested certain non-prescription medicines. I haven’t seen this point made elsewhere, although you can find a list of 20 things to do that includes “change your socks often”.
Sometimes doctors (and medical schools) are criticized for lack of emphasis on nutrition. Sometimes they are criticized for lack of emphasis on prevention. This was neither: it was cure and non-nutritional. Curing infection is one of the main things doctors try to do, which is why antibiotics are heavily-prescribed.
Suppose you bring a task to Programmer A. He has done a long education in programming followed by a long internship, and then passed a difficult screening test to become “board-certified”. To maintain his certification he takes “continuing education” classes. He returns with a 100-line program that fails to work. (The medicines my doctor recommended failed to work. He thought the failure was due to my not following the directions closely enough.) Then a 10-year-old boy gives you a 3-line program that works perfectly. You would realize your society is fond of make-believe — in particular, making believe that those who teach programmers understand their subject.
I agree with you, Seth. I find that I learn more from you and my therapists, not my psychiatrist. My psychiatrist really tries to push medication as a coping skill, but he gives me a choice. In the past, if I am not doing well, though, psychiatrists have to give me a medication forecfully, but when I am doing well, I can make a choice. If I need a doctor’s letter, my psychiatrist can help me get a lot of stuff in this society!! That’s my advantage. From my experience, I don’t think it’s necessary to depend on your doctor for everything. Your blog really helped me to be more independent. I actually didn’t learn to think this way until I read your blog. I’ve been reading it for years.
I don’t think your foot fungus is currently caused by socks. You’ve got a background fungus which gets really active when you aren’t meticulous about your socks.
I don’t know what would really cure it so that you don’t have to care about your socks any more than most people do, but it might be worth thinking about.
Yes, it’s true that one foot is sensitive to what socks I wear and the other isn’t. But if I wear the right socks the problem disappears — whether a background fungus remains or not. Perhaps wearing the right socks long enough will make the background fungus disappear.
Could the fungus be candida-related, from eating too much sugar or yeast?
Honestly, I’ve personally noticed that the “TYPE” of sock matters the most. Certain socks — even the ones that say they wick the most moisture, were some of the socks that made my foot fungus the worst (because they fit so tight on the foot). Now that I wear thin socks made out of mostly bamboo — I have never had a problem, even if I rewear socks the second day. Also, I notice that the type of shoe matters too. You have to have shoes that are not too constrictive and let air in — which is why I pick shoes with a lot of holes.
I know I’ve solved the problem because I had the problem from age 15 to 2 years ago which then I was 28. Now I walk barefoot in gyms in the bathing area — so i know I figured out the problem.
Bamboo socks or very very thin material that breathe=’s NO FOOT FUNGUS.
Shoes that breathe =’s NO FOOT FUNGUS.
Also, I’d consider switching shoes once your problem goes away — the fungus seems to take root in the shoes when you have an active infection.
Aaron, thanks, that’s very interesting. Where did you get your bamboo socks? I see online they are $8/pair. Whereas socks in China are 30 cents/pair. And what observations are behind your idea about getting new shoes? It isn’t so easy to see that point of that, since I’ve managed to get rid of the visible problem without doing so.