My son is 6 years old. His feet smell like a dead thing!!! We have tried sandals, we've washed shoes, we've tried boots...they started growing a mold that made his brother very sick!!! I feel bad always telling him to go wash his feet, but this is bad. We have to replace his shoes/sandals every 6 - 12 weeks sometimes...there is no getting the stinky out! I am not interested in medicine except as a total last resort...so does anyone out there know of natural ways to treat this strange problem? He's the youngest of 4 boys and none of the others have odor issues at all out of the ordinary. THANKS for your help!!!
try spraying his feet every morning and evening with a aerosal deoderant - and sprinkle athletes powder inside his shoes....
I know I wear dress shoes everyday to work and prefer two pair in particular - my feet get hot in them but they are comfortable. I use the deoderant and it works for me....
Good luck and dont let him think there is anything wrong with him but ask his doctor during youe next visit and he may just have overactive sweat glands or somthing.
Baking soda in his shoes...If you think about it, why do you put an open box in your fridge?? to absorb odors... ;-).. Also, I would get soak his feet in warm water with baking soda in it once or twice a week to help neutralize the odor in his feet and prevent the build up of any bacteria...
I hope this works for you.
Good Luck!!!! ;-)
My dh had this problem and even had athlete's foot. We switched the bar soap we were using to an all natural one and it made all his symptoms go away even the athlete's foot. I couldn't believe he was so excited about a bar of soap! It is only available on-line and is reasonably priced. If you want more info, just let me know.
Blessings,
Melody
Mom to 5 Wonderful Kids (1 girl,4 boys)
www.4MyChildrenSake.com
I agree with Kate. Try the Baking Soda. My dad always had bad foot odor and that's what he used all the time while I was growing up. It absorbs the moisture.
Apart from that, I have no idea.
Good luck!
I would try a regular tea foot bath. Just soak his feet in tes every day for a week or so. I would also put crumpled up newspaper in his shoes at night. Throw out the paper every day. This will get rid of the oder everday instead of powders that absorb and stay there for the next day.
You might look into CROCS. They are dish washer safe. You can through them on the top rack and wash them once a week or so to really get the oders out.
This is going to sound crazy, But it works. I have a 14 year old daughter that had the same trouble. Go to the grocery store and get large tea bags. YES, Large Tea bags. Get something he can soak his feet in. Make up a large amount of Tea in the bucket and have him soak his feet for about 10-15 minutes. You can also soak shoes, but the tea will stain just about everything except dark colors. Have him do this once or twice a week for a 6-8 weeks. We noticed improvement after about the 2nd or 3rd time. A nurse at our pediatricians office told us about it. The odor comes from a fungus that lives on the skin. The tanic acid in the tea kills the fungus.
Good luck,
Allison
Everyone has great suggestions! If those suggestions do not work you may want ask your pediatrician. A fungus or ahtletes foot could be causing the smell. If the fungus is treated, the smell will go away.
I know my sister had this problem with a pair of shoes she loved. I actually had to throw the shoes away and tell her to wash her feet. Luckily once the shoes were gone so was the problem.
It sounds like since the shoes are not the problem that it could be symptoms of a bigger issue. Try some gold bond power in the shoes too.
Good luck!
I just had to chlorox my six year-old's daughter's pair of keds...soaked them in the chlorox water overnight and sun dried them...so far so good. I had a fungus in my toenail that made my feet stink too once, I didn't even know I had it, I was misdiagnosed as having "eczema." Once I took the medicine for the fungus, my feet cleared up and the smell was gone. Also, the moisture in shoes breeds bacteria, make sure he has two pairs of shoes that he alternates so one can "dry" out. Maybe leave them in the sun during the day. Good luck.
Are his hands sweaty alot too? I have over-active sweat glands and I sweat in very strange ways.
I don't remember a time when my feet smelled fine after emoving my shoes and my socks were always soaked.
You might check his other sweating habits, if any have started yet. He could have over-active sweat glands. Supposedly there is a shot out there that is a one time thing into the main sweat gland that regulates it. It's been a while since i have seen anything about it, but you could always do some research!
Good luck!
Dear Rebecca, My husband saw this on T.V., and it does work. Brew up a big pot of tea. Regular Lipton tea or whatever will do. When it cools, pour into a pan, and let your son soak his feet in it.
Hope this helps. Good luck and best wishes.
It may be his shoes.
If he has cheap shoes that are made of a manmade material not leather(shoes from walmart and target are of a manmade material.)Manmades materials don't breathe with means no air circulation goes in or out of the shoes.
My son is 7 and has only worn stride rite ,nike or reebok.
Marshall's is a good place for cheap name brand shoes.
Also, try crocs .they have great ventilation b/c of all the holes.
Supposedly if you soak his feet in tea everyday the problem will go away. Something about the tannin and antioxidents in the tea changes the chemistry of the feet. I hope that works!
I hear that Vicks Vapo Rub applied to the feet at night works on this sort of thing. Can't hurt to try it. It might be a fungus that makes them smell. You might want to take him to a doctor.
try getting a pear of shoes that allows lots air flow. no leather shoes what so ever!!! trust me on that one. Also try putting some baking soda in them at night to absorb the sweat. you can even spray his feet with anti-fungal spray at night to help. Even thou you have tried sandles thy dont allow half of the foot the air flow that is needed with stinky feet.
I use to have that same problem and still do sometimes. What finally saved me from the smell of my own feet was going to payless and getting those airwalks (I think thats the name of them) and I dont have to use any sprays to hide the smell anymore. if you need I can send you a picture of them. I have been wearing them for over a year and havent had one problem. They allow tons of air flow so it keeps my feet from sweating alot. Plus with those kind of shoes you dont have to wear socks!!!!
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Rebecca,
My family and I have been using the "Amazing! THAI Crystal Deodorant Stone" (purchased at H.E.B. Plus in the Natural Living section) for a couple of years now instead of deodorant. Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is because on the cover it says, "Also works great for foot odor!" We haven't used it for that, but it may be worth a try. Another quote from the lid... "THAI Crystal Deodorant Stone is made from crystalized natural mineral salts which kill odor causing bacteria. THAI Crystal Deodorant Stone contains no harmful chemicals, oils, perfumes or emulsifiers. It's just pure and natural!"
If you try it, I hope it helps.
By the way, I'm a (Southern)California transplant too.
Donna
Rebecca
you might want to check the Oprah website for past episodes. I remember she had Dr.Oz on and he was covering different topics. I want to say soaking the feet for 30 min with tea bags in the water helps with that. I don't think it was any specific tea mentioned to use. I hope this helps. I am pretty sure it works, my co-worker used it for her teenage daughter, and she did not ever comment on her childs foot problem again. Good luck.
Don't gross out. But try having him unrinate on his feet. My husband had the same problem and I heard of this remedy on one of the daytime shows and it did work.
Hi Rebecca! :)
There's this natural "Deodarent rock/crystal" (made from minerals) they sell at health food stores. It works great for armpits AND feet. You just wet the rock and rub it on the freshly cleaned stinky area. Lasts for up to 2 days. Make sure to smell the rock regularly. Sometimes if there is stink still left on your armpits or feet when you use it---it will obsorb teh smell and pass it along the next time you use it. To prevent/stop it, just run the rock under water while rubbing it for a few seconds.