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Why do feet sweat?
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 2% of people on Earth suffer from excessive sweating of the feet, or, in other words, hyperhidrosis. This is only according to official data. And if you follow the data of unofficial statistics, this number can be easily multiplied by 10 or even 20 times. In the UK and Sweden, where medicine is well developed, and the standard of living is very high, the treatment of hyperhidrosis (by the way, very expensive!) Is covered by health insurance. And you thought that the unbearable sweating of feet at your roommate was evidence that he rarely washed? Everything is much more complicated...
All the fault of the sweat glands?
In fact, the sweat glands are designed to regulate the temperature of the whole body. When it gets too hot, the body regulates body temperature, releasing sweat and moisturizing the skin. But sometimes it happens that the sweat glands seem to go crazy and produce so much sweat that it’s impossible to stay close to a person.
Especially sweating can be allocated different parts of the body. Most often, it is the armpits and feet. And then a person has no private life, public life - and it is very difficult to do something with it, even for big money. What is the cause of increased sweating of the feet - the source of suffering for both women and men?
Hyperhidrosis - the body's signal about the disease
If a person has excessive sweating of the feet, it is not just an unpleasant smell and a lot of moisture on the feet. This can be a signal of many diseases. Namely:
Fungus on the skin of the foot
This disease affects the feet after infection with a fungal infection. The skin between the toes is intensely inflamed, can crack, itch, ache and smell badly due to decomposed dead cells. If you do not attach any importance to the fungus and treat it yourself, without consulting a doctor, it can spread over huge areas of the body.
When this disease becomes acute and chronic, it becomes difficult to cope with it. The fungus develops into eczema - a microbial disease that affects the skin areas with inflammation, scaling, cracks, itching and pain. It is much more difficult to cure microbial eczema than a fungus on the feet. And, of course, the unpleasant smell only gets worse, not going anywhere.
What to do?
It is imperative to consult a dermatologist for the treatment of fungus. To do this, use antifungal ointment with anti-inflammatory effect and antibiotics.
Endocrine diseases
When a person's hormones are disturbed, he may suffer from endocrine disorders. In particular, the thyroid gland produces too much or too many thyroid hormones, and then there can be various kinds of deviations in the body. Including excessive sweating of the feet, or hyperhidrosis.
What to do?
Refer to the endocrinologist for examination. Having learned about which hormones you lack, and which - in abundance, you need to undergo hormone therapy. As soon as you complete the required course, without missing anything, and following all the recommendations of the doctor, the sweating of the legs that you have suffered from can pass by itself.
Malignant tumors
Malignant tumors can trigger processes in the human body that cause it to suffer from many disorders. Including from increased or decreased appetite, sweating, uncontrolled weight. Increased sweating feet, as you can see, in the list of these unpleasant deviations.
Sweat is a substance that is 99 percent water. But there are so many different toxic substances in the composition of sweat, nitrogen compounds, “bad” cholesterol, fatty acids, that a person just suffocates from their smell. If there are abnormalities in the body, if it is loaded with toxins, if there are metastases, which contain many different compounds of a toxic nature, perspiration “screams” about all this. Shouts its smell.
Toxins and acids in the composition of sweat decompose, their reaction with oxygen adds an unpleasant smell - then we just feel the stench and cannot be near its source - the owner of sweaty feet. And he (or she) suffers...
What to do?
If your legs smell bad, it can be a cause of cancer. It is necessary to go to see a doctor. It is also necessary to do an ultrasound of the internal organs. If there are tumors, you will need to be seriously treated by an oncologist.
Too tight shoes leatherette
When you choose shoes, you should not save on it. Because leatherette shoes do not allow a person's foot to breathe normally. As a result, the leg sweats heavily and has an unpleasant odor. In an environment where the leg is all day, and where there is no free-flowing air for it, stagnation occurs.
It is the most favorable environment for the reproduction of harmful microorganisms. And since the sweat itself is toxic, in combination with fungi and pathogenic bacteria, it smells even worse, irritating others and the owner (the hostess).
What to do?
Best of all - change your shoes. And preferably not only shoes, but also socks. Shoes should be made of breathable fabric or good leather. And socks should consist of natural materials - cotton or flax. These materials perfectly absorb moisture and do not allow the fungus to multiply. With increased sweating of the feet, you must be ready to change socks more often and shoes, if necessary, too. Of course, this will significantly increase costs, but what to do - they do not joke with hyperhidrosis.
What else could be the cause of excessive sweating of the feet?
- Poor hygiene
- Diseases of the central nervous system
- Strong stress, constant excitement, irritability
- CNS (central nervous system) pathologies
People who suffer from excessive sweating of their feet should know that sweating is equally strong in men and women. Therefore, you should not tolerate such manifestations - it is necessary to consult a doctor at the very first signs of hyperhidrosis - behind it can be much more serious diseases.
How to properly care for your feet
Feet sweat badly if you look after them the wrong way. Man of the modern, this question is capable of perplexing: what does it mean correctly? He took a shower before going to bed, took a shower in the morning — that was all the care. It turns out that there are several important secrets in foot care. We will introduce you to them.
Even if you have turned off the hot water for two weeks, as is often the case during preventive maintenance, wash your feet with cool water. This is even better, because it promotes good hardening of the feet.
When you wash your feet, it is advisable not to use soap often. It dries the delicate skin of the feet. It is advisable to use special foam for the feet. Their composition allows to treat the skin of the feet more sparingly and not to overdry it, but, on the contrary, to moisturize.
About moisturizing. It is impossible to keep the feet moist, because then the skin is prone to the perception of various fungi and bacteria - they have a bad ability to multiply rapidly in a moist environment. You need to stock up on towels that absorb moisture well, and dry your feet dry after each swim.
Secrets of dry skin of the feet
To keep your feet not so intense and for a long time to remain dry, you can treat them with talcum powder. They do it, as a rule, in the mornings, after the morning shower and wiping dry dryly (we have already talked about this).
Keep in mind that talc should be applied between the toes of the foot and on the sole of the feet. You can also use a deodorant or antiperspirant with antifungal effect (such can be sold in pharmacies). It is very important to know that antiperspirants should be applied only on the body, cleanly washed. Otherwise, you will have to smell the smell of the feet, which will not disappear, but will only intensify.
Deodorant and antiperspirant - what are the fundamental differences?
What is deodorant? This substance of chemical origin, which tends to delay the decomposition of foul-smelling substances in the composition of sweat. The deodorant does it at the expense of aromatic substances which are in its structure. These are antimicrobial agents, as well as fragrances, plus essential oils that smell very good and keep this smell for a long time.
Among these oils may be those that tend to retain unpleasant odors - peppermint, lavender, cloves. To smell in the deodorant were persistent, it used ethyl alcohol. This ingredient is in the composition of almost all essential oils. In short and accurately - deodorant is designed to mask the nasty smells of our body.
What is an antiperspirant? This is a substance that, due to its composition, tends to accumulate sweat vapors as a sponge and to keep strong perspiration. As part of antiperspirants - metal salts, in particular, lead, zinc, zirconium. They have a unique property when combined with sweat toxins to arrest their smell.
This is done by narrowing the pores through which the sweat simply cannot be broken through. And consequently, there is no unpleasant smell. This is not to say that it is very useful for the human body, which, due to the narrowing of pores, loses its ability to be cleansed of toxins.
A small percentage of patients who have been diagnosed with cancer due to the frequent use of antiperspirants are known. But the fact of the connection of cancerous tumors and the use of antiperspirants has not been proven, therefore, with increased sweating, not using antiperspirants consistently can do more good than harm.
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Features of the selection of shoes
Of course, shoes should be made of leather, and not of an incomprehensible lacquered material, which does not let in either moisture or air. When a person is in shoes that do not breath, his feet sweat a lot more than usual. What this leads to, we already know: an unpleasant smell and possible fungal diseases.
Be sure to pay attention to the fact that the shoes were selected according to the season. It is good if there are more holes in the summer shoes so that there is an opportunity to air the feet. Then they will sweat less and dry out by a constant flow of air. Sandals are optimal for women in summer, and sandals for men. If etiquette requires business shoes, shoes should be light, made of breathable materials.
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Shoe and insoles
If a person does not clean shoes from the inside, pathogenic bacteria will accumulate in it, even if the shoes are made of genuine leather.
When shoes are washed and cleaned, they need to be dried well. Good - it means outdoors to remove all unpleasant odors and avoid stale skin. If you put undressed shoes on your feet, the unpleasant foot odor will mix with the excessive moist environment of your shoes, and microscopic rotting processes can begin in this environment.
To avoid this, you need to change the insoles in your shoes as they wear out. This will keep your feet skin healthy and help avoid excessive perspiration.
Stockings and socks
Know what is popular nylon socks and stockings contribute to greater reproduction of bacteria, which are very fond of a wet and sweaty environment. Kapron does not absorb moisture, but on the contrary, it detains it. Therefore, the feet in the nylon sweat even more. Was that your goal?
Sweating, the foot can very easily become infected with a fungus that is just waiting for a favorable environment. When a fungus enters such an environment, it will happily mix with sweat. And then the fungus grows, multiplies, and then comes the time of its collapse. This is where the worst begins: the product of the breakdown of fungal cells mixed with toxins and acids, and this makes the smell of feet even more awful.
How to dry feet? First of all, we must not forget about the gaps between the fingers, which are so small that we do not even pay attention to them when washing. But after washing you need to linger for 2-3 minutes and still wipe dry these small parts of the body. Otherwise, they will accumulate moisture, which will lead to the growth of bacteria and a bad smell of sweat.
Do not forget about the little tricks of foot care, and strong sweat will eventually recede from your feet.