3 Simple Solutions for Itchy Skin Allergies

Few races are as fun or as challenging as a Mud Run. These 5K obstacle courses push your strength and test your endurance, all combined with the fun of tromping through the mud. Now, imagine if you were being chased along a muddy course—by zombies! This Saturday, September 13, the Zombie Mud Run comes to Reading for a morning of dirty mayhem and zombie-escaping thrills. If you’re a runner, you don’t want to miss this event. If your feet are itchy and uncomfortable from skin allergies, though, you may find it hard to concentrate on running from the “undead!”

Allergies of the skin can create painful, itchy rashes on the surface of your feet. This irritation, called contact dermatitis, develops when you touch something your body is sensitive to. This could include natural things, like poison ivy, as well as chemicals, such as the materials in your shoes or detergents. The allergy may take a few hours to cause a reaction on your feet, but it usually appears within a day of exposure. Once your skin breaks out in a rash, you have to both remove whatever is aggravating your skin as well as treat the reaction.

This may mean changing your shoes, body soap, or laundry detergent, depending on what caused your feet to break out. Wash your feet completely to clean the irritant from your skin, then try one of these simple home solutions:

• Oatmeal paste – Grind up two cups of uncooked oatmeal flakes until you have a powder. Mix it with a quarter cup of baking soda, then pour in water until you have a smooth, thick paste. Apply it to your feet and let it sit for a while.
• Cool compresses – Dampen a wash cloth with cool water mixed with baking soda, then apply it to your feet. If you have blisters from the rash, leave the compress in place for 30 minutes. Do this three times a day.
• Calamine lotion – Rub calamine lotion into the affected area and let it dry.

Skin allergies are uncomfortable, but you don’t have to suffer with itchy feet all day. If home remedies are not strong enough to relieve the rash, let our team at West Lawn Podiatry Associates help you. We serve the Reading, Wyomissing, Sinking Spring, and surrounding areas. Just call (610) 678-4581 or use our website to contact us for an appointment.

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