Sweaty, itchy and smelly feet occur as a result from excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) building within a closed environment, such as your sock, shoe and between the toes! Humidity increases as there is moisture from the sweat and the enclosed shoe builds heat, thus allowing an excellent environment for fungus and bacteria to grow.
There are more than 250, 000 sweat glands in the feet which can produce 500mL of sweat per day!
Causes
- Constrictive humid footwear
- Walking barefoot on public spaces contracting fungi:
- Trichophyton ruburn, T. mentagrophyties, Epidermophyton floccosum
- Poor hygiene
- Excessive sweating of the feet
- Emotional stress
- Heredity
Symptoms
- Whitening of skin, peeling (maceration)
- Fissuring/crusting of skin, especially big toe and heels
- Redness, swelling
- “Moccasin feet”
- Smelly feet/Foot odour
- Itchy feet
- Toenail fungus
Prevention
Athlete’s foot can be prevented by
- Wearing well-ventilated footwear
- Maintaining good hygiene
- Applying antifungal powders
- Dry feet thoroughly after a shower
- Wearing cotton socks not nylon
- Cleaning your footwear, “air them out”
- Changing your socks at least once-a-day
Treatments
Our Podiatrist, Grant at Triumph Institute Bankstown offers two treatment strategies:
To beat the Fungus we must:
- Kill what’s there
- Stop more reinforcements
A combination of regular Podiatry treatments, antifungal powders and creams as well as disinfecting footwear will resolve Athlete’s Foot.
Grant Duong, Podiatry
At the Triumph Institute located in the heart of Bankstown, Sydney we also practice podiatry. It’s a medical field that specialises in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of problems and issues that affect the lower limbs, from the lower back right down to our feet.
