An England woman learned a hard lesson in why some home remedies aren’t the best option for treating foot conditions.
According to the case study in the British Medical Journal, a 45-year-old woman noticed that she was suffering from a fungal infection on her left foot. Believing she could use some homeopathic treatment options to take care of the issue, she sliced raw garlic and applied it to her foot for four hours a day for a period of four weeks. When she eventually sought out professional treatment, not only did she still have the fungal infection, but she also had severe burns on her foot. You can see a picture of her foot by the end of her treatment below.
Credit: Sharp O. et al/BMJ Case Reports 2018
The Problem With Home Remedies
Doctors believe that the painful burns were caused by garlic’s sulfur-containing compounds, including a substance called diallyl disulfide. This substance can often irritate the skin, which is what was happening every time the woman applied the garlic slices to her feet. After admitting her, doctors washed her foot with water and bandaged the foot. She made a full recovery from the burns in two weeks, and then doctors set forth tackling the fungal infection.
Home remedies can certainly help in the right situation, but putting garlic on a fungal infection isn’t one of them. In most cases, minor to mild foot and ankle injuries respond well to the RICE method, which you can perform in your home. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation, and injuries like ankle sprains and heel bruises respond well to this kind of treatment.
However, when the problem is more serious, or if symptoms continue to get worse during treatment, it is a sign that you should contact a foot and ankle specialist like Dr. Silverman. Not only do you run the risk of the problem healing incorrectly, but as we saw in this case, you can actually make the condition worse. Certain symptoms like severe pain, signs of an infection, open wounds or suspected fractures or soft tissue tears should be examined by a doctor. Not only will they be able to give you an accurate diagnosis, but they can start you on the road to recovery with a targeted treatment plan.
At the end of the day, if your foot and ankle condition isn’t noticeably better after 48 hours, or you’re experiencing any of the serious symptoms listed above, head to a specialist’s office. If you want to set up an appointment with Dr. Silverman for all your foot or ankle issues, you can do so by clicking here. You can also reach out to him with your questions by typing a comment to him below!
