Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. Sockless shoe fashions are
Speaker 1: temptingly simple and care free, but medical professionals want you
Speaker 1: to know that you could be putting your feet at risk.
Speaker 1: But we spoke with Dr John Chisholm, a dietrist and
Speaker 1: the president of the California Podiatric Medical Association. Chisholm, like
Speaker 1: most foot doctors, is a big fan of socks. He
Speaker 1: says that socks serve two important functions. They reduce friction
Speaker 1: between the shoe and the skin, which prevents blisters and abrasions,
Speaker 1: and they provide a physical barrier between the foot and
Speaker 1: the microbial petrie dish that is a sweaty closed shoe.
Speaker 1: Chisholm said, if you were to take a scraping off
Speaker 1: of a well worn leather shoe, you'd find it's a
Speaker 1: zoo of microorganisms that can cause disease in the human foot.
Speaker 1: He notes that the number one threat is the athletes
Speaker 1: foot fungus, which he said likes places that are dark, warm,
Speaker 1: and don't have a lot of air circulation, like the
Speaker 1: inside of a shoe. Chill notes that the athletes foot
Speaker 1: Fungus is not only the cause of the classic raw
Speaker 1: scaly patches between the toes, but also of most to
Speaker 1: nail fungal outbreaks. Socks can stave off athletes foot in
Speaker 1: two ways. First, they prevent the fungus from transferring directly
Speaker 1: from the shoe material to the skin or nail, and second,
Speaker 1: socks stop sweat from pooling the shoe by absorbing and
Speaker 1: wicking sweat up the ankle and calf where it can evaporate.
Speaker 1: If you're going sockless entirely for fashion reasons, there's a
Speaker 1: simple solution no show socks. These extra low cut dress
Speaker 1: and athletic socks are designed to stay hidden below the
Speaker 1: shoe line while providing protection against blisters and sweaty feet.
Speaker 1: Previously only available for the ladies, there are now lots
Speaker 1: of no show socks designed just for men. But of
Speaker 1: course some people can't stand the feeling of socks on
Speaker 1: their feet, and since it's not saying the weather year
Speaker 1: round in most places, you need to learn how to
Speaker 1: keep those paws healthy inside of posed toe shoes. First,
Speaker 1: a word about shoe powders. A light dusting of talcum
Speaker 1: powder directly on the foot will keep things dry for
Speaker 1: a while, but she Shulman says you should never pour
Speaker 1: powder into the shoe itself. It just piles up and
Speaker 1: soaks in sweat, trapping it in the shoe. If you're
Speaker 1: prone to athletes foot, try an antifungal powder next. Keep
Speaker 1: your sockless shoes on a rotation. Give each pair twenty
Speaker 1: four to forty eight hours to air out and dry
Speaker 1: out between sockless sessions. The longer the rest, the better.
Speaker 1: Shulman says wearing shoes day after day without socks would
Speaker 1: be like wearing your underwear day after day without washing them.
Speaker 1: But the coolest solution, hands down is the stair a
Speaker 1: shoe Ultra violet sterilizing device. This handy gadget can be
Speaker 1: slipped into your shoe and uses UV light to kill
Speaker 1: nine percent of fungal and odor causing microbes in a
Speaker 1: forty five minute treatment cycle. The stair shoe isn't cheap,
Speaker 1: so if you're looking for a more cost effective way
Speaker 1: to eradicate microbes in your shoes, try a disinfecting spray
Speaker 1: sold expressly for shoes, not lisol or similar household disinfectants, though,
Speaker 1: because they're not supposed to be in contact with the skin.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Dave Ruse and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. The brain Stuff is a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and
Speaker 1: lots of other practical topics, visit our home planet, how
Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com, and for more podcast from my
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