Will peeing on your feet kill athlete's foot, as 'Courage under Fire' suggests?
June 2, 2004 2:47 AM   Subscribe

In the film 'Courage under Fire' one character suggests a treatment for athlete's foot which can be applied in the shower (but may be nsfw). Does it really work? [MI]

The treatment being that if you urinate on your feet that it will kill the infection.
posted by biffa to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)
 
search Ask Mefi again - this has been a lukewarm (tee hee) topic here before (not specifically about athlete's foot but peeing in shower generally and the benefits it provides). :)
posted by elphTeq at 5:03 AM on June 2, 2004


dunno, but if you ever get those anti-fungal pills to kill a toenail fungus, your athlete's foot is history. knocked it right out, and it hasn't come back.

(you know, while we're on the "icky body fungus" subject and all.)

i suspect that pee wouldn't do much. the fungus is only itchy when it is actively growing, the mycelia burrow into your skin and inside of your skin cells, which is what makes it hurt and burn. your skin is also waterproof, and urine is largely inert. it's urea, not ammonia as some seem to think. humans don't produce ammonia in the urine. i'd go with the pills, or a cream of some sort.
posted by caution live frogs at 5:07 AM on June 2, 2004


Response by poster: I should probably point out I don't have athlete's foot (nor have I had it and started weeing on my feet). I was just interested in knowing if this worked or not.
posted by biffa at 6:02 AM on June 2, 2004


I've been afraid to take those anti-fungal pills. Thought it might harm my liver.
posted by inksyndicate at 8:33 AM on June 2, 2004


> humans don't produce ammonia in the urine.

Oh, so I should have my cat pee on my feet? Hraow!
posted by goethean at 9:01 AM on June 2, 2004


It's common folk wisdom that urine sterilizes, but I don't know if pouring alcohol on your feet would help get rid of athlete's foot... of course, it's free and I don't really see the harm, so why not try it? Unless you're in a communal shower, of course.

Maybe it just seems too yucky, but peeing on your feet when you're in a shower and it will be washed off shortly seems pretty mild to me. I once had a roommate who actually tried uropathy / urine therapy for a while - now that's yucky.
posted by mdn at 9:16 AM on June 2, 2004


I found this.
posted by linux at 9:53 AM on June 2, 2004


Thought Madonna preached the same thing about peeing on your feet

alcohol on your feet would help get rid of athlete's foot...
alcohol will dry your skin out though. hydrogen peroxide may be a better solution.
posted by thomcatspike at 11:08 AM on June 2, 2004


inksyndicate, my doctor did lab work on me before filling a fungus prescription.
posted by thomcatspike at 11:10 AM on June 2, 2004


I second the comment about the anti-fungal pills.

Those things are great. I took them for a fungal infection in a toenail 3-4 years ago and it also ridded me of a very annoying reoccurring athelete's foot and jock itch problem I had been dealing with for 6 or more years.
posted by internal at 11:20 AM on June 2, 2004


Someone on craigslist.org suggested that Right Guard aerosol deoderant was the way to go. I haven't tried it, though.
posted by small_ruminant at 11:51 AM on June 2, 2004


Response by poster: Thanks linux, and all.
posted by biffa at 12:34 PM on June 2, 2004


Jock itch is a fungus in your groin? OMG. And you let it fester for six years? OMG.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:31 PM on June 2, 2004


FFF Jock itch can become very difficult to get rid of. VERY difficult. I had a case when I was young, the doctor did not think I would EVER be rid of. Pills available then affected my heart and I had to stop (penicilian relative).

I cured it by using a topical antiseptic/anasthetic combined with traditional fungal powders. I think the topical disinfected scratches and stoped the itching, so the powders could work. The topical was something around a friend's apartment, and I tried it in desperation. It was none-other than Ambesol (NOT extra strength).
posted by Goofyy at 5:49 AM on June 10, 2004


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