My son has very sweaty feet and now I read about cedar soles. Do you have experience with this or do you have other advice? It is sometimes so bad that pits fall in the soles of his feet. If you have any other advice, I’d love to hear it from you.
Klazien
Sepp Mortelmans, podiatrist:
Sweaty feet, many people sometimes suffer from it. Excessive, intermittent or continuous sweating, especially of the armpits, palms and soles, is known as hyperhidrosis.
Apocrine and eccrine sweat glands
The sweat fluid is supplied by two types of sweat glands: apocrine sweat glands (exit on a hair follicle), eccrine sweat glands (exit directly on the skin).
The eccrine sweat glands are involved in thermo (heat) regulation and they therefore secrete the real sweat moisture. In an adult, the foot can produce half a liter of sweat in one day. When the sweat evaporates, the feet are cooled, so that normal body temperature is maintained. The eccrine sweat glands on the palms and soles also provide a better grip.
Cause
The number of sweat glands varies from 120 per square centimeter to a maximum of 620 per square centimeter on the sole of the foot with a total of 2 to 5 million. It is important to determine the cause of the excessive perspiration as best as possible. This can be a certain hereditary predisposition or a physical problem, for example obesity, menopause, diabetes, increased thyroid function, or as a side effect of using certain medicines.
Also, sweating is aggravated by physical exertion, mental concentration, nervousness, anxiety or a warm temperature.
Another cause can be the wrong shoes or socks. When the foot comes into direct contact with the shoe, this will more likely cause sweaty feet, because the moisture has nowhere to go.
Bacteria culprits
Excessive sweating is unpleasant, the humidity is annoying. The unpleasant smell of sweaty feet is often the biggest problem. Almost everyone thinks that the overproduction of perspiration is the cause. This is not true, perspiration itself is odorless. The culprits are the bacteria that live on your feet, they form a chemical bond with the sweat, giving off an odor and making your feet smelly. The bacteria prefer to live in a moist environment, so the more you sweat, the more bacteria will remain on your feet. This makes the skin vulnerable, which can easily lead to fungal and bacterial infections.
There are many remedies for sweaty feet on the market. What works well for one person may not work for another. The effect of a product also depends on whether it tackles the cause of sweaty feet. And this can be different for everyone. But if your feet remain very damp and the smell continues to be unpleasant, and if nothing really helps, see your doctor or a dermatologist.
Advice
Below are some advices:
- Provide adequate ventilation.
- Lubricate the foot with a deodorant. Just like armpit perspiration, foot perspiration can be counteracted by a deodorant. The active ingredient in a deodorant is aluminum chloride. This can simply be made at the pharmacy. A greater concentration should be used for the foot than in a normal deodorant. 15 percent is a good concentration.
- Try pedi-care ointment (not the cream) available at the drugstore.
- Rub the feet with camphor spirit. This smells very strong, but there are many positive reactions to it. Available at the pharmacy.
- Look at socks and footwear. It often helps to pay attention to what kind of shoes or socks you wear. Preferably shoes made of leather and socks made of cotton or wool, because they absorb a lot of moisture.
- Ventilate the shoes and the podiatric soles.
- Drink enough, at least 2 liters of water because your skin is an organ that you have to take care of.
- Moderate use of soap. Rinse your feet well and dry your feet well after showering. Don’t wear your shoes right away.
- Moderate the use of pungent herbs (enhance fragrance) and liquor (enhance perspiration).
- Search the internet for the word ‘hyperhydrosis’. Several websites will inform about excessive perspiration.
