Protect Your Children from Fungal Infections

At Goldsmith Podiatry, we know that summer presents its unique challenges to children’s podiatric health. One of these is fungal infections. While you might think that fungal infections are more prevalent during winter months when feet are sweating in hot socks and closed shoes, summer presents the perfect opportunity for spreading these types of infections—large numbers of people going barefoot. Children in particular love to be barefoot, but fungal infections are spread by direct contact. Walking without shoes at the community pool, beach changing areas, and restrooms and camp showers provide ample opportunity to contract a fungal infection like athlete’s foot or toenail fungus. Below are some tips for helping your children avoid fungal infections this summer:

• Make sure kids wear shower shoes or flip-flops in public places like the ones mentioned above.

• Teach your children not to share items that touch other people’s feet like soap, towels, socks, flip-flops, or emery boards.

• If a child in your family already has a fungal infection, be sure to wash and disinfect the tub after he or she showers and make sure they wear flip-flops at home. Don’t allow that child to share a bed with any other family members until the infection is gone.

• Wash your children’s feet in warm, soapy water every night before bed.

• Inspect your children’s feet while washing them. Look for redness, rashes or dry, flaky skin on the feet and toenails that may appear discolored or thickened.

If you do see anything suspicious about the skin or nails of your child’s feet or you notice that your child seems to be scratching their feet frequently, don’t wait. Contact our Upper West Side office as soon as possible for an appointment by calling: 212-877-1002. Our podiatrists, Dr. Howard Goldsmith or Dr. Rosanna Troia will examine your child’s feet and determine if an infection is present and how to treat it.