Have ever you been around someone when they’ve taken their shoes off and nearly puked? Or knew your feet stunk SO bad you were scared to take off your shoes around others? Unfortunately, that was my life for too many years. If I had known what I know now my life would’ve been smelling much fresher. In this post I will be diving in to how I helped my stinky feet problem.
Before, I was totally one of those people who could clear a room from my feet. The stench was strong and lingered in the air for far too long. A cross between old cheese and garbage, it was nice 😉 It brought me immense shame and didn’t help my confidence in any way.
Normally, I’d carry an extra pair of socks on me to change into after work, part-way through a day if I had a lot planned, really anytime I knew I’d have my shoes on for long periods. As well as, a little bottle of something to spray on and mask my foot odor. The amount of planning that went into trying to hide my stinky foot problem was ridiculous. Habitually, I’d wash my feet as soon as I’d come home from work or a long day, in addition to showering. I had to deal with them first-thing before anything else.
I remember how a family member I used to live with banned me from keeping my work shoes in the house. Honestly, I could not blame him one bit! I operated like this for well over a decade. Looking back, I can’t believe how long and how much effort I put into all this. You don’t realize how much of an effect stinky feet has on your life until it happens to you.
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Your Stinky Feet Are Talkin’
To start with, your body always communicates with you. Different ailments and symptoms are ways in which your body says, “Hey, look at me, something is wrong here.” Oftentimes, minor symptoms are small pieces of a major problem. So, if you slow down and read into the little things your body does, you can spot things earlier. Stinky feet problems are one of those ‘minor’ symptoms. Even though, when it happens to you it seems like one h*ll of a major inconvenience.
Dr. R Randal Aaranson, a board-certified podiatrist/foot and ankle surgeon says, “Foot odor can be caused from a bacterial infection of the skin. It also can be associated with people who sweat a lot, which is a genetic condition called Hyperhidrosis that causes bacteria to breed and results in a foul odor.” Other causes include foot fungus like athletes foot, stress, various medical conditions, anxiety and bad hygiene. Alternatively, there are a couple other factors that I will discuss that contribute to rotten smelling feet, and how I helped my stinky feet problem.
Food and Feet
Certainly, proper nutrition is always beneficial to your overall health. Obtaining the nutrients our bodies require to function optimally is a no-brainer. Nutrition affects every system within us, and our level of odor is one way to tell if our diet is healthy or not. Of course, as I mentioned previously, there are other aspects that go into foot odor. But, nutrition is a complimentary and not often talked about factor to body odor, including foot odor.
Toxins from your environment and the food you ingest release through you skin via perspiration. Our bodies have several pathways for eliminating toxins; the skin, lungs, kidneys, lymphatic system colon and liver. Diet is a large part of how we introduce harmful things into us, and through our skin they excrete back out of us through sweat, in addition to those other pathways. If you eat a bunch of crap you may smell like crap. Simultaneously, eating healthier and the next thing I will discuss helped my stinky foot problem immensely.
The Quality Of Our Socks
Above all, the quality of the socks on our feet is the biggest contributing factor, at least for myself, to smelly feet. I will re-iterate how this is from my own personal experience. At the same time, I had an extreme case of smelly feet which leads me to believe that since this helped me so much, it will indeed help others. The simplicity of this astounded me, and how I didn’t try it sooner made me feel quite stupid ha ha.
In any case, this immediately changed my life! I came across information on certain synthetic socks; plastic, nylon, and polyester, in particular are the worst for causing foot odor. They make your feet sweat like crazy and don’t allow your feet to breathe so no moisture evaporates. It just sits there, bacteria multiplies, and your feet become wet, sticky and stinky! So, the funky cheese smell results from this fungus & bacteria breeding ground environment created by your socks. In fact, cotton socks are not breathable either, and retain moisture making feet damp all day. There are a few materials of socks I can personally recommend that changed the game for my stinky feet.
Best Socks For Stinky Feet
Most importantly, you want to look for moisture-wicking socks. Our feet have more sweat glands than anywhere else on our bodies. There’s no stopping our feet from sweating but at least reducing the sweat and not trapping it is beneficial.
The BEST socks for smelly feet are:
- Bamboo
- Wool (not practical in summer obviously)
- Merino Wool
- Copper, silver and titanium particle socks
Usually, I wear the bamboo fiber and copper particle infused socks. Both of which I purchase at Wal-Mart and are fairly affordable. Our shoes play an important role too. If you are able to wear breathable shoes great, however many can’t at their work. So try to air out your feet throughout the day if possible, allow your shoes/boots to dry out fully at the end of the day in a cool, ventilated area. There are sole insoles on the market that help to soak up moisture. In addition, foot powders specifically designed for sucking up moisture help, even baking soda too.
To Conclude Stinky Feet
I cannot say my stinky feet are 100% cured. However, they have come a LONG way and I am no longer planning my life around my silly feet. They have what I would describe as a ‘normal’ odor. Not something I want to put my nose up to, at the same time, not something that wrinkles my nose up in disgust. No more washing my feet or changing socks constantly. I can bring my work boots in the house at the end of the day, and not run my boyfriend and I out of the house with my foot stench 😉 Ultimately, that for me is winning!
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Sources:
https://www.medicinenet.com/smelly_feet/article.htm
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513816301933
I think I might need to change my socks! I don’t have stinky feet problem but sometimes my feet itch and it is annoying.
It reminded me, my hubby bought me a non-alcoholic wine and after I tried a bit, I said that it stunk like stinky feet…it really did, not buying this one again!
Another reason to love my merino wool socks!! Thank you for these great tips.
I find it so amazing how much our food impacts everything in our bodies!! Socks play a role for us – some of them definitely make our feet stinky.
I found it very informative and helpful. I’ve struggled with this issue myself and I appreciate learning about natural remedies and products that can help alleviate the problem.
My mum used to be like this and had to make some real changes to get rid of the smell. It’s good that you’ve found things that work for you x
I loved how you shared your personal experience with stinky feet problem and offered some helpful tips and solutions that actually worked. Your writing style is engaging and informative, and your post will definitely be helpful to many readers.
Finally! Someone addressed the stinky feet issue in a honest and practical way. Thank for this!
Thankfully I have never experienced this kind of problem before. Any kind of body odour is bad but there are so many ways to treat it.