Rip off “medical” products

I am prone to athletes foot. Treat it with Daktarin powder or similar. It goes away but will always come back at some point.

Did a bit of research online and bought some Clinisept+ Podiatry foot spray.

It cost £15 for 500ml delivered. That was the cheapest I could find it without buying a bulk 5 litre bottle.

It’s ingredients are water, sodium hypochlorite and phosphoric acid.

So it’s basically a weak bleach solution with rust remover thrown in, in a bottle that has some nice bullshit graphics on it.

Does it work?

scotroutesFull Member
Does it work?

well, our grout comes up a treat

Does it work?

I don’t know yet.

If it does, I’ll make up a very weak bleach solution and refill the bottle.

Maybe a slightly stronger one to spray the insides of my boots and shoes.

Soak all my socks with it before washing.

Have a go at making your own. I’m sure you’ll guess the ratios right first time.

You could argue just about any big brand painkillers & such like, when generic or own brand versions cost pennies.

Have a go at making your own. I’m sure you’ll guess the ratios right first time.

I’m sure if I keep it weak then it will be fine.

Doubt I’ll bother with the rust remover.

Although the branded stuff does have “Advanced hypochlorous technology”.

Have a go at making your own. I’m sure you’ll guess the ratios right first time.

With a pack of chlorine concentration test strips from a pool supply store and a bottle of pH indicator, it probably isn’t difficult to get far off. To be honest with mild bleach solution you could probably get the bleach component about right using just the sniff test, and then add phosphoric acid to taste*.

*don’t literally taste it.

Does it work?
I don’t know yet.

Shit review.

There’s probably a whole 25 minute YouTube unboxing and reaction video waiting to be made.

To be fair, generic medicines have to undergo human testing, and formulation is very tightly constrained to be rigorously similar to the generic expensive innovator.

Your drug concentration profile over time must look the same as the innovator drug. That won’t be the same with bleach spray unless you have some testing. I wouldn’t be relying on the sniff test, but pH stocks might work.

Strepsils – nearly £6 a pack for boiled sweets!

Normally buy supermarket own brands but they’d run out – just couldn’t spend £6 on Strepsils so bought a pack of Jakemans for £1.50.

Alloy wheels cleaner relabeled?

You only have to fool enough people, some of the time.

Why aren’t you adding the rust remover bit? Clearly they think it helps but your research suggests otherwise?

I’m sure if I keep it weak then it will be fine.

The scientist preparing this knows the difference between weak and dilute.  The company presumably has QC procedures to make sure that any silly mistakes are caught, and regulatory compliance is achieved.

Doubt I’ll bother with the rust remover.

you think they added that for fun, at extra cost and hassle.  Since the availability of free chlorine is linked to the pH, and probably pH too high (or too low) is tough on skin.

Although the branded stuff does have “Advanced hypochlorous technology”.

Clearly marketing bs – but how confident are you you can adjust the pH without ending up with a cloud of toxic chlorine gas?

It’s ingredients are water, sodium hypochlorite and phosphoric acid.

The website says it contains aqua, it doesn’t say anything about water.

I dab neat eucalyptus oil on athletes foot and it works.

… it contains aqua …

I’ve seen that particular piece of marketing BS in the ingedients labelling on lots of things. Always makes me smile

well, our grout comes up a treat

Noted

Currently using bleach and bicarb. Might try it between my toes too.

Obviously I’ll squirt it at the neighbours puppy first, see how it fares. No one wants to get hurt

Doesn’t coke contain phosphoric acid? Maybe add a drop of that in?

Plasters are my favourite rip off medical products

Why aren’t you adding the rust remover bit? Clearly they think it helps but your research suggests otherwise?

I guess It’s there to reduce the PH level.

I think I have some strips in my brew kit somewhere, I’ll check it.

I self-diagnosed athlete’s foot. I mentioned it at the doctor’s whilst there for something else, he recommended generic Caniston. I said the Pharmacist had given me a spray, I’d used the entire can. He was very clear, “not spray, cream.”

The website says it contains aqua, it doesn’t say anything about water.

As long as there’s no Dihydrogen Monoxide in there.  Nasty stuff that can kill you in minutes.

PJayFree
You could argue just about any big brand painkillers & such like, when generic or own brand versions cost pennies.

Pretty sure I’ve read (or podcast) they are ‘slightly’ more effective, but probably only due to a plasebo effect, not the contents of the pill. People believe in branding

ive tried the cream but I find it makes the itching intolerable. Much prefer powder but have found it hard to find recently, so have been using spray which personally I find suboptimal

Work boots and crocs are the culprits

Tomhoward speaks the truth – it can be deadly (and not talking drowning) – https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill/

crocs are the culprits

Clearly, the athletes foot is replacing your dignity.

The best product for athletes foot in my long history of being inflicted with it is neat surgical spirit applied liberally, stings a bit but clears it up quickly.

Vitamins (apart from vitamin D) and supplements in most cases.

I am prone to athletes foot. Treat it with Daktarin powder or similar. It goes away but will always come back at some point.

If your preexisting treatment works, and you are happy with the price of daktarin powder, why change it?

It sounds to me that you need to deal with the cause, you have already found a successful treatment for the condition.

If your preexisting treatment works, and you are happy with the price of daktarin powder, why change it?

It sounds to me that you need to deal with the cause, you have already found a successful treatment for the condition.

I’m not happy with the price of the powder, that’s one of the reasons I was looking for alternatives. It’s a £5 for a small bottle and it doesn’t last long.

I was going to use the spray to treat my shoes and footbeds.

Hang on, if you have an alkaline solution (bleach)  and you add an acid to it, don’t you just end up with a weaker acid or a weaker bleach and perhaps some fizziness?

How bad is your athletes foot to need to refill the bottle with a home made solution of bleach and rustremover?

Jakemans for £1.50.

Jakemans are very good for soothing sore throats from coughing.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill/

Pretty sure our primary school told us this back in the 80’s.

“not spray, cream.”

Yep just add a spot of rust remover to your bum butter.

I actually wear crocs instead of slippers as they have good ventilation and don’t hold moisture..

My scenario might be different but I suffer really bad from clammy feet which in turn gives me foot rot if I wear trainers all day etc..

I find I have pretty much zero problems after switching to crocs to wear around the house instead of slippers or trainers.

I still have to be mindful I dont use the same ‘outside shoes’ all the time and rotate them.

How bad is your athletes foot to need to refill the bottle with a home made solution of bleach and rustremover?

It’s not that bad, normally only effects a couple of toes, doesn’t break the skin or anything. But I hate the hot itchy feeling.

The best product for athletes foot in my long history of being inflicted with it is neat surgical spirit applied liberally, stings a bit but clears it up quickly.

Well I have a 5 litre bottle of hand sanitizer liquid, left over from lockdown. It’s basically surgical spirit with a moisturiser added, so I might give that a go.

I still have to be mindful I dont use the same ‘outside shoes’ all the time and rotate them.

I might try that as well, spray the shoes after wearing and leave them for a day before using again.

I’m sure daktarin do a shoe spray  that works out cheaper.

 I actually wear crocs instead of slippers as they have good ventilation and don’t hold moisture..

Flipflops are even better plus they have the added advantage of being somewhat more  aesthetically pleasing

It’s a £5 for a small bottle and it doesn’t last long.

Can you get a large bottle on prescription for £10?

I don’t know, this sounds to me like “quitting smoking is easy, I’ve done it loads of times.” You say the treatment works but the condition keeps returning then… well, it doesn’t work then, does it. If it’s aggravated by work boots, try different socks. If it’s crocs, throw them away and get some sandals or slippers.

And if it’s guesswork, go to the doctor. What you describe sounds more like eczema to me. Eczema is chronic, athlete’s foot is an infection.

After a night of being kept awake by the hot/ itching of athletes foot, I used a bleach bathroom cleaning spray by Astonish out of desperation a couple of years back**.

It worked but also bleached the bedding a bit.

Totally worth it though, it was driving me nuts.

** I have a liberal attitude to DIY medical stuff, don’t you be silly though.

I just go barefoot around the house unless its especially cold and I’m inactive.