What are some tips for treating sweaty and smelly feet?

Sweaty and smelly feet are commonly known as athlete's foot. This is a disease that often troubles people's daily lives. Whether it is caused by excessive sweating or by fungi, it is embarrassing and uncomfortable. Therefore, people who suffer from sweaty and smelly feet should find a solution as soon as possible. There are many reasons that can cause foot odor and sweaty feet. Sweating and fungus are just two of them. If the human spleen is weak, it will also cause excessive sweating. So what are some tips for treating sweaty and smelly feet?

Foot odor is not a disease, but it cannot be ignored

Although smelly feet may not seem like a serious problem, if you ignore them for a long time, they will turn into tinea pedis, also known as athlete's foot. Severe foot odor may also be a symptom of primary hyperhidrosis, which is mostly caused by a stronger sympathetic nervous system reaction in the body. When it is hot or when you are anxious, you sweat more than the average person. In addition, foot odor may also be a warning sign of liver and kidney failure, because weak liver and kidneys will accelerate the secretion of sweat glands, so don't underestimate the problems caused by foot odor. In addition, diabetic patients should be careful about the problem of tinea pedis, because once they suffer from athlete's foot, wounds may appear in severe cases, and it is very easy to have cellulitis, so they must be careful.

Causes of foot odor

Physiological factors:

People who are born with well-developed sweat glands and sweat easily are more likely to suffer from foot odor. Because there are more sweat glands on the palms and soles than anywhere else on the body, and because of wearing shoes and socks, feet are prone to odor.

In addition, age is also a factor. Children in their teenage years are full of energy and active, so they sweat more. When they reach middle age or old age, their sweat glands atrophy and the amount of sweat decreases, so the foot odor originally caused by sweating may gradually disappear.

Disease factors:

The most common ones are athlete's foot, onychomycosis and keratolysis (when the stratum corneum is infected by bacteria, acne-like pits appear in the thick skin of the soles of the feet). Most patients suffer from this condition because of excessive sweating, which leads to the growth of bacteria and fungi. In other words, excessive sweating causes diseases such as athlete's foot, which in turn causes foot odor.

External factors:

This is related to work and personal hygiene habits. Some jobs require people to wear airtight shoes and socks all the time, such as police, soldiers or workers. If they sweat frequently, the chance of foot odor will increase greatly. Poor personal hygiene habits, such as always wearing the same pair of shoes and socks or taking a hasty shower, not paying attention to the cleaning of toes and toes, and not drying feet, are the culprits of foot odor.

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Treatments for foot odor

White vinegar foot soak

Soaking your feet in white vinegar every day for a week can also remove foot odor. If you suffer from sensitive skin, you can try mixing 15 ml of white vinegar with warm water and soaking your feet for 15 minutes every night.

Walking barefoot at home

Give your foot skin some air. Take off your socks and wash your feet immediately when you get home. After drying your feet, develop a habit of walking barefoot at home to promote blood circulation and reduce the chance of accumulation of sweat gland secretions! Walking barefoot on the beach has the same effect.

Wash your feet frequently

Foot odor is mainly caused by the thick stratum corneum of the feet, sweat and bacteria. To get rid of foot odor, cleanliness is very important. Readers are advised to wash their feet carefully every day and exfoliate thoroughly once a week.

Please be careful when washing your feet if you have smelly feet. You can use a toothbrush with softer bristles to clean the gaps between your toes and remove dead skin. After washing, please dry your entire foot, especially between the toes. Many people ignore the gaps between their toes when washing their feet, but this is where bacteria and dirt are most likely to hide.

As for weekly exfoliation, it is recommended to soak your feet in warm water for 20 minutes to soften the cuticles, and then use pumice stone or scrub to remove the cuticles.

Some people use sharp tools such as files to remove dead skin, but after soaking the feet, the stratum corneum becomes very soft. Too hard instruments can easily cause foot damage, so it is generally not recommended to use them. Readers are advised to use pumice stones or scrubs.

In addition, you can also use moisturizing products that contain keratin-dissolving substances, such as salicylic acid, urea or lactic acid as the main ingredients.

Wear ventilated shoes

Foot odor is not actually a disease. It is just because your shoes are not ventilated, which gives bacteria an opportunity to grow in your shoes and on your feet. Therefore, the best way to prevent foot odor is not to wear only slippers when going out, but to wear ventilated shoes and spray dry powder inside the shoes to make the bacteria nowhere to hide.

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Other methods

See a doctor to cure athlete's foot and onychomycosis to reduce the chance of bacteria growing on the feet.

Choose to wear sandals, or bring an extra pair of cotton socks instead of wearing the same pair of shoes every day.

(Shoes and insoles must fit your feet properly to avoid irritation and excessive sweating.) Here are some tips to say goodbye to smelly shoes:

※ Choose sports shoes with a breathable grid mesh upper.

※For leather shoes, choose real leather because synthetic leather is less breathable.

※Many air cushion shoes claim to be able to absorb sweat and deodorize, but you should pay attention to whether it has air holes to allow air convection inside and outside the shoe, because some air cushion shoes simply thicken the insole, which can only absorb shock and has no sweat absorption effect.

※Reduce shoe odor: Deodorizing insoles mostly use activated carbon to absorb odors. Sprinkle some powder or talcum powder in your shoes to absorb moisture and keep your feet dry, or take your shoes out to dry in the sun often.

If you have the habit of drinking tea, it is recommended that you put tea bags or dried tea leaves into your shoes to prevent foot odor!

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Athlete's foot care precautions:

The main thing is to keep it clean and dry.

Very rarely, specific anti-tinea medication is needed.

The chance of recurrence is high and depends mainly on whether it can be kept clean and dry.