Athlete's foot treatment is based on a definitive diagnosis which can be made by your health care provider.

If you suspect that you have the symptoms of athlete's foot and this is the first time you have experienced such an occurrence, take the time to set an appointment with your physician for an exam to be certain that the diagnosis is indeed athlete's foot prior to initiating any self prescribed treatment.

Your physician may either definitively diagnose your athlete's foot by simply examining the invaded area or your physician may elect to take a small sample of skin from your foot and have it examined at the laboratory to verify that the fungal cells associated with the cause of athlete's foot are indeed present.

Once you have an accurate diagnosis, then your physician may choose over-the-counter anti-fungal sprays and creams in order to adequately treat your athlete's foot. The majority of cases of athlete's foot are mild and typically clear up within two to three weeks, but some cases may re-occur time and time again. In these instances some sufferers actually use medicated sprays and powders in hopes of preventing a recurrence.

However, if your physician believes that your athlete's foot infection is more serious, she may decide to prescribe a prescription strength anti-fungal pill or spray or cream to provide adequate athlete's foot treatment for you. It seems that often sprays and creams do not adequately treat the lower layers of the skin where the fungal infection resides.

In these cases physicians may choose stronger topical and oral anti-fungal medications to sufficiently treat the infection. Most often it seems that athlete's foot treatment when taken at the prescription strength level seem to provide an overall better response to treatment. It is important to remember that if you do not take the medication for the prescribed length of time that re-occurrence of the athlete's foot fungus is highly likely.

Athlete's foot treatment can certainly be undertaken at your home with over-the-counter medications if this is a reoccurrence of a previous infection and you are certain that athlete's foot is the definitive diagnosis. However, athlete's foot treatment should not be undertaken at home without having a thorough discussion with your health care provider if you are still experiencing the same signs and symptoms of an infection after two weeks of treatment.

Athlete's foot treatment can help stop the itch!