YOGA MATS PRESENT RISK FOR FOOT INFECTIONS STATES NC PODIATRIST
posted: Feb. 07, 2018.
“Fungus is the number one issue when it comes to what you could catch from a yoga mat,” says Jane Andersen, DPM, a board-certified foot surgeon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It’s not that tough to clear it up when it’s on your skin, but it becomes a whole lot harder to treat if it makes its way to your toenails. (Topical treatments usually take at least four months to work, since you need to wait for a new, healthy nail to grow in.)
Dr. Jane Andersen |
Catching staph is unlikely, says Dr. Andersen, who has never seen a serious bacterial infection that could be traced to a yoga mat. A study in the American Journal of Infection Control found no sign of MRSA (a drug-resistant form of staph) on equipment or floor mats at three gyms tested for traces. The virus that leads to warts also thrives in moist, sweaty places, says Andersen. “Warts are usually specific to the bottom of the foot,” says Andersen, and the same goes for fungus — precisely because those areas provide an environment where bacteria can thrive.
Source: Emma Haak, Oprah.com
Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News.