Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. Sockless shoe fashions are temptingly simple and care free, but medical professionals want you to know that you could be putting your feet at risk. But we spoke with Dr John Chisholm, a dietrist and the president of the California Podiatric Medical Association. Chisholm, like most foot doctors, is a big fan of socks. He
says that socks serve two important functions. They reduce friction between the shoe and the skin, which prevents blisters and abrasions, and they provide a physical barrier between the foot and the microbial petrie dish that is a sweaty closed shoe. Chisholm said, if you were to take a scraping off of a well worn leather shoe, you'd find it's a zoo of microorganisms that can cause disease in the human foot.
He notes that the number one threat is the athletes foot fungus, which he said likes places that are dark, warm, and don't have a lot of air circulation, like the inside of a shoe. Chill notes that the athletes foot Fungus is not only the cause of the classic raw scaly patches between the toes, but also of most to nail fungal outbreaks. Socks can stave off athletes foot in
two ways. First, they prevent the fungus from transferring directly from the shoe material to the skin or nail, and second, socks stop sweat from pooling the shoe by absorbing and wicking sweat up the ankle and calf where it can evaporate. If you're going sockless entirely for fashion reasons, there's a simple solution no show socks. These extra low cut dress and athletic socks are designed to stay hidden below the shoe line while providing protection against blisters and sweaty feet.
Previously only available for the ladies, there are now lots of no show socks designed just for men. But of course some people can't stand the feeling of socks on their feet, and since it's not saying the weather year round in most places, you need to learn how to keep those paws healthy inside of posed toe shoes. First, a word about shoe powders. A light dusting of talcum powder directly on the foot will keep things dry for a while, but she Shulman says you should never pour
powder into the shoe itself. It just piles up and soaks in sweat, trapping it in the shoe. If you're prone to athletes foot, try an antifungal powder next. Keep your sockless shoes on a rotation. Give each pair twenty four to forty eight hours to air out and dry out between sockless sessions. The longer the rest, the better. Shulman says wearing shoes day after day without socks would be like wearing your underwear day after day without washing them.
But the coolest solution, hands down is the stair a shoe Ultra violet sterilizing device. This handy gadget can be slipped into your shoe and uses UV light to kill nine percent of fungal and odor causing microbes in a
forty five minute treatment cycle. The stair shoe isn't cheap, so if you're looking for a more cost effective way to eradicate microbes in your shoes, try a disinfecting spray sold expressly for shoes, not lisol or similar household disinfectants, though, because they're not supposed to be in contact with the skin. Today's episode was written by Dave Ruse and produced by Tyler Clang. The brain Stuff is a production of I
Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other practical topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com, and for more podcast from my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.