It seems that foot odor plagues most normal people, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you understand what causes you to get stinky feet in the first place, it's relatively easy to eliminate the causes. I'll try to explain what causes foot odor, how to prevent it as much as possible, and some home foot odor remedies that actually work. You can't eliminate foot odor completely, but you can minimize its effects.
Bacteria and Fungus
There are bacteria living in human skin tissue, in all parts of the body. This is completely natural and there's nothing you can do about it. It's the combination of this bacteria and perspiration, with limited air contact, which causes foot odor to manifest. Despite what people think, underarm odor is caused by the same conditions.
Although some people would like to attribute foot odor to foot fungi, like the fungus of Athlete's Foot, but it just isn't so. A fungus will not normally produce any smell. If a person has Athlete's Foot fungus and has stinky feet, it's due to the bacteria present in the skin, not the fungus.
Prevention of Foot Odor
The best prevention of foot odor is not the most practical. Clean, dry feet constantly exposed to the open air will have virtually no detectable odor (unless you get close to them and sniff a lot). Unfortunately, most people wear shoes, flip-flops or other footwear. Believe it or not, people who wear flip-flops can get their feet as stinky as someone who wears shoes.
Daily bathing is essential to clean and healthy feet. Changing socks frequently can help to minimize the effects of perspiration. Neither routines are perfect for proper foot odor control, but they can help keep the odor at an acceptable level.
Killing the existing bacteria, which is already causing foot odor, is essential to long-term happy feet and along with bathing and sock changes, will make the odor seem to disappear completely. Soaking the feet in a disinfecting solution for an hour a day, for at least three days, seems to work very well. What disinfecting solutions? I'm no expert, but I've been told you can use tea to get rid of smelly feet. I've also been told you can use Epsom salt. It sounds extreme, but I've also been told you can use bleach. Bleach is corrosive, so I don't think you'd want to soak it in at full strength or for very long. Every once in a while, I'll use tawas (which I think is aluminum sulfate) on my feet. It not only removes odors, it also removes tanned skin!
Other Measures
Some people put odor-eating insoles inside their shoes, usually with embedded charcoal to absorb the odors. Some people put tea bags inside their shoes – it does the same thing.
Certain kinds of foot powder can be put in your shoes. Usually the kind which has corn starch included is the best. The only bad part about it is that the foot powder can come out and get on the shoes during ordinary walking, especially if you use too much.
If you take off your shoes as often as possible, along with using prevention and odor-eating measures, you'll find that your feet will feel better and you won't have to worry about offending anyone with your stinky feet.
When I and my wife first married, she complained that my feet smelled like dried fish. It was too much for me to bear, so I used everything available to kill off the odor. The only time I really have to worry about it now is when I'm traveling internationally. If I don't get my shoes off within minutes of sitting in an airplane seat, it's not a good idea to take them off at all.
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This article is published as: How to Get Rid of Foot Odor – My Stinky Feet are Examples
Soaking your feet is not a good idea!
Read it some were, makes them soft.
Wash, trim your nails, use a tooth brush with rubbing alcohol to scrub toenails and between toes. change socks once or twice a day and use a decent foot powder. Wearing rotten sneakers probably does not help the smell much, throw them away, get shoes appropriate for your climate. Philippines is pretty much limited to flip flops or sandals, maybe swim fins LOL I always had wet feet in the PI, shoes just don,t work there.
in total agreement
.-= My last blog: smelly feet – facts =-.
Hi RT
As Joe said in the previous comment taking care of your feet eliminates most of the problems. Good for me my wife is a liscensed nail tech and I get weekly manicures and pedicures
.-= My last blog: Charice Pempengco has Grown Up =-.
These are all good tips. Have you ever considered a body cleanse with a professional detox footbath? You should learn a little bit about how an ion cleanse can help you detox your body and in turn the nasty odors will most likely cease.
There are a couple of ointments that can dramatically decrease Foot Odor if applied regularly. "Hirschtalg" is such a thing in my experience.
.-= My last blog: Nutrition Weight Loss =-.
Perhaps should go and look for a dermatologist if it really gets bad? Anyway, I'm not too sure if foot odor will spread to another person but it's called 'Hong Kong' foot in chinese.
Hi,
Useful information. I also work on a website around foot problems. That would be great to hear from you regarding any improvements I can made to the website.
You should use several routes when attacking foot odor.
Here is a technique that has worked on some of the worst foot odors out there:
1. In the morning, wash your feet with Head & Shoulders shampoo as it is a fungicide. Always dry them with a blow dryer. Then put anti-perisperant on them.
2. When you get home from work, soak your feet in hydrogen peroxide (don't dilute it) for 30 min. Wash your feet with H&S shampoo and blow dry. The smell should be gone.
3. Before going to bed, soak your feet for 30 min in a solution made from 1/3 cup borax and 1/2 cup epsom salts. The borax is a fungicide. Do not rinse feet, but dry them with blow dryer. You will definitely notice the freshness at this point.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 for one or two weeks and it should get rid of the problem.
You will see a huge improvement after the first day.
You daily showering should include scrubbing your feet with a good soap or H&S and blow drying them to prevent bacterial growth.
I think foot odor and other body odor problems can easily be overcome by doing Master Cleanse Diet correctly. This process not only will help remove foot odor, but also other impurities within the body system.
Use a foot bath regularly with bubble bath in it. It feels great and your feet will smell great.
wash feet with natural soap and always wear cotton socks.
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