It’s called a Moccasin pattern. It’s the red outline on the sides of your feet with some peeling skin. Often there is chafing on the heals. It seems to come with flip flops and rubber-soled sandals, but we actually see it all year long. Nope, it’s not dry skin. It is a classic sign of tinea pedis, otherwise known as athletes foot. It can feel like numbness or burning, or just discomfort. Some people mistake it for neuropathy. It doesn’t have to have itching, but it can. As nurses, we cannot diagnose, but we do have eyeballs and we happen to be in the prevention business. At Footcare by Nurses, we have rediscovered the power of vinegar to prevent this condition from getting worse and to enhance skin health. Our patients have seen remarkable results including complete disappearance and greatly improved comfort. Side effects of soaking in vinegar have included slight tingling, and peeling skin, Diluting the vinegar makes it more comfortable but less effective, which is why we recommend straight vinegar, not dilute, for 15-20 minutes each day, for 3 days in a row, because it seems to do the trick. But let me be clear, vinegar is acid and can burn. This is a prevention remedy that has been around for a long time and talking to your doctor is always a good idea. At FootCare by Nurses, we like apple cider vinegar because most people would actually drink it. We don’t think its a good idea to put things on your skin that you wouldn’t eat. So, why, you ask, does vinegar work. Vinegar is acidic and is often used to kill fungus. It has to do with the pH and the structure of the fungi. Tinea is most often T. rubrum. T. Rubrum has friends, there is a lot of other microbiology on your feet that, while important to your foot health, is also sensitive to changes in pH. Changing the acidity of your skin changes the environment that allows the microbacteria to thrive. You don’t want sterile feet, just healthy feet. If you don’t like vinegar, there are other acids too, like lemons, limes, milk and even wine and beer. Vinegar happens to be quite inexpensive and comes in large jugs, so it is easy enough to pour $3 into a basin so that that the vinegar covers your feet completely. Acidity is a component of our immune system. Our skin has a component to it called the acid mantle which is designed to protect us. When the acid in our skin is not quite up to the automatic protection task, due to disease, age, alkaline skin products, diet or other reasons, then turning to manual override – applying vinegar topically, can be a handy manual override to enhance skin health. This is not new, Vinegar has been used for wound care and skin care for a long time. Its use can be found in use by Hippocrates and the ancient Indian and Chinese. It is also found in all the major religious books including the Koran and the bible. I don’t know if they had athletes foot, but I do know, from the comments of our patients and observations in the field that a vinegar soak is a great place to start when your feet are red, peeling and burning and a doctor is not near by.