It happens every day around the world, someone pulls off their shoes and they give off a real pungent odor. It’s not surprising that shoes, socks and feet will smell after a long day of walking, working or playing. While going barefoot is generally not an option, there are admitted advantages in that it allows the skin to stay dry and prevent sweat from accumulating.

However, the smell is an indication that germs, bacteria or fungus is present inside the shoes. This means that having smelly shoes will make your skin vulnerable to certain types of infections which will need to be treated.

What Causes the Smell?

Although the presence of perspiration is the main cause of the smell, it is not the source itself. This is because the sweat acts as the environment for bacteria to grow and multiply with their waste products causing the bad odor to occur. The bacteria is present all over our skin, but they generally do not emit an odor under they are activated with the presence of perspiration.

The front part of the foot around the toes is where most of the bacteria will gather and thus create a stronger odor inside a closed shoe. Socks themselves do not cause any odor as well, but may contribute to how intense the odor is by adding more surface area where the bacteria can thrive.

What Infections Might Result?

As long as the skin is intact, the infections from bacteria are generally few as there is no place of entry. However, there are other conditions that may develop that may include infectious sources outside of bacteria.

Athlete’s Foot: This is one of the most common foot infections caused by fungus that invades the skin. There are many over the counter treatments for Athlete’s Foot and regularly washing your socks and not exposing your bare feet to places where fungus might exist such as

Toe Fungus: Similar to Athlete’s Foot, but instead located under the toenail which makes it more difficult to treat. There are over the counter and prescription products that will rid the nail of the fungus, but you will need to wash your socks and decontaminate your shoes.

Infections: If the skin around your feet or ankles is compromised by a cut, scratch or insect bite, then you become vulnerable to a bacterial infection. You should treat all cuts and abrasions quickly and protect the area with a band-aid or other covering so that the sweat does not allow more bacteria to gather into the open wound.

The best preventative measure is to slip off the shoes before your feet get hot and sweaty. The lack of sweat prevents the bacteria from multiplying. However, using foot powder can also help keep your feet dry as well.

You can treat smelly shoes with a number of different methods to rid them of the bacteria which causes the odor. Washing the inner lining or using a UV shoe sanitizer will get rid of the bacteria buildup and restore your shoes to their normal odor.