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Subscribe to RSSWomen's Health contributor Dr. Keri Peterson answers viewers' questions about embarrassing health symptoms, including problematic foot odor, excessive hair loss and more.
Whether you're a dude in sweat socks and sneakers or a lady in dainty ballet flats, once you take those shoes off -- ew. The whole room can smell your Kimmy Gibbler-style stinky feet. On this morning's TODAY, Women's Health magazine contributor Dr. Keri Peterson answered viewers' most embarrassing health questions -- including how to pretty up those foul feet.
"Smelly feet are from bacteria that thrive when your feet sweat," Peterson explains to Savannah Guthrie. "So the goal to get rid of it is either to decrease the sweat or decrease the bacteria."
To decrease bacteria, wash your feet with anti-bacterial soap, and try applying baking soda inthe shoe or sock. To decrease sweat, wear socks that have breathable material -- for instance, cotton instead of nylon. Wear shoes that are well-ventilated, and give each pair some time to dry out before you jam your feet back in there again. You could even try applying an antiperspirant -- yep, like the one for your underarms -- to the soles of your feet.
Got an embarrassing health question you're too sheepish to ask? Submit it here, and Peterson may answer your query on an upcoming TODAY segment.
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Leave a Comment:
I like the tip about antiperspirant on one feet. My teenage son has the most stinky feel. We have to keep the window in his room open at all times and the door closed at all time so the rest of the house doesn't smell.
I have heard of soaking one's feet in vodka but I don't buy alcohol so that one is out.
Don't wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row, and it won't be a problem. Your shoes will last longer and feel better too.
Even if you're not a shoe-aholic like I am, it's not that big a deal to have two pairs of sneakers (or whatever your shoe of choice is) and alternate. If you live somewhere humid, you can buy those little ventilated balls of odor/moisture absorber - I'd guess it's probably silica gel - and toss those in the pair you aren't wearing to help them dry out.