Is it Dry Skin or Athlete's Foot? How to Tell the Difference

The skin on your feet can dry out and crack like the skin on any other part of your body. Sometimes, though, what may initially appear as dry skin turns out to be a fungal infection known as athlete’s foot.

At Chicagoland Foot and Ankle, our board-certified podiatrists diagnose and treat athlete’s foot at our Chicago-area offices. If you’re having trouble telling if you have dry skin on your feet or if it’s athlete’s foot, here’s how you can tell the difference.

What is athlete’s foot?

Athlete’s foot, medically called tinea pedis, is a common fungal infection related to ringworm and jock itch. An estimated 3-15% of the population has it, and 70% of the population will get it at some time in their lives.

The infection causes an itchy, stinging, and burning rash on the skin of one or both of your feet. While it most commonly occurs between your toes, it can also affect the tops of your feet and your heels. Your skin can develop blisters and can take on a foul odor. It may also take on a red, purple, gray, or white color, and it can be scaly or flaky.

A number of different fungi can cause athlete’s foot, and it’s extremely contagious. It spreads through skin-to-skin contact, through contact with an infected flake of skin, or if you share towels, shoes, or socks with someone who has it.

The fungi also love warm, damp places, so it commonly spreads in locker rooms, swimming pools, and saunas, and you may develop it if you routinely wear tight shoes and your socks are damp from sweat.

The difference between dry skin and athlete’s foot

While dry skin can appear white or flaky and can be painful if it cracks, athlete’s foot has a number of other symptoms that are not characteristic of dry skin. These include:

Intense itchiness
A stinging and/or burning sensation in the affected areas
Discoloration
Blistering

It’s also most common in the webbing between the toes, especially between the fourth and smallest toes.

Treating athlete’s foot

There are both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription antifungal medications that can treat athlete’s foot. OTC products include creams, ointments, gels, sprays, or powders you can find at your local pharmacy. These products contain clotrimazole, miconazole, tolnaftate, or terbinafine.

If these aren’t strong enough, we may suggest a prescription-strength medication, which is often a pill. The pills contain fluconazole, itraconazole, or terbinafine.

Finish your full course of medication, even if the rash goes away. If you stop too soon, the athlete’s foot may come back and prove harder to treat.

You can also manage your symptoms by keeping your feet dry, clean, and cool. Above all, don’t scratch. You may inadvertently cause the fungus to spread to other parts of your body, like your scalp or genitals.

With the correct diagnosis and proper treatment, athlete’s foot should go away in 1-8 weeks.

Do you have an itchy, burning patch on your foot? At Chicagoland Foot and Ankle, we can help. Call any of our locations (Mount Greenwood and Portage Park areas of Chicago, as well as Orland Park, Bartlett, Niles, and New Lenox, Illinois) to schedule a consultation, or book your appointment online today.