Favorite Home Remedies: Dozens of amazing treatments for over 45 common health conditions. With drug costs through the roof, why not give a home remedy a try? Only $12.95 +s/h
Guide to Home Remedies: Learn to make your own low-cost remedies at home for only $2
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Q. My son has really smelly feet. He can't take off his shoes when we're in the car or the house, or he stinks us all out. His feet must be covered. (Fresh socks, a blanket or a hazmat response suit all work equally well.)
Even though he's a teenager, he bathes every day so this is not due to bad hygiene. No one else in the family suffers from this ailment. (We suffer enough just from his.) He wears a variety of shoes, but they all smell bad. The ones that he wears more often just smell worse.
We've heard of home remedies that involve soaking in a weak tea or boric acid solution. We have not tried either of these. It is tempting to consider something strong like boric acid. Could you recommend a more measured response to this problem?
A. First, throw out the nastiest smelling shoes. Once they have fungus or bacteria, it can be hard to decontaminate them. Nonetheless, one reader recommends soaking paper towels in rubbing alcohol and placing them in the shoes overnight.
Strong tea soaks (30 minutes daily) can be helpful, if he is patient enough. Five tea bags steeped in a quart of boiling water for 10 minutes and allowed to cool can be used for this foot bath. Skip the boric acid because it is too toxic, especially if he has athlete's foot.
Other foot soaks include baking soda or Epsom salts. We are sending you our Guides to Home Remedies and Solutions for Smelly Feet with additional information on this vexing problem. Anyone who would like copies, please send $3 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. RF-2, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.
Applying antiperspirant to feet can significantly reduce the sweating that stimulates the growth of aroma-producing organisms.
Q. Is there a nutritional 'cure' for longitudinal ridges in fingernails? They seem to be getting more pronounced. My nails are brittle and frequently split. I wonder if I need some type of supplement.
A. Some dermatologists recommend a biotin supplement such as Appearex (made by Merz). Studies have shown improvement in brittle nails with a high dose (2.5 mg).
We have also heard, however, from at least one reader who tried biotin without success:
"I took biotin as recommended by the dermatologist, but it didn't work. My doctor who agreed with the recommendation but said I just needed a multi-vitamin. My blood work showed great results, but the nails were still splitting and not growing.
"I mentioned this to my neighbor, who told me to switch from Scotch and water to gin and tonic. (We have cocktails together occasionally.) I followed her advice and started drinking tonic, with or without gin. Now my nails are great. Maybe it's the quinine in the tonic."
We have no idea if this will work for anyone else, but tonic water is a low-cost approach.
Q. I've heard that some vitamin was found helpful in preventing falls in older people by strengthening the muscles. Could you please tell me which it was? My father is 88 and I would love to tell him about it.
A. Vitamin D is the nutrient. Research in the Journal of the American Medical Association (April 28, 2004) suggests that regular supplementation of vitamin D can reduce the risk of falls in elderly people.
