Offensive odor can be caused by bacteria on your skin and clothing. Soaking your feet in antibacterial soap several times a day for a week, followed by washing well with the soap daily may help.
Before putting on your socks and shoes, apply a foot powder. It is also important to keep your feet dry during the day.
In a more scientific explanation, sweaty feet (hyperhydrosis) and smelly feet (bromohydrosis) are conditions of the feet. While some cases of excessive smelling or sweating of the feet are systemic (throughout the whole body) in nature, such as anemia (low blood count) or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), these conditions are usually of a local cause. There are many foot care products available in your local pharmacy or grocery store.
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Numbness can be caused by anything that upsets the nerve cell’s chemistry. Examples include diabetes, vitamin deficiencies, liver or kidney disease, cancer, Lyme disease and many drugs. In this country, diabetes is the most common cause of foot numbness, but the numbness usually occurs after long-standing diabetes.
Numbness is often associated with or preceded by abnormal pain-like sensations often described as pins-and-needles, prickling or burning sensations called paresthesias. Any numbness or abnormal sensations need prompt professional medical advice.
“To minimize foot problems, just wear high heels for special occasions.” We have probably heard that before.
You love shoes. Shopping for them, trying them on and — most of all — buying them. Most professional women use high heels as part of their image. But what if your feet don’t feel so good, and they look even worse? Forced too often into the tight confines of the narrow toe box of your high heels, your toes bend into an unnatural positions. As a result, bumps and areas of thickened skin rub painfully against your shoes.
Are your beloved high heels the source of your foot problems? Yes, they probably are. High heels are one of the biggest factors leading to foot problems in women. The other is age. Frequently wearing high heels can set the stage for many common foot problems including blisters, calluses, corns, foot odor, hammer heel and others.
So, bottom line, wear them occasionally but consider other options for everyday.
Over time, your feet become wider and longer and the natural padding under your heel and forefoot thins. Years of standing and walking flatten your arches and stiffen your feet and ankles.
If you wear high heels — shoes with a heel 2 inches or higher — your feet slide forward in your shoe, redistributing your weight, creating unnatural pressure points and throwing your body’s natural alignment out of whack. Over a number of years this can cause serious problems with the hips and back.
As with all anti-aging advice, keeping your body fit always comes first. Standing on one foot for as long as possible and then switching to the other foot and repeating is a best single exercise which improves motor coordination and can be done at any time and without any special equipment. This exercise works the muscles and tendons in the foot and keeps them working longer.
The answer seems to be yes. It is believed that weight gain and an aging population are factors.
On the news any given day, we hear that people are generally larger today than in years past. With the focus on nutrition and health starting at a younger age, children are taller and larger today than they were at the same age years ago. Naturally this leads to wider, larger feet.
Can being overweight make your feet wider? Doctors agree that the more pressure your feet must accommodate, the more your feet will splay or stretch out. Over time, your feet stay in this larger position.
Additionally, aging plays a role in the width of your feet. As your ligaments and tissue begin to weaken, your feet become wider.
The next time you’re shoe shopping, keep these tips in mind:
Choose sensible heels, an inch and a half or less, with a wide heel base. Narrow, stiletto-type heels don’t give good support.
Recheck your shoe size occasionally, they can get longer and wider as you age.
Don’t rely on shoe size alone, try them on.
Compare the width of the shoe with the width of your foot. Stand next to the shoe in your bare feet. Which is wider — your foot or the shoe? Avoid shoes that are too narrow for your feet, no matter how much you like them.
Try on both shoes for comfort. Fit the larger of your two feet, many people have slight differences between their feet.
Make sure you have at least a finger’s width between your longest toe and the end of your shoe.
Fit the shoes to your feet late in the afternoon or in the evening because your feet may swell up as the day goes on.
Shoes should feel comfortable from the beginning. They are not going to fit better after you have worn them.
Select materials that breathe and allow flexibility, such as leather or nylon mesh.
Stay away from shoes with seams across the toe box, which can rub.
Burning feet may be a temporary problem, such as athlete’s foot or sensitivities to fabrics or leather dyes. But if it continues over a longer period, it can be a more serious issue. A visit to the doctor for evaluation is recommended.
A serious cause of chronic burning feet is sensory peripheral neuropathy. This results from damage to the nerves that transmit sensation from the arms, hands, legs and feet to the brain. Causes of sensory peripheral neuropathy include:
* Diabetic neuropathy
* Alcohol abuse
* Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia (pernicious anemia)
Treatment of burning feet is directed at the underlying condition, if known. To help relieve discomfort, try these tips:
* Wear socks made of cotton — which allows your feet to “breathe” — rather than synthetic fabrics.
* Avoid standing for long periods.
* Take a pain reliever when needed.
* Bathe your feet in cool water
When exposed to very cold temperatures, skin and underlying tissues may freeze, resulting in frostbite. The areas most likely to be affected by frostbite are your hands, feet, nose and ears.
You can identify frostbite by the hard, pale and cold quality of the skin that has been exposed to the cold. As the area thaws, the flesh becomes red and painful.
If your feet and toes suffer frostbite, take these steps:
1. Get out of the cold.
2. Warm your feet by covering them with dry, gloved hands.
3. Don’t rub the affected area. Never rub snow on frostbitten skin.
4. If there’s any chance of refreezing, don’t thaw out the affected areas. If they’re already thawed out, wrap them up so they don’t refreeze.
5. Get emergency medical help if numbness remains during warming. If you can’t get help immediately, warm severely frostbitten feet in warm — not hot — water.
A neuroma is a benign tumor of a nerve. Morton’s neuroma isn’t really a tumor, but just a thickening of the tissue that surrounds the digital nerve which leads to the toes. It usually happens between the third and fourth toes because of an irritation, injury or a lot of pressure.
Most of the time you can’t see anything by just looking at your foot. But you may feel a burning pain in the ball of your foot that may radiate into the toes. The pain generally worsens when walking, running and also wearing your shoes. In fact, you usually can’t feel it at all when not on your feet.
You should have a doctor diagnose your pain. During the exam, your doctor will usually be able to feel the mass between your bones. He will also try to replicate the pain and look for calluses or evidence of stress fractures in the bones that might be the cause of the pain.
Initially you will need to change your shoes. Avoid high heels or tight shoes, and wear wider shoes with lower heels and a soft sole. This lets the bones spread out and might reduce pressure on the nerve, giving it time to heal. Your doctor might also recommend shoe inserts and pads to relieve irritation and the pressure the nerve. In some cases, your doctor may want to use an injection of a corticosteroid medication to reduce the swelling and inflammation of the nerve, bringing some relief. If all else fails, surgery can resect a small portion of the nerve or release the tissue around the nerve, and generally involves a short recovery period.
Interestingly, Morton’s neuroma is 8 times greater in women than in men.