Is peeling skin on the feet without itchiness athlete's foot?

Written by Qu Jing
Dermatology
Updated on May 09, 2025
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Peeling on the feet without itchiness is generally due to hyperkeratosis type athlete's foot. This condition commonly affects the palmoplantar regions and the heel, where the skin is dry with noticeably thickened stratum corneum. The surface is rough and flaky with deepened skin lines. In winter, the skin can crack and even bleed, potentially causing pain, but usually, there is no itching. There are three common types of athlete's foot. Besides hyperkeratosis type, there are vesicular and interdigital maceration types. The vesicular type usually occurs on fingertips, palms, and sides of the feet, characterized by pinhead-sized blisters deep in the skin. These blisters have clear fluid, thick and shiny walls that are not easily ruptured. Blisters may cluster or spread out and can merge into larger blisters. Once the blister roof is torn off, it reveals a honeycomb-like base and a fresh red erosion. After several days, the blisters dry up, leading to a collar-shaped scaling, with the lesion continuously spreading peripherally, and recurrently characterized by scaling. This type has notably more itching. The interdigital maceration type is common in finger and toe webs, especially among individuals who sweat excessively, wear rubber shoes for prolonged periods, and is more prevalent in summer. This condition also features significant itching and can have a foul odor due to secondary bacterial infection.

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The difference between tinea manuum (hand fungus) and athlete's foot (foot fungus)

Athlete's foot belongs to diseases caused by fungal infections. Athlete's foot, also commonly known as foot odor, is the same thing, so there is no difference between the two; both are caused by fungal infections. Locally, there will be peeling, blisters, and severe itching. In serious cases, there may be dryness, cracking, and bleeding. Once this disease occurs, it must be treated formally. It can be cured by applying antifungal cream topically, but the treatment course will be relatively long. After cure, it is also important to regulate one's diet and lifestyle habits, try to avoid contact with dirty water, sand, small animals, etc., do not wear slippers randomly, and avoid going to public baths and swimming to prevent the recurrence of the disease.

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Is peeling skin on the feet without itchiness athlete's foot?

Peeling on the feet without itchiness is generally due to hyperkeratosis type athlete's foot. This condition commonly affects the palmoplantar regions and the heel, where the skin is dry with noticeably thickened stratum corneum. The surface is rough and flaky with deepened skin lines. In winter, the skin can crack and even bleed, potentially causing pain, but usually, there is no itching. There are three common types of athlete's foot. Besides hyperkeratosis type, there are vesicular and interdigital maceration types. The vesicular type usually occurs on fingertips, palms, and sides of the feet, characterized by pinhead-sized blisters deep in the skin. These blisters have clear fluid, thick and shiny walls that are not easily ruptured. Blisters may cluster or spread out and can merge into larger blisters. Once the blister roof is torn off, it reveals a honeycomb-like base and a fresh red erosion. After several days, the blisters dry up, leading to a collar-shaped scaling, with the lesion continuously spreading peripherally, and recurrently characterized by scaling. This type has notably more itching. The interdigital maceration type is common in finger and toe webs, especially among individuals who sweat excessively, wear rubber shoes for prolonged periods, and is more prevalent in summer. This condition also features significant itching and can have a foul odor due to secondary bacterial infection.

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Can athlete's foot blisters be popped?

The term "athlete's foot" refers to the common name for tinea pedis, a skin infection caused by dermatophytes. It can manifest as various types of skin lesions, such as blisters. In cases like blistering athlete's foot, it is important to enhance local cleanliness of the blistered area while avoiding harmful actions such as forcibly picking or squeezing, to prevent secondary bacterial infection of the wound. Symptomatic treatment with antifungal agents is necessary, including oral itraconazole capsules and other antifungal medications. For topical treatment, applying a wet compress of boric acid solution followed by triamcinolone acetonide econazole cream, or a compound Cannale cream can be used, but these should be applied for a short term only. If symptoms improve after three to five days, the treatment should be switched to antifungal creams such as ketoconazole cream or terbinafine cream, with a treatment period of at least two weeks.

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What is athlete's foot?

Beri-beri, also known as vitamin B1 deficiency disease. Vitamin B1 is an essential nutrient required by the human body, involved in several important biochemical reactions and crucial for energy metabolism within the body. Deficiency in vitamin B1 can lead to a range of abnormal symptoms in the nervous system and muscles. In adults, early symptoms of vitamin B1 deficiency include weakness and a heavy feeling in the lower limbs, muscle soreness, particularly noticeable in the calf muscles. These are also important early signs for the detection of beri-beri, which are typical manifestations. Additionally, beri-beri may also present with loss of appetite, weight loss, digestive disorders, and constipation. There are generally two types of beri-beri: dry beri-beri and wet beri-beri. Dry beri-beri primarily involves neurological symptoms, chiefly abnormal sensations, numbness, and a burning pain in the hands and feet. Wet beri-beri, on the other hand, is mainly characterized by edema and cardiac symptoms.

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Is infant thrush related to athlete's foot?

Infant thrush and athlete's foot are not highly related. Thrush is an oral infectious disease caused by Candida albicans infection, while athlete's foot is a local superficial skin fungal infection caused by fungi such as Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. The pathogens of the two are different and are not related. Thrush is a common oral infectious disease in infants and young children, mostly due to poor immune function in children, lack of oral hygiene, incomplete sterilization of bottles and pacifiers, or contact with children suffering from thrush.