Sweaty, smelly feet can be extremely embarrassing on a daily basis. Not only is having sweaty, soggy feet uncomfortable, but it can create anxiety for a lot of people.
Just the thought of taking your shoes off can be enough to trigger a perspiration episode!
Ahead, we’ll give you some tips on how to stop sweaty feet from happening, how to treat sweaty feet, and how to identify the underlying problems.
6 Ways to Prevent Sweaty Feet
- Use a Quality Natural Deodorant
- Evaluate Your Sock Selections
- Pick Your Shoes Wisely
- Drink More Water
- Change Your Diet
- Consider Medical Procedures
Preventing Sweaty Feet
Preventing sweaty feet is the name of the game, especially if you suffer from hyperhidrosis. This condition is marked by excessive activation of your sweat glands, which you may have if you find your feet sweating regularly.
Here are a few tips you can use to help prevent sweaty feet from developing in the first place.
Step One: Try Natural Deodorant
Natural deodorants is almost always going to be our first recommendation when it comes to preventing sweat anywhere on the body – including the feet.
While this natural deodorant may have been created with your underarms in mind, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it anywhere else on your body.
You can use natural deodorants in any of your troubled areas, including your hands, forehead, and feet.
Apply the deodorant to your feet before you leave for the day. We recommend investing in some spray deodorant for your shoes as well. The ingredients will work on “cleaning” the sweat from your feet, and the deodorant will neutralize any smell they may create.
It’s also a good idea to apply before bed to help prevent sweating episodes while you sleep. Make sure to wash it off in the morning before applying a fresh coat.
You can use deodorant at night for three or four nights in a row. After that, try to transition using it before bed once or twice per week. This should slow down your foot sweat a bit.
Check Your Socks
Those who want to learn how to stop sweaty feet should take extra care when picking the right kind of socks for the occasion.
There are a lot of moisture-wicking sock options on the market for athletes. These socks will help remove the moisture from your skin and are designed to handle someone who is a bit sweatier than average.
Cotton socks will work if you’re in a pinch. But they don’t wick moisture from your skin. Try to buy lightweight cotton socks for emergencies but use moisture wicking materials whenever you can. You’ll be able to tell by the label whether or not your socks will wick moisture.
Although wool socks are a popular option for a lot of people in the winter, that doesn’t mean they’re right for you. As you can imagine, these socks are far warmer than any other kind, which means your feet will likely overheat and start sweating.
Pick Your Shoes Wisely
If you have sweaty feet, you’re going to want to wear sandals whenever you can. Most summer activities will warrant sandals, but you might need to choose something a bit more professional for work.
When sandals aren’t an option, buy shoes with the most breathable fabric you can find. This might mean sacrificing a bit of style, but it’s worth it if you’re trying to prevent uncomfortable and embarrassing sweaty feet.
We also recommend getting your foot sized by a professional. You might be buying shoes that are too small for you, which can cramp your feet and make them sweat more.
When you can, try buying shoes that might feel a bit big on you. This will give your foot more room to breathe and can prevent sweat from building up.
Drink More Water
Drinking water is an easy way to help your body stop sweating so frequently. There are several benefits to staying hydrated, not the least of which is that it lowers your body temperature.
Keeping enough fluids in your body will bring your overall temperature down, cooling you off and preventing your sweat glands from activating so frequently.
This strategy might not be as effective for those who suffer from extreme sweating, but it will certainly help. When you combine hydration with some of our other tips, you might find that the problem solves itself.
Change Your Diet
Changing your diet will take a bit more work than staying hydrated will, but when you combine the two, it’s nearly a guarantee you’ll see some results.
Fast food, junk food, spicy foods, alcohol, and caffeine all cause your body temperature to rise. Caffeine and fast food trigger a rise in heart rate as well, which means more blood is pumping and your body is getting hotter.
The result? Sweat in your socks.
We’ll talk a bit more about identifying the triggers in our final section, but it’s important to understand which foods are causing you to start sweating.
Try replacing your afternoon burger with a salad instead. This will not only improve your overall health, but it will keep your body cool and help prevent excess sweating.
Changing your diet can take a long time and a lot of effort. We recommend making small changes at first – cutting out certain foods, for instance – which add up over time. It’s a lot easier to adjust to one change at a time than a complete dietary overhaul.
Supplementing your diet and replacing bad foods with good ones is another part of this. Fruits and vegetables that have high water content will help keep your body much cooler as well.
You can, for example, use B vitamins as a substitute for coffee. These vitamins give you a boost of natural energy without jitters or a rise in body temperature.
Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins out there, and a troubling number of Americans don’t get enough of it. Take some supplements to help your body reach healthy levels.
Medical Procedures
Several medical procedures prevent sweaty areas of the body. One such procedure – an extreme one – involves cutting nerves around your sweat glands to prevent them from activating. This procedure is not available for your feet, however.
In terms of medical procedures and treatments, you have two solid options at your disposal: Botox injections and oral medication.
Oral medication might seem like the easiest route, but these medications come with side effects as well. Heart palpitations, blurry vision, and other ailments may arise when you start taking medicine to prevent sweat.
Botox injections are the other option you have, which not many people know about. These injections will prevent your sweat glands from receiving the information from your body that causes them to activate.
Several Botox injections into your feet will work for a time, but you’ll need to get the procedure again a year or two later.
It’s worth considering the risks associated with these treatment options, but they’re worth trying if none of our other tips work for you.
Treating Sweaty Feet
Sometimes, prevention isn’t enough. Some of our tips take time to work, which don’t provide a quick-fix for sweating through your socks at work.
Having sweaty feet can be extremely embarrassing, especially if you need to take off your shoes for some reason. Here are a few things you can do to keep your feet dry throughout the day.
- Bring an extra pair of shoes: Keep a fresh pair of shoes in a cool, dry place in case your feet start to sweat.
- Bring extra socks: Anyone who has sweaty feet should always have an extra pair or two of socks with them to nip the problem in the bud.
- Wash Your Feet: Washing your feet rinses sweat and bacteria away while lowering your body temperature.
- Black tea soak: If you’re home, you can soak your feet in some black tea for around 20 minutes to help halt sweaty feet.
- Rubbing alcohol: A dab of rubbing alcohol will dry up the moisture on your feet. Be careful, here, as too much alcohol can irritate the skin.
Identifying the Root Cause
You might be lost as to the reason why your feet are getting so sweaty. It can be difficult to remember the exact situations that triggered sweaty episodes, which is why it’s important to log your daily activities when your sweat starts to roll.
The American Academy of Dermatology recommends logging your sweat episodes in a journal to help identify the problem.
When your feet start to sweat uncontrollably, write it down in your journal accompanied by what was happening and what you ate that day. You might find a triggering factor in your diet that’s causing you to sweat – such as spicy foods or too much coffee.
Likewise, you may find that your sweaty feet or anxiety-induced. Stress and anxiety trigger a “fight or flight” response in your body. This will raise your body temperature and cause you to sweat. If your feet are the sweatiest area of your body, then this “fight or flight” emotion will cause them to start perspiring.
Hopefully, these tips were enough to give you some helpful insight into how to stop sweaty feet. Want to stop sweating in another part of your body? Take a look at another of our perspiration prevention articles!