What are smelly shoes and sweaty feet?
Smelly shoes are shoes that smell bad. Simple as that. The bad smell can be intense and make it embarrassing to walk around in the smelly shoes.
Smelly shoes and sweaty feet are often related. Sweaty feet occurs when you have excessive sweating from your feet. In the same way that you can sweat under the armpits, you can also sweat from your feet. It is a widespread problem that most people at one time or another have experienced.
It is simply unavoidable – especially if you practice sports or go out under the hot sun. Shoe odours occur when your feet are kept enclosed in the tightly packed environment of the shoe – especially if your feet sweat too.
Sweaty feet are therefore a widespread problem for many. However, sweaty feet can be so pronounced in some cases that it becomes socially disabling for the affected person. Severe foot sweat can affect your daily activities in a way that makes it difficult to maintain a normal everyday life. Sweaty feet are not a definite disease but a nuisance that is affected by external circumstances.
How many people have smelly shoes and sweaty feet?
As mentioned, most people know what it’s like to have smelly shoes after a long day spent in tightly fitting shoes where their feet have been sweating. It is quite normal from time to time. But when the condition becomes disabling in a way that makes it difficult to enter social contexts and normal everyday life, it becomes a difficult form of sweaty feet.
The condition of severe sweaty feet affects about 1-2% of the British population and is therefore a relatively rare condition.
What causes smelly shoes and sweaty feet?
Sweaty feet are a problem that all British are aware of – and so you should not feel nervous like there is anything strange about it. Everyone sweats every day, some more than others of course.
Sweaty feet are natural
The cause of sweaty feet is therefore completely natural because we all sweat by nature every day – even on our feet. You can’t change that. However, you are naturally more likely to get sweaty feet if you are wearing closed shoes than if you have a pair of open, airy ones. The same is true if you practice football, handball or any other sport where you get sweat forming on your forehead – and thus also sweat on your feet.
Sweaty feet in response to stress and emotions
Another cause of sweaty feet – especially the severe kind – can be found in stress and emotional influences. Those who suffer from severe sweaty feet will often find that the sweat increases when they are in stressful situations. It can be in an exam situation, a long queue that makes it impossible to reach an appointment on time and other similar examples.
At the same time, foot sweat can be triggered by emotional reactions, where you get very upset, excited or other intense emotion.
Old sweat and bacteria cause smelly shoes
Even if your feet are sweaty, your shoes won’t necessarily be smelly. Fresh sweat does not smell. But if the sweat sits in the shoe and is no longer fresh, the old sweat will produce a sour smell.
However, it is not the sweat that makes your shoes smell bad. It is the butyric acid and bacteria that arise from old sweat that make your shoes smell bad. When you walk in enclosed shoes, the bacteria have the perfect conditions to multiply, so that the bad smell arises.
Sweaty feet and a closed environment in the shoe can also lead to developing a foot fungal infection, which is also a troublesome condition.
How do you treat smelly shoes and sweaty feet?
Is there a treatment that can get rid of sweaty feet? Yes, there is. You can take several steps to solve the problem of sweaty feet and smelly shoes.
Spray remedy for smelly shoes and sweaty feet
There are several ways to remedy sweaty feet and the often-accompanying bad smell in your shoes. With Australian Bodycare’s Foot Spray, which effectively gets rid of sweaty feet and smelly shoes, you get a foot spray and shoe spray for bad odours in one.
The spray prevents sweaty feet and bad odours thanks to the antiperspirant properties of Australian Tea Tree Oil. It inhibits and reduces sweat production while reducing the bacteria that cause the bad smell on your feet and in your shoes. The spray is therefore effective in removing odours from shoes because it can be sprayed on your feet to reduce sweat, as well as directly on the soles of your feet and in your shoes
With a spray for smelly shoes and sweaty feet, you can keep your feet fresh so you won’t be bothered by the embarrassing smell from your sweaty toes.
Supplement with daily washing of your feet – it helps to wash away the sweat and keep the bacteria to a minimum so that they won’t have the right conditions to create the unpleasant odour. In addition, moisturise your feet with a good foot cream that strengthens the skin’s balance and resistance to bacteria.
You can get a complete series for sweaty feet and smelly shoes consisting of a bodywash, foot cream and foot spray from Australian Bodycare. It can help you on your journey to get rid of sweaty feet and smelly shoes for life.
Poison treatments for sweaty feet problems
If your sweaty feet problems are so pronounced that they are destroying your everyday life, you may need more powerful treatments. One such treatment for sweaty feet is simply injecting poison via micro-injections throughout the foot. It sounds painful and severe, but it is not at all.
The poison is called botulinum toxin, which is commonly called botox. It is a drug used throughout the world for muscle relaxation treatments where wrinkles are effectively reduced. But the substance can also be used to make the sweat glands in the foot relax and be less active. Botox is often injected via small injections into the soles of the feet, toes, edges and tops of the feet. It is important that it is a specialist doctor who performs the injections.
Alternative treatments and good home remedies
There are also several good home remedies for combating smelly shoes and sweaty feet. You can find an overview of them here:
Say goodbye to smelly shoes with vinegar. Smelly shoes and vinegar work well together. By using vinegar, you get a natural product that can help you with sweaty feet and smelly shoes. This is because vinegar can balance the pH of the skin while having antibacterial properties. Mix warm water with vinegar in a foot bath and let the mixture melt bacteria and smell away within 10 minutes.
Remove odour from shoes with baking powder. Baking powder can do much more than raise your cakes and breads in the oven. It also acts as nature’s own deodorant. By sprinkling some baking powder on your feet and directly into your shoes, you prevent excess sweat and thus the formation of the sour, nasty smell in shoes and on your feet.
Put your shoes in the freezer to get rid of the smell. If you put your shoes in the freezer with meat, frozen vegetables and other frozen foods, you can actually freeze the stinky bacteria away. The bacteria that cause the smell cannot survive frost, which is why they die.
Make a disinfectant mixture to get rid of the smell. Smelly shoes and disinfectant cleaner spray (e.g. Dettol) are also a good partner. If you use a spray bottle, you can spray it in your shoes and get the smell out.
Preventing smelly shoes and sweaty feet
There are several good options for treating smelly shoes and sweaty feet. But one of the most effective treatment methods is simply prevention. Fortunately, you can do this in many ways if you want to keep sweat and odour away from your feet and shoes.
- Wash your toes thoroughly. It may sound obvious, but to keep away the sweat and the odorous bacteria that results from sweating, you must be diligent with your soap. Wash your feet thoroughly every single day. Remember to dry them well when you leave the bath or shower so that bacteria do not form due to moisture between the toes.
- Sprinkle talc on your feet. Before putting on socks, you can put some talc on your feet. That way, you are absolutely sure that all moisture is absorbed so that your feet are dry and do not condense water into your socks.
- Change socks and shoes daily. It is important that you wear a pair of clean socks every single day – and not least that you wash your dirty socks at a minimum of 60 degrees to make sure all bacteria are killed. Also, avoid wearing the same shoes for two consecutive days, but instead vary between your shoes. Then they do not get so easily smelly. Ventilate them after use too.
- Avoid artificial materials. Synthetic materials make it difficult for the skin to breathe. Therefore, it is a good idea to buy socks made of natural materials so that your feet do not get clogged up so they cannot get rid of the moisture.
- Choose airy shoes. To avoid sweaty feet and smelly shoes, it may be a good idea to choose shoes that are open or made of a material that allows your feet to breathe.
