athletes foot

Picked this up a few weeks ago (i'm presuming from the mats)and haven't been able to train since which is a total bitch. Anyone had this or know how long it takes to get rid of it. I'm on cream from my GP after the high street stuff did nothing but still it persists.

I only know with high street stuff, and that usually says on the packet how long it's expected to take. You HAVE to follow it exactly otherwise it won't clear up as quickly, and you might give it a chance to flare up again.
To perhaps help the process and prevent reinfection you need to prevent your feet developing the hot and wet environment that the fungus thrives in with regular foot washing, cotton sock changes, and religeous between the toes drying. Personally, I found that the cream didn't help matters when I'm drying to keep sweaty feet dry, it just made them sweaty again. It's really expensive, but the stuff you just use once seems far superior.

Another problem you might be having is with communal showers, where someone else with foot fungus keeps using the shower and infecting and reinfecting everyone else, not so easy to deal with.

in dont use communal showers for that very reason, despite having to drive home all sweaty. I'm sure it the mats at my JJJ class that are used for everything from Judo to gymnastics. i dont know when they are cleaned but they are ancient. I'm right in thinking i shouldnt be trainig until its cleared up right?

It's not fair to infect others, but if you're sure that someone else is using the mats and infecting people, what harm would you be actually doing?

I'm not sure which stage is infectious or how infectious it is

i'm defiantely not training until its cleared up as aside from anything else it looks gross. once its fixed i will forevermore take preventative measures to stop it happening again. powder etc. i would suggest to other people to do the same in they train in a dojo or shared area othewise you risk missing weeks of training