Fungal infection

This article is specific to soldiers. Therefore, if you suspect yourself to have fungal infection anywhere from feet to groin due to military involvement, you most likely have it. Fret not, I am here to help, although you’re still pretty much screwed for life :P

I got recurring fungal infection on both my feet since my NSF days. I have it on my left middle finger too, nabeh. It’s been four years since I left the army.

I’ve tried various ways of treatment, short of ingesting orally taken medication. They include airing my mushrooms, powdering, and applying topical off-the-shelf medication. The only way that worked for me was applying cream.

Here are some myths on how to treat your mushrooms. I’ve tried them and these are my conclusions:

1. Air-dry and powder. Not effective. Logical yes and anyone can tell you that about mushrooms growing best in moist conditions, but the rate of drying is lower than my rate of perspiration.
2. Don’t scratch or they’ll spread. It is true, and this is the extent of its truth: some cream requires you to “Rub the cream with your finger into the skin until it has fully penetrated”. I did and my mushrooms spread further, sian. But the cream eventually worked, heng.
3. The cream prescribed by the Medical Officer works. Not for me. Wished I could sell my mushrooms for money because it exacerbated my condition instead. These are possibilities why:
   1. I applied the cream lightly instead of force rub.
   2. The composition of compounds works on others’ skin but not mine.
   3. Carrying forward from point 3.2, the cream, on the contrary, provided the moist required for my mushrooms to grow.
4. See the doctor. It works in so far as I’m given a temporary peace of mind and hope with a new piece of medication, yay. If not, the first 3 points apply.

Some other observations I made are when mushrooms start growing on my feet again, they start growing on my left _|_ too, crap. It has something to do with my body’s circulation system.

This is what I recommend you do

1. Try various topical medication. Some works for you but not others. Some works on some parts of your body but requires other cream for other parts.
   1. Eg, I have a cream that works when I force rub on my left _|_. But when I force rub the cream on my feet, my feet gets abrasions. Using another cream that required me only to lightly apply actually worked fantastically for my feet. This cream doesn’t work for my left _|_ somehow.
2. Try various methods of application, eg lightly apply or force rub, even though the instruction slip suggests otherwise.
3. Give your various cream and methods sufficient time for you to observe what works.
   1. Eg, I was trying a new cream that required me to force rub. One day later my mushrooms spread quite badly on my left _|_ due to rubbing but I decided to continue force rubbing. It spread a little more for the next one more day. The cream worked from day 3 onwards. I could have stopped using the cream immediately after the first day and deemed it useless but I decided to just push ahead with the method. It’s one of my must-use cream for my left _|_ now.
4. Know what activities will cause your mushrooms to bloom again. An obvious example will be during ICT or just after ICT. Anticipate and apply even when there are no symptoms.
5. Anticipate that it may never fully go away for life.

Last but not least, I’m managing fine with the two different creams I’m currently using. One to lightly apply on my feet and the other to force rub on my left _|_. Hope I don’t have to use the oral medication ever.

Good luck guys. Company medic signing off.