Sweating is a normal process of the body to cool down. Thermoregulation is important for body processes to work. Stress and emotional behaviors also cause the body to sweat. Sweat quickly evaporates because of air. When sweat becomes trapped, it creates a moist environment conducive for fungi to grow. This happens with the condition of plantar hyperhidrosis which leads to toenail fungus.
Plantar hyperhydrosis or “sweaty feet’ is the condition wherein the soles of the feet perspires excessively. Plantar hyperhydrosis has been noted to increase incidence of nail fungus. In other cases, athlete’s foot occurs.
These are conditions that cause sweaty feet.
- There are certain individuals who sweat profusely and this can be genetic. The trait of having excessive sweat can be the same to a parent or family member.
- Locomotion makes the muscles move. The usage of energy allows the feet to sweat.
- Food can also make you sweat. Eating spicy and hot food triggers the glands to perspire.
- Using of enclosed footwear brings moisture in the feet since the sweat can’t evaporate. Using of socks keep the feet moist too.
Sweaty Feet and Toenail Fungus
So what happens if you have sweaty feet all the time? Of course, the feet will stink. After a long day at work, you get home, remove your socks and you smell the stink from your feet, socks and shoes. This happens because the moisture stays in the feet and can’t disperse because there’s no circulation of air. Salts from sweat, dead skin and microorganism combine together. The skin on the toes and nail also becomes wet. This repeatedly becomes the breeding ground to fungi. Nails start to discolor and skin becomes pink. Fungal infection develops and progresses further when ignored.
Dealing with Sweaty Feet
Sweaty feet can be dealt in many ways. You just have to make adjustments in your lifestyle. For open-toed shoes, it won’t be much of a problem since the sweat will just easily cool off. The problem is for closed shoes. Here are things you can do if you really need to wear closed shoes:
- Have 2 or 3 shoes to be alternated everyday. This allows the shoes you used yesterday to dry up. This is one good technique also to make your shoes last longer by reducing wear and tear.
- Some studies have been promoting to use nylon and cotton socks. These materials absorb sweat and can easily wet. There are socks made from wool now that will not wet easily. These are more expensive but also good to use.
- Antiperspirant or foot powders with anti-fungal components are your best friend. These products will minimize sweat in the feet and also stop fungi from infecting. Natural anti-fungal solutions can also help too. These contain moisturizing oils that condition the skin and nails and also fight the fungi. There are strong antiperspirants like aluminum hyrdroxide that effectively stops sweating and is recommended for hyperhidrosis.
- For a more aggressive relief from sweating, a surgery is made on the sympathetic nerve of the body part that is profusely sweating. This procedure is called sympathotomy and will definitely stop sweating.
Having sweaty feet is never cool especially when you have plantar hyperhidrosis. This will just put you in being infected often with toenail fungus and athlete’s foot. Control sweating and your risk of having the infection becomes low.