Dear Sweet God is that my feet?!?!
Hi,
I have a special problem... My feet smell like heated baby vomit stuffed into rotting meat.
Unless I wear good socks and Tennis shoes. But I CAN"T wear tennis shoes to work, I have to wear dress shoes. In the summer I wear sandle-like dress shoes and I don't stink but in the winter I have to wear closed toes... all the snow... and that is when the smell developes. It doesn't matter if I wear stockings or not. Same thing. Now this wouldn't be so bad but, Martial arts are done Barefoot... and I go straight from work to class. My poor classmates get the full brunt of my horrible smelling feet. I don't have athletes foot, I wash my feet, But I have always had this, My mom is the same. I was wondering if anyone maybe knows what to do?
I'd say it's bacteria related. You may sweat more than others due to genetics, which makes your feet more prone to bacterial growth. I found this online:
"Bacteria are to blame. These tiny critters normally inhabit your feet and love dark, damp places like the insides of sweaty shoes.
These bacteria eat dead skin cells and oils from your skin. Their colonies will grow and start getting rid of waste in the form of organic acids. It’s those organic acids that smell bad.
And for 10 percent to 15 percent of people, the smell is really bad. Why? Because their feet are extra sweaty and become home to bacteria called Micrococcus sedentarius (say: my-kroh-kah-kus seh-den-tair-ee-us). These bacteria produce more than just stinky organic acids – they also produce stuff called volatile sulfur compounds. You know what volatile sulfur compounds smell like.
So how can you stop your feet from stinking? Well, you might not be able to stop stink completely. But if you cut down on sweat, you’ll cut down on the odor.
Be clean: Bathe your feet every day. Be sure to dry your feet.
Wear the right socks: Cotton, some wools and special knits made for athletes will absorb sweat and let your feet breathe. Put on a fresh pair if they get damp.
Good-fitting shoes: Make sure your shoes aren’t too tight. If they are, your feet might sweat more than normal.
Switch shoes: Wearing the same shoes every day can make them smellier. Let them dry out for a couple of days before wearing them again.
Kill those germs: Try using a disinfectant spray to kill bacteria in your shoes. You might also wash your feet with antibacterial soap.
Wash shoes or insoles: Some insoles or shoes, especially sneakers, may be washable.
Go barefoot: Let your feet air out by spending some time in the open air, especially at night.
If you still have problems: Consider getting odor-fighting powder or insoles. If nothing seems to work, you might want to talk with your doctor about which steps to take."
Buy a box of babywipes to keep in your gym bag and wipe your feet thoroughly before each class. Babypowder is a much more pleasant smell than what you're describing. Also, I don't know how your martial arts classes work, but in mine I frequently end up with my face on the mats so stinky feet is doubly abhorrent. Your classmates should be thrilled with the idea.
BTW, I would really be surprised if something that can eradicate the toxic smells of baby poop doesn't get rid of a mild foot bacteria, but if it doesn't, consider either facial wipes with tea tree oil (trader joe's) or the waterless antibacterial soap.
I was thinking about the Dead skin and oil thing feeding them... My feet are very caloused from Kung fu excersizes... working out on cement... so on. I am going to try to get rid of the calousus too.. maybe without that extra skin hanging on it will be easier to manage.
Baby wipes are clever and I didn't know I had to swich out shoes... I will get two more pairs of dress shoes, then I can switch out every day of the week.
Great ideas from the folks who already posted. In fact, every night before I go to bed I wipe my feet with baby wipes. You might want to do this too, but instead when you come home from work etc just to keep them extra squeaky clean on a regular basis.
Also if they are getting wet or sweaty with the smell developing in closed toe shoes on the way to work why not wear good athletic socks with running shoes going to work and change at work?
You've had some good suggestions so far, another I would give is to wear shoes of natural material like leather or cotton. Synthetics don't let your foot breathe and can cause odor to be worse. (At least that is what my son's pediatrician told me when we were discussing his nasty little toes. LoL) It did help with my son's foot odor.
Oh no it's not on the way to work it's at work... My dang feet seem to sweat all day, I could be in 17 degree weather and they sweat... it seems like if I can feel them they are sweating. Now this is kind of odd but I had several bouts of frostbite as a little girl and actually developed gange green on my big toe from it. I think there was some nerve damage because i don't feel "cold" in my feet ever. Generally the only reason I know they are cold is if I touch them or if they start to hurt. Wendsday we were doing a very heavy workout and Master David opened the doors... it was 7 degrees outside, but it was refresshing because the room had gotten so hot, my poor feet must have cooled down right away because they started to cramp up... I worked through it but now I have a big bruise on the top of my foot.... Anyway kind of off topic.
I am going to try that Tea thing... I have heard that you loose toxins through your feet too... who knows!
Dr. Oz suggested a simple home remedy for Kelsey—soaking her feet in tepid iced tea. "The tannic acid in the tea will actually tan your foot a little bit, which will dry it out," he said. "That's helpful in reducing the amount of sweat, and the odor as well."
In just a few weeks, Kelsey says her smelly feet have undergone a drastic change. "Since the show, my life has totally changed. Not only did I get a haircut, but my feet don't smell anymore," she says. "Thank you, Dr. Oz, from the bottom of my sole!"
Dr. Oz says the secret to Kelsey's success is the tannic acid—which dries out the skin—but a few other simple remedies can help, too. "An open-toed shoe, ideally. Wear socks that are absorbent," he says. "But for a lot of folks, the only way to do it is to really dry it out."
Here is some more of the tea treatment. On the follow up she said it really worked. Hope it helps you as well. I am sure there is more info to be had on Oprahs web site. I just did a search for 'foot odor' and this came up.
Original Post by lilsmiter:
Hi,
I have a special problem... My feet smell like heated baby vomit stuffed into rotting meat.
Unless I wear good socks and Tennis shoes. But I CAN"T wear tennis shoes to work, I have to wear dress shoes. In the summer I wear sandle-like dress shoes and I don't stink but in the winter I have to wear closed toes... all the snow... and that is when the smell developes. It doesn't matter if I wear stockings or not. Same thing. Now this wouldn't be so bad but, Martial arts are done Barefoot... and I go straight from work to class. My poor classmates get the full brunt of my horrible smelling feet. I don't have athletes foot, I wash my feet, But I have always had this, My mom is the same. I was wondering if anyone maybe knows what to do?
You might try detoxifing your body to see if that helps. There are alot of body cleanses to choose from.
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