What Causes Foot Odor?

Foot sweat causes foot odor, right? Well, not exactly. The story behind foot odor is a little less simple than sweat equals odor, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true, and the best way to combat foot odor is to learn a little bit about what exactly causes it and what you can do to allow your feet to smell better starting as soon as today!

One common misconception is that foot odor is something that you just have to deal with, and that if you work a job or play a sport that requires you to work your feet hard, foot odor is just another par for the course part of the entire experience. Not only is this not true, but it really is something you have complete control over, you just have to get a little better acquainted with the science behind it.

The sweat that comes from your body actually has very little to no scent, no matter where it comes from. While it may seem like your underarms, for instance, do emit an odor when you sweat, this is actually due to bacteria which eat proteins in sweat coming from apocrine sweat glands like those under your arms, but your feet have very different types of glands. The glands on your feet are eccrine glands, which don’t emit proteins delicious to bacteria, so what causes foot odor?

What the bacteria on the feet, like Brevibacterium Linens, like to eat, rather than proteins emitted from apocrine sweat glands, is dead skin, and excess moisture creates the perfect situation for this type of bacteria. With a moist environment like feet nestled into socks all day, skin is soft and like to suffer, so the bacteria have plenty to feast upon while your feet create an ideal atmosphere for this bacteria to survive. The bacteria eating the very thin and unnoticeable layers of dead skin is what creates foot odor, and there is a way to get a good handle on this bacteria no matter what you may put your feet through.

Socks with Copper Oxide are socks that can help to combat bacteria on the feet, and with bacteria backing down, your foot odor will back down, too. With added moisture wicking properties, any bacteria left on the feet won’t have the moisture they need to survive and obtain their food source, so you can have double the protection from the foot odor you don’t want.