Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection of your skin. It doesn’t just affect athletes though. The point about fungi is that they love anywhere that’s warm, moist, and short of air, which really describes the inside of your trainers, especially the bit between your toes.

So athlete’s foot often starts with a rash between your two little toes and may well spread from there. The rash can be itchy and the skin can crack and get sore. It can also smell a bit.

It’s usually treated with cream which your pharmacist can give you. You need to treat not just the affected area but about four to six centimeters around it and how long you’ll need to treat for will depend on what kind of cream.

So do check with your pharmacist. Importantly you also need to take steps to try and prevent it from coming back and get it to clear up more quickly and that in the long term will include keeping bare feet as much as you can but wearing flip -flops for instance if you’re in communal changing rooms so you don’t pick it up again.

Drying the skin between your toes thoroughly. Change your socks regularly and ideally wear more breathable cotton socks.

Alternate your shoes so that you have the option of allowing your shoes to dry out and don’t share towels with other people.