What are the causes of children’s foot odor?

It is very common for children to have smelly feet, and it is often complicated by hyperhidrosis. The reasons include humid environment, closed space, proliferation of bacteria and mold, and excessively thick cuticles. Parents should fully understand the cause of their children's foot odor before conducting scientific treatment. Using oxytetracycline and lemon juice can produce good results.

1. What should I do if my child has smelly feet?

Self-treatment precautions:

(1) Pay attention to cleanliness, keep your skin dry, keep your feet clean, wash them several times a day, and change your socks frequently.

(2) It is not advisable to wear non-breathable shoes such as sports shoes and hiking shoes to avoid excessive foot sweating and worsening foot odor.

(3) Actively eliminate the inducing factors, such as foot sweating, athlete's foot, etc.

(4) Avoid eating foods that can easily induce sweating, such as hot peppers, raw onions, raw garlic, etc.

(5) Keep calm. Excitement can easily induce excessive sweating and worsen foot odor.

(6) This disease is mainly treated with external treatment.

Self-therapy:

(1) Soak your feet in 50-60℃ hot water for several times, 15 minutes each time, 1-2 times a day.

(2) Use a heavy object to flatten the loofah and make it into insoles to remove foot odor caused by sweat.

(3) Grind 15 grams of Pueraria root into fine powder, add 15 grams of white wine and an appropriate amount of water, boil it and then wash your feet with it. Do this once a day. After one week, the foot odor caused by foot sweat can be eliminated.

(4) When washing your feet, add 10-15 ml of rice vinegar to the water, mix well, and soak your feet for about 15 minutes. Do this once a day for 3-5 days and the foot odor will disappear.

(5) When washing your feet, add 50 grams of alum to hot water and soak for about 10 minutes to remove foot odor.

2. Specific reasons for children's foot odor

1. Humid environment: The soles of the feet are a sweaty environment. There are more than 600 sweat glands per square centimeter on the soles of the feet, which is 2 to 4 times more than other parts of the body. There are a total of more than 250,000 sweat glands that can secrete nearly 500 ml of sweat a day. In addition to water and salt, sweat also contains lactic acid and urea. When the moisture content is high, it is very conducive to the growth and reproduction of bacteria and mold.

2. Stuffy and enclosed space: When shoes are worn tightly and have poor ventilation, in addition to increasing moisture, the pH value on the skin surface will change from the original pH 4.4 to around pH 7, and carbon dioxide gas will be released. This environment is most suitable for the growth of certain bacteria on the soles of the feet.

3. Bacterial growth: The combined effect of the first and second factors causes the growth of bacteria on the foot skin. These bacteria can decompose the keratin in the skin and the urea and lactic acid components in the foot sweat to form various metabolites with odor, such as

(1) Brevi Bacterium can decompose methione, a component of keratin, into methyl mercaptan. The smell of this metabolite is very similar to the smell of fermented cheese.

(2) The fat components in sebum are broken down by Staphylococcus aureus to form short-chain fatty acids.

(3) Urea in sweat is broken down into ammonia by bacteria.

When these odors are mixed together and tightly trapped in non-breathable socks, they will form unpleasant foot odor.

4. Fungal reproduction: A hot and humid environment will cause fungus to grow and cause foot odor, commonly known as athlete's foot. The symptoms of athlete's foot are very diverse, and not all athlete's feet have a bad smell. The type of athlete's foot that is most likely to cause foot odor is the type where the skin between the toes is wet and rotten, and the foot odor is the most serious.

5. Excessively thick old keratin: Excessively thick old keratin, under the infiltration of sweat, will become a source of nutrition required by bacteria and mold, promote the proliferation and reproduction of bacteria and mold, and worsen the formation of foot odor.

3. Folk remedies to combat children’s foot odor

1. Foot odor removal products

Nowadays, drugstores and supermarkets sell products to remove foot odor, such as anti-foot odor insoles, anti-foot odor spray, foot odor removal spray or powder. These are the simplest ways to quickly remove foot odor. Just spray them into your shoes and use an anti-odor insole, which will have a good effect. However, this method also has disadvantages. The anti-odor insoles need to be replaced frequently, which only treats the symptoms and not the root cause.

2. Oxytetracycline

For foot odor caused by athlete's foot, you can try oxytetracycline. The method is very simple. Grind oxytetracycline into powder and then apply it between our toes. Use it every day, 1 or 2 tablets each time. If you persist for half a month, it will have a good deodorizing effect.

3. Rub your feet with lemon juice

Everyone knows the benefits of lemon juice. Not only can you drink it, it can also treat your foot odor! It has the effect of sterilization and disinfection.

People with foot odor can take a lemon, squeeze the juice and pour in 50 ml of water, and use the lemon juice to rub their feet to remove foot odor.

4. Soak your feet in tea

Some people would suggest putting tea leaves in shoes. Yes, tea leaves have the effect of absorbing odors. Putting them in shoes can remove the odor of shoes. At the same time, you can use tea water to soak your feet, which will also have the effect of removing foot odor. Method: Put tea leaves in water, boil it and use it to soak your feet. You can also add some salt to the tea water, which can not only remove odors but also kill bacteria, doubling the effect.

5. Winter melon peel

When eating winter melon, we will peel off the skin. In fact, the skin of winter melon has many functions. It can eliminate dampness, relieve heat, strengthen the spleen, and treat athlete's foot. Boil winter melon peel in water and use it to wash your feet to remove foot odor.

4. Ways to prevent children’s foot odor

Drug prevention

If you sweat excessively all over your body, you can take a small amount of atropine or belladonna mixture. For people with excessive foot sweating, wash your feet with warm water before going to bed every night, and then apply 20% aluminum chloride solution, 20% hexamethylenetetramine solution, or 5% formalin solution externally. Reduce foot sweat secretion and keep feet dry.

Foot hygiene

1. Maintaining good foot hygiene to reduce bacterial growth is a good start: Soak and rinse your feet with warm water and mild soap at least once a day. For example, a good practice is to wash your feet immediately after taking off your shoes and socks when you get home, and then dry your feet thoroughly, especially between the toes, to reduce sweat and excess moisture.

2. Sprinkling talcum powder on your feet can help keep your feet dry.

3. Apply antiperspirant on your feet to reduce sweating.

4. Take off your shoes and socks as much as possible or wear sandals to allow the skin of your feet to breathe.

5. Make sure your shoes are the right size and give your feet plenty of rest, as excessive pressure on the feet can increase sweating.

6. Keep your body cool, especially on hot days, because high body temperature will make you sweat more all over your body (including your feet).