As some of you know, I have recently been away to the tropics. I returned about a month ago. What I am posting is mainly for information purposes, and it's not meant to make anyone queezy - but it might.
When I was down there I started to experience some itching and burning around the toes of my left foot. Though I have not had problems with athlete's foot since the days a long while back when I'd shower and change in the local gym's locker room, I do occasionally get a small crack or opening in that area if my feet are wet. So I figured I just had a mild case of athlete's foot, and treated it as such.
Well, after several visits to my family doctor and a specialist, it seems that I have been infected by a parasite. This became evident after swelling, blistering, and especially an odd tunnel-like red trail around the bottom of my foot, a zig-zag line that erupts with pronounced itching, and also hurts when I put my weight on it.
I did some research on the Net and consulted my doctor, who was so intrigued by this thing that she had my foot photographed so that residents can be instructed. Such problems are very rare where I live, and she had to call around to several pharmacies to find appropriate meds.
Evidently, such parasites, in this case likely some type of larvae, can be just about anywhere at a beach resort in the tropics. And since I was all over the place barefoot, I could have picked this little critter up fairly easily. For example, such parasites often inhabit feces of animals (and there were some cats at the resort to ward off birds that tried to help them selves to buffet scraps). The cats were sometimes on the sand in the area too,
So I learned quite a lesson - never to again take for granted that walking around barefoot is not always such a great idea. Obviously, I was having fun and not really giving thought to foot care, but next time, I'll think differently.
One thing that the doc said, and my research and her med book confirmed, is that this thing is evidently "self-limiting" - thus, even without treatment it would eventually die, but that could take up to three months. Needless to say, I don't want to wait that long.
So if you're vacationing around water, pools, hot tubs, sand, etc, and you may be prone to maybe a getting a little opening of the skin around the toes, well, like I said, I posted this for info purposes.
In closing, I'll add that the analogy to Star Trek II has popped into my mind, but those critters were a LOT bigger and nastier, lol.