There are people who are known for how bad their feet smell. Numerous studies have indicated that the balance between the bacteria that inhabit our skin, in combination with its pH , ensure the absence of odor.
An insidious fight between them ensures that no colony of bacteria has an excessive predominance over another. Thus, we have, for example, bacteria that are more typical of the armpits and groin, but that within normal limits do not produce any excessive odor as long as the minimum hygiene conditions are maintained. But when, for various reasons, these conditions of “harmony” are broken in favor of some types of bacteria over others , or by inoculation of bacteria that are not typical of that skin region, an imbalance occurs.
During that fight, the dead bacteria will be the ones that produce precisely the bad smell. And in the foot this happens relatively frequently. Another cause of bad smell in the foot originates from keeping it in dark conditions, little oxygenation and a warm temperature inside our socks and shoes , ideal factors for an infection to occur.
Stress, a very acidic skin pH or the use of certain gels with chemical compounds can cause bacterial death and with it, bad odor. Another cause of bad foot odor is poor hygiene , which causes the number of the predominant bacteria to increase over others.
Ultimately, fungi, which are microorganisms other than bacteria, are also capable of causing bad odor.
Rubén Sánchez-Gómez is a researcher at UCM-URJC and directs the Pododinámica clinic
