Foot odor
From Free net encyclopedia
Foot odor is a type of body odor that affects the feet by giving them an unpleasant smell.
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Cause
Foot odor often results from wearing shoes and/or socks for many hours, as they provide warm, moist conditions for bacteria and/or fungi to thrive. Foot odor can be caused quicker than just wearing shoes and socks for many hours, however, if the person’s socks do not give the person’s feet enough room to breathe (or being too tight), they will become stinky. Performing exercises like running in tight socks can cause an even quicker odor. Other quick foot odor can occur when wearing shoes without socks. Foot odor can also form quicker in females or males if the person’s number one choice of socks are made of nylon. Females that use nylon socks for everyday use with sneakers may suffer stinky feet. The reason is because these kind of socks doesn't absorb sweat as well as cotton, but instead causes your feet to sweat more and that attracts more bacteria. Most females wear nylon stockings, or pantyhose only for fashion and not for socks, but after long periods of time by wearing them with open-toed sandals or normal high-heeled shoes can still cause a quicker foot odor in any female, but also keep in mind that foot odor affects males and females equally.
Smell
The smell of foot odor is usually a warm, cheesy scent, but can sometimes be ammonia-like. Brevibacteria are considered a major cause of foot odor, as they ingest dead skin on the feet, especially on the soles and between the toes, converting in the process the amino acid methionine to methane thiol, which has a sulfuric aroma. Brevibacteria also give cheeses such as Limburger, Bel Paese, Port du Salut, and Muenster their characteristic pungency.[1]
Prevention
Among the earliest foot deodorants were aromatic herbs such as allspice, which nineteenth-century Russian soldiers would put in their boots. [2] Some types of powders and activated charcoal insoles, such as Odor Eaters, have been developed to combat foot odor, but they are not as effective as thoroughly washing feet, choosing shoes with proper ventilation, changing socks regularly, and wearing shoes only when necessary. It is also highly recommended to wear socks made of 100% cotton and make sure those socks give your feet room. If the foot odor smells really bad and these solutions aren’t working much, then a doctor is the best source. There are a lot of prescription drugs that can treat serious foot odor, some by killing bacteria and some by reducing sweating of the feet.
Reactions To Foot Odor
Usually people grow up believing foot odor is unpleasant, making people embarrassed about how their feet smell. Children often grow up making fun of the fact that their feet smell ("Trick or Treat, smell my feet..."), etc. For this reason, in Western countries, where shoes are worn for most of the day, some people avoid removing their shoes around others, or they are asked to keep them on or put them back on. This is paradoxical, since being shoeless as much as possible is one of the best ways to prevent the feet from becoming smelly in the first place. Foot odor can also arise when an individual wears shoes without socks---a practice that is most often found in girls and young women in Western cultures. It is worth taking note that there is no "foot odor" stigma in countries where shoes are removed upon entering the home (for a more detailed discussion of this topic, see Shoes). Although most people believe the scent of feet is unpleasant (arguably more often than not because of a societal bias more than actual experience), some people find smelling feet sexually arousing. This can be part of a foot fetish. Some people also have fetishes for the sock or shoe scent that usually accompanies warm feet (for example as part of a shoe fetish), or enjoy foot worship.