Just now, Sister Sa, I received a crazy comment from a little sister:
It turns out that their company is relatively comfortable, and everyone usually puts on slippers in the company. The feet of the male colleague diagonally across the street turned into biochemical weapons after putting on slippers.
This little sister racked her brains and thought all morning, but she still couldn't figure out why human's little feet are so powerful? !
She began to think again, how could she tactfully remind the male colleague opposite that her feet were too smelly? Or, would it be better to find another male colleague to remind you?
However, this plan was not successfully implemented. Perhaps out of sympathy, everyone would rather endure the stench and keep silent.
What exactly makes a pair of feet smell like this? Where is the culprit?
Taking advantage of this sister’s complaint, let’s talk about it:
Why do my feet smell?
Many people believe that the root cause of foot odor lies in foot sweat. Our feet are packed in shoes every day, and are often wrapped in socks. The sweat glands in the feet are more densely distributed, and a lot of sweat is secreted every day, especially during exercise or when the shoes are too thick and not breathable. It will cause foot odor.
In fact, there is another reason for this. It is not just sweat that will turn smelly. You may rarely have heard of a word called " smelly sweat syndrome ".
The word bromhidrosis actually originates from the Greek "bromos (stench)" and "hidros (sweat)". To be honest, almost everyone has had, or may have in the future, "stinky" caused by sweating, but how exactly does it count as "too stinky"?
At present, we have not determined the odor level standard to judge it as "excessive odor", or that is enough to diagnose odorous sweating syndrome. Generally speaking, as long as the odor related to sweat is relatively obvious and is so stinky that it will have a negative impact on self-perception, social interaction, or quality of life, , it can usually be diagnosed as odorous sweating disorder.
According to the different involved sweat glands, dyshidrosis can be divided into apocrine sweat gland dyshidrosis and eccrine sweat gland dyshidrosis . apocrine sweat glands appear after puberty and are most densely located in the armpits, anogenital area, and breasts. The main function of apocrine sweat glands appears to be the secretion of pheromones.
Eccrine sweat glands are mainly responsible for body temperature regulation. They are widely distributed throughout the body, but are not distributed in the external auditory canal, lips, clitoris, labia minora and glans.
Eccrine dyshidrosis may be localized or generalized. The cause of localized eccrine dyshidrosis is not sweating, but skin maceration caused by sweating. Skin maceration can lead to bacterial overgrowth and keratin degradation.
Systemic eccrine dyshidrosis is usually caused by the ingestion of odor-producing substances or systemic disease. Related factors include diet, such as garlic, onions, curry, drinking, etc., as well as drugs, poisons and some diseases or systemic diseases, such as phenylketonuria , scurvy and so on.
Localized eccrine dyshidrosis usually affects the feet.
How stinky is this smell?
Sister Sa has heard many descriptions of painlessness. Some say that the oncoming sour smell can make people faint, some say that it is still strong after 15 minutes of opening the window, opening the door, and blowing a fan. Others say, just do it directly Halfway through the spring cleaning bottle of perfume, but the aftertaste still lingers for three days...
To describe it honestly, the odor of dyshidrosis may be described as "putrid", "pungent odor" or " Sour smell". Moreover, when the weather is hot, high-temperature steamers or exercise may aggravate the odor. Bathing can often temporarily alleviate it, but it cannot be eradicated.
In most cases, the skin in the affected area looks normal. If it is hyperhidrosis, the skin in the area may become white, moist and desquamated because it has been soaked in sweat for a long time.
The blood test results of patients with localized dyshidrosis are usually normal, so blood tests are often not needed for diagnosis.
However, for patients with dyshidrosis, additional evaluation is required based on the patient's history and physical examination . If the cause of systemic dyshidrosis is unclear, doctors will also conduct liver and kidney function tests to evaluate whether there is liver or kidney disease.
Localized dyshidrosis is usually caused by bacterial degradation of secreted sweat or keratin. Therefore, the mainstay of treatment involves interventions to reduce bacteria at the affected site and/or reduce sweating.
Clinical experience shows that the following methods are helpful for localized odorous sweating, including smelly feet:
- Pay attention to hygiene and reduce bacteria
Wash the affected area every day. Do not wash excessively to avoid irritating the skin. If skin abnormalities are present, skin conditions that may cause odor, such as rhinitis, erythrasma, and pitted keratolysis, should be treated immediately. Because localized dyshidrosis may be related to skin diseases, the incidence is higher when the skin is moist for a long time .
It may be useful to wear sweat-absorbent clothes, such as cotton or other materials that can take moisture away from the skin. Sweat-absorbent socks should be especially used when you have foot odor. Breathable antibacterial socks are also a good choice and should be changed every day. Shoes are also the best. It’s best to choose something breathable.
After going out or exercising, you should take off sweaty clothes immediately and change clothes at least once a day. At the same time, removing excess cuticle may reduce the odor caused by bacterial degradation of keratin, which may be especially useful for foot dyshidrosis. So if your pig mate at home has smelly feet that can be used as biochemical weapons, you might want to consider exfoliating them for him.
- Reduce sweating
Since excessive sweating will be more serious, it is not difficult to think that reducing sweating in the affected parts may improve the symptoms soon? Especially for patients with eccrine dyshidrosis or apocrine dyshidrosis with hyperhidrosis, this trick usually really works.
Topical antiperspirants reduce sweating by forming temporary emboli within the sweat gland ducts and are the preferred method of reducing localized sweating. However, the most common active ingredient in antiperspirants is aluminum salt , and are not recommended for use during pregnancy.
If the effect of antiperspirant is not good, and the main reason for the odor is excessive sweating, then you can also consider other methods. Current research suggests that injection of botulinum toxin seems to be effective, but the effect is relatively short-lived. You can also try hair removal , because hair may promote odorous sweating by adsorbing bacteria and odor.
So the question is, if the foot odor of a male colleague across from me is spread, how should I deal with it? You can't give him shoes, right?
Of course not, I gave him shoes for no reason. What if I was misunderstood that I was interested in him? Isn’t it embarrassing!
Sister Sa, I dare to make a move: How about helping Sister Sa click " is watching " and likes , and then "accidentally" post it to the work group (or family group)?
Finally, I still want to remind you: You don’t need to wash your face, but you must wash your feet every day, brothers and sisters! References: [1]uptodate: Bromhidrosis [2]Helou J, Haber R, Kechichian E, Tomb R. A case of generalized bromhidrosis following whole-body depilatory laser. J Cosmet Laser Ther 2015; 17:318. [3]Lucky AW. Acquired bromhidrosis in an 8-year-old boy secondary to a nasal foreign body. Arch Dermatol 1991; 127:129.
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