Stinky Feet - Pittsburgh,PA

Make sue his shoes are leather, not vinyl! He needs spare shoes and should alternate them every other day. Spray them once they're off his feet and let them breathe for a day.

those cotton socks harbor lots of bacteria. Cotton doesn't let sweat evaporate away from the skin. There are sports socks at athletic stores that may help, but are much more expensive. I would also have have scrub scrub scrub his feet in the bath or shower daily and after sports or excessive sweaty. He needs to get rid of the dead skin cells that are probably full of bacteria. I had that problem and I swear, one good scrubbing was all it took. I also hear that soaking your feet in tea water will help get rid of the smell too.

He probably has really sweaty feet, and despite being clean, we all have bacteria that live on our bodies and react with the sweat thus causing the odor.

I'd ask either his pediatrician or go see a dermatologist to see if there's anything topical you can put on his feet to help. Otherwise, I'd recommend using baby powder on his feet or inside his shoes and have him keep his shoes off when he doesn't need to wear them to let the air circulate through and dry the cloth.

Bacteria, molds, etc. thrive in dark, wet, warm environments.

Your son could have stinky feet if he has athletes foot. There are creams and sprays for this. If he has gym at school he may want to change his socks after gym class. make sure he washes his feet in the morning before he goes to school and puts on the stuff for the athletes foot and of course clean socks. sometimes shoes that are not leather could also make the feet stinky. I would try to stick with leather sneakers because if he is in the synthetic material his feet may be sweating more and not getting enough air to them. Well, good luck. I hope this helps. I had a brother with this issue when i was growing up.

I actually posted a question like this last year. My d's feet were just awful! You could not stand to be in the same room with her. I got a lot of responses--including about allergies etc. We ended up having her wash her feet when she gets home from school using a peppermint or eucalyptus foot scrub/wash and again before bed. Then she would spray her feet with either tea tree oil (I bought tea tree oil from Drugstore.com and put in a small spray bottle you can get for traveling) or Odor eaters foot spray. She also sprayed her shoes and in the morning put a little powder in her shoes and sprayed her feet again before putting on clean socks. It was so much worse for her boots. We also used the odor eaters shoe inserts but they did not help much at all. I also bought her an extra pair of shoes so they could have time to air out between wearing. We tried soaking her feet in a tea bath (4 bags of black tea steeped for about 10 minutes in a gallon of water) and it helped a tiny bit. This year is not bad at all so I now wonder if it was the shoes contributing. Some shoes can have soles made of recycled rubber and the smell can get into the shoes and be awful. One thing I will add is that if his socks are wet from sweating in his shoes, you may want to discuss with the doc.

WOOL socks! (I prefer the smartwool brand, but there are lots out there). Wool is NOT itchy! It feels like cotton, but unlike cotton it allows sweat to evaporate. He probably has sweaty feet.They make athletic (everyday) versions & dress sock versions. They are expensive, but worth every penny! I don't wear anything else since I discovered them. They also last a lot longer than any cotton sock I've ever had. (My husband & I both have this problem.) When he needs to wear shoes make sure he is wearing wool socks & he is in a ventilated (one that has lots of holes) sneaker as much as possible. When he has to wear dress shoes make sure they are real leather. Or have him wear them for as short a time as possible & change into sneakers. Once the weather is warm enough let him wear sandals. But be aware, he will still sweat in sandals & some sandals have a fabric foot bed, which STINKS. I do best with flip flops made all of rubber (or whatever it is they are made of). Crocs would probably work well too (the ones with the holes in the top). UGGs (or ugg like boots) with out socks also work nicely. They absorb sweat & don't stink.

Hi, K.:
Get some Gold Bond powder and dust in them as often as needed. D.

If his shoes are made of man-made materials, his feet will stink in the worst way! Make sure his shoes are made of leather to help with this.

Alfalfa has helped people with this problem.
Victoria