My 10 year old has really bad stinky feet. Its not a daily thing but oh boy when they stink its bad enough to make you gag...I noticed today his shoes do not stink...I need to make note on what shoes he has on every time they stink.
I dont want him made fun of so I want to see if anyone can suggest a solution. Would a food powder in the shoe help even though his shoes dont stink? What else can we do?
If you determine it's not an infection, you can actually try deoderant on the feet too. I wouldn't use the traditional kind, but there's a kind of deoderant that is a solid rock (crystal actually) and you wet it and wipe it on. It doesn't stop any perspration (I don't think you'd want to), but it does take away the odor, naturally.
Sometimes the socks can make a difference too. My sis had awfully smelly feet growing up. She started wearing wool socks and that works for her (good wool socks though, so they aren't itchy!).
This topic was just on the show "The Doctors" and here is what they told one lady to do.
"Heidi, 36, is embarrassed by her foot odor, which she says smells like a horrible mixture of rotten eggs and nacho cheese. Dr. Sears performs a smell test and agrees that her feet are indeed pretty stinky. He explains that foot odor is caused by bacteria and suggests that Heidi soak her feet in a tub of black tea for 30 minutes every day for a week. The tannic acid in the tea kills bacteria and closes the sweat pores in the foot. To demonstrate, Dr. Sears sets up a soak for her, and by the end of the show, Heidi notices a marked improvement and kicks up her heels!"
They also said that after the first week she could cut back and may get to the point of doing it once a week.
I was one of those kids with stinky feet and wished I would of known about this.
Take him in to the Dr. It could be a bacterial infection or something more serious under the skin. Not life threatening but typically it can be athletes foot or things of that nature if there is a strong odor not associated with shoes. Some people just have different body issues and not a big thing. I think it is more common in boys heading into puberty. Just to be safe I would take him and talk to his Dr about it.
Growing up my best friend and her brothers would get smelly feet- the home remidy they used was before bed to coat both feet with honey and cover with 2 pairs of old socks, wash offf in the am.
I think the honey starves any bacteria of oxygen killing it over night.- heard the same thing with olive oil if put on thick enough.
S.,
It is always good to check with your dr or nurse.
Athletes foot can be passed around the family, when not treated.
If you haven't thought of it....You might ask your husband, or other family members, if they remember similar 'symptoms' growing up or have this tendency now.
When my sons odor annoys me (it never seems to bother him!), we draw a quick foot bath and use essential oils like tea tree or eucalyptus and lavender.( there was a concern of too much lavender use in young men last year, so using it daily may not be advisable.) He loves the warm feel of the water and the extra attention.
We tried the 'gold bond' foot powder. It has menthol and makes your feet cool, but did not seem to help with the odor. Also, it gets caked into the shoe.
One more thing, sometimes the food eaten( for example, garlic or onion) can cause an odor later or the next day.
Hope you get some good advice today. -A.
