Quick & Handy Home Remedies: Find practical, affordable ways to deal with some of life's most common ailments, proving that getting back to the basics has its reward. Only $16.95 +s/h
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Q. My 17-year-old daughter has very smelly feet. I convinced her to try the urine trick, and IT WORKED! Her foot odor is completely gone!
A. We have heard from veterans that urinating on smelly feet can help clear up athletes’ foot as well as foot odor.
Another possibility involves zinc supplements. Here is one reader’s story: “About 8 years ago, my then 12-year-old son had terrible foot odor. It finally stopped when I read in your column to try zinc. We bought generic zinc tablets and within a week we saw dramatic improvement with just one tablet daily.”
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Regarding your approval of urinating on your feet as a help against foot odor, I read in Baltimore's City Paper (weekly column "The Straight Dope") that it doesn't really help. A couple of the key points were that most people would do this remedy in the shower. The flow of water and dilution would quickly eliminate any benefits. Also, the amount of the chemical in urine you sited as causing the reaction that would fight foot odor is insufficient to have any noticable effect. You would really have to soak feet in urine to possibly be effective but that would be really oogi.
I have put boric acid in my shoes, and it has worked miracles. Is it safe?
From the 1960s to the 1980s, I had the worst case of smelly, athlete's foot that I have ever seen - and that is saying something, because I am a doctor and I have seen - and smelled - many.
The fungus also caused deep, bleeding fissures in the soles of my feet and between my toes. I tried everything, Grisactin, Grisofulvin, Gentian Violate, Clorox, Absorbine Jr., Tinactin (Tolnaftate), Desenex liquid and powder, white socks... etc.
In the early 1990s, my mother suggested white vinegar foot soaks. I purchased a gallon and a small basin and I began soaking my feet twice a day. I dried my feet WITHOUT RINSING and dusted my socks with Desenex powder. The fissures stung initially, but the itching and the smell began to fade almost immediately.
Today - at least 20 years later - I continue this regimen several times a week and I have "Poster Feet", no smell, no athlete's foot.
Points:
1. Only the vinegar that is in contact with your feet has any effect; you don't need to use more than a half-cup at a time.
2. Initially, I soaked twice a day for 5 - 10 minutes while sitting on the pot or while reading a book.
3. Use the vinegar full Strength, do not rinse it off.
LS