tintagle
06-27-2009, 02:00 PM
In my local paper this week there appeared this short column by a podiatrist entitled “Nowhere to Go”:
"Why do feet have a stronger odor than the rest of the body? With over 250,000 sweat glands each, feet are among the most perspiring parts of the body. In one day, each foot can produce more than a pint of sweat. Basically just salt and water, sweat doesn’t have a distinctive smell. The smell is actually caused by bacteria on the skin that eat the sweat and excrete waste that has a strong odor. The sweat our feet excrete can’t easily escape into the air like the sweat our hands excrete – it all collects on our skin and in our socks. Some people’s feet smell worse than others because some people sweat more than other people.
"P.S. Always wear socks, preferably made of cotton or other absorbent materials, that absorb a lot of sweat so that bacteria can’t feed on it."
[Poster’s Note] I suppose many here won’t be interested in that final directive!
"Why do feet have a stronger odor than the rest of the body? With over 250,000 sweat glands each, feet are among the most perspiring parts of the body. In one day, each foot can produce more than a pint of sweat. Basically just salt and water, sweat doesn’t have a distinctive smell. The smell is actually caused by bacteria on the skin that eat the sweat and excrete waste that has a strong odor. The sweat our feet excrete can’t easily escape into the air like the sweat our hands excrete – it all collects on our skin and in our socks. Some people’s feet smell worse than others because some people sweat more than other people.
"P.S. Always wear socks, preferably made of cotton or other absorbent materials, that absorb a lot of sweat so that bacteria can’t feed on it."
[Poster’s Note] I suppose many here won’t be interested in that final directive!