The 5 Best Athlete’s Foot Creams [REVIEWS 2018]

Tinea pedis – more commonly known as athlete’s foot – is the most common fungal infection known to man. The condition gets its name from the fact that the fungus that causes it is often found in areas that athletes are known to frequent. This includes pools, shower room floors, and locker rooms.

Athlete’s foot affects the areas between the toes, but it’s very easily transferred to other parts of the body by way of scratching or making contact with contaminated items like towels and clothes. Fortunately, there are easy, accessible, and effective means of treatment for athletes foot that guarantee fast results. The most reliable? Medicated cream.

Stop the itching and get quick relief with the best athlete’s foot cream in the market. Not sure how to find the right one? This complete guide should lead you to the right choice.

What is Athlete's Foot?​

Athlete’s foot is basically a type of fungal infection that affects parts of the body most often exposed to dark, damp conditions. These fungi are known medically as dermatophytes, however there are other forms of fungi that can cause athlete’s foot – albeit less common.

Walking barefoot puts people especially at risk of an athlete’s foot infection. This is especially true if you frequent areas like public pools and locker rooms where the specific type of fungus that causes the infection is known to thrive.

Other ways to develop athlete’s foot infection would be by making contact with someone or something that’s infected. So clothes, beddings, and basically anything else could potentially lead to a case of athlete’s foot given that they’ve been used or touched by someone who has it.

If you’re wondering whether you have athlete’s foot, these symptoms should confirm whether or not you’ve got it:

While it’s unlikely for athlete’s foot to cause further complications, it’s important that you seek the medical advice of a professional in order to get a sound diagnosis. There are a variety of skin conditions that can be mistaken for athlete’s foot. In most cases, they require completely different treatments and medications. For your own health and safety, be sure to get a definitive diagnosis from your dermatologist or family doctor before trying any over-the-counter creams, lotions, or medications for your athlete’s foot.

How Can Creams Help?

If you’re wondering how to cure athlete’s foot, there is nothing more effective on fungal infections than medicated or homeopathic creams. These products are specifically formulated to compromise the health and viability of the growing fungal colonies, thus ceasing their development and killing them off all together.

Athlete’s foot cream ingredients can vary, and formulations can either be all-natural or medicated. The most common ingredients for chemical-based formulations are clotrimazole and terbinafine hydrochloride which both work to destroy the cell membranes of fungi to destroy the foreign bodies and cease the development of an infection. These can also be purchased in the form of athlete’s foot sprays.

For natural remedies, virgin coconut oil, beeswax, and a variety of essential oils are the most common ingredients for resolving athlete’s foot. A combination of these ingredients can produce powerful antifungal properties, as well as antibacterial and antiseptic properties, which is why they work so well to reduce the symptoms of fungal infections.

What’s particularly nice about natural formulations is that they target much more than just athlete’s foot. Many manufacturers combine a blend of ingredients that help improve the health of your skin all together, so they can be used as a preventative measure against fungal infections and other skin conditions.

The 5 Best Athlete’s Foot Creams on the Market

1. The Yellow Bird All Natural Foot Cream

Believe it or not, the most effective foot cream for athlete’s foot based on our research is the All Natural Foot Cream from The Yellow Bird. This organic formulation combines peppermint, lavender, tea tree oil, eucalyptus, and a variety of other essential oils. This gives it a mild minty feel that’s immediately soothes itching and irritation.

Another reason why this particular product ranks number one is the fact that it doesn’t just target athlete’s foot – it also restores foot health holistically. The ingredients in the formula are all geared towards improving the integrity and health of your skin, making it much less susceptible to infections in the future.

Free from parabens, gluten, soy, GMOs, and phthalates, The Yellow Bird All Natural Foot Cream is the perfect solution if you want to remedy a bad case of athlete’s foot and any other skin problem that might be plaguing your feet.

2. Family Care Clotrimazole Antifungal Cream

If you were looking for something clinically proven instead of all natural, then the Family Care Clotrimazole Antifungal Cream should be your first pick. This powerful medicated cream works wonders to destroy fungal colonies and restore feet back to optimum health. It can also be used to treat jock itch and ringworm on other parts of the body.

This specific antifungal cream uses 1% clotrimazole which can cure and prevent most fungal infections. What’s great about it is that it offers immediate, instant relief upon application. So any itching, irritation, redness, or scaling can be easily resolved no matter how bad the infection might have gotten.

Lastly, the Family Care Clotrimazole Antifungal Cream is incredibly affordable. At less than 10 USD per tube, this formulation can easily relieve your athlete’s foot at a very wallet-friendly price point.

3. Puriya Wonder Balm Antifungal Cream

Another top notcher in our list comes from Puriya. The Wonder Balm from the brand is known to resolve a variety of skin conditions and infections, including athlete’s foot. This completely natural formulation contains powerful antibacterial, antiseptic, and antifungal properties which make it a great solution if you want improved overall foot health.

The formulation mainly uses tea tree oil, lavender oil, eucalyptus oil, beeswax, virgin coconut oil, and a variety of other essential oils that come together to give it its powerful healing properties. The balm also works wonders to prevent any sort of infection of the skin. So if you expect to come into contact with potentially contaminated areas, you can slather on some of this balm to prevent an infection.

Price wise, the Puriya Wonder Balm isn’t the most affordable, but it definitely works. In fact, the only reason we ranked it at third is the fact that it comes at a slightly more expensive price than the other choices on this list.

4. Lamisil Athlete’s Foot Antifungal Cream

Containing 1% terbinafine hydrochloride cream, Lamisil Athlete’s Foot Antifungal Cream is an over the counter cream that offers prescription strength. The cream offers instant relief against the symptoms of athlete’s foot including redness, itching, scaling, burning, and cracking.

With superb efficacy, Lamisil can effectively resolve an athlete’s foot infection within 1-2 weeks after starting application. For the best results, it’s recommended that you apply the cream twice a day – once in the morning and once in the evening.

If you were looking for a budget friendly product, Lamisil is definitely one of the choices you’d want to look into. Although it isn’t quite as affordable as the cream from Family Care, it does work just as well.

5. Lotrimin AF Antifungal Cream for Athlete’s Foot

The last pick on our list of the best creams for athlete’s foot is Lotrimin AF Antifungal Cream for Athlete’s Foot. This formulation uses 1% clotrimazole much like the Family Care Antifungal Cream. Also similarly, Lotrimin AF offers immediate, fast-acting relief against the symptoms of athlete’s foot.

What’s great about the Lotrimin formulation is that it’s non-greasy, easily absorbed into the skin for better efficacy. The stain is also developed not to stain fabrics, so it won’t leave any unwanted discoloration on socks and other clothes.

Lotrimin AF Antifungal Cream is yet another budget-friendly purchase that you can use to effectively eliminate a fungal infection. However, unlike other creams and ointments on the market, Lotrimin can only target some forms of athlete’s foot. So if you were hoping to get an all-in-one cream to resolve any other infections or skin problems, you might be better off with the holistic natural formulations we talked about above.

Conclusion

Athlete’s foot can be a major discomfort that can persist for years if you don’t do anything to resolve it. Severely itchy, uncomfortable, and at times, unsightly, no one wants to deal with a case of athlete’s foot for long. Fortunately, the cure for athlete’s foot comes in the form of affordable creams that you can easily access over the counter or online.

If you’re looking for the best athlete’s foot cream, then try to check out the products we’ve listed above. When it comes right down to it though, the Yellow Bird All Natural Foot Cream takes the cake as the very best option out there, giving you fast, reliable, and instant relief against athlete’s foot and many other skin conditions that your feet might suffer from.