Our feet are a lair of bacteria and mushrooms – in particular the humid spaces between the fingers, where up to 1,000 species of different microorganisms are nestled. A square centimeter of human foot skin houses from 100 to 10 million microbial cells. These silent residents do not stop on our skin, but move on to what we wear: that’s why, remember in an article of The Conversation Primrose freestone, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Leicester, it is essential to wash the socks well and change them daily to prevent skin infections.
Mushrooms and (feet of) athletes. The incredible biodiversity of socks is not only influenced by our body, but also by the environment that trample: the fabric collects microbes from every surface – from the home floors to the mats and the changing rooms of the gym. One of the most widespread infections in this body of the body, caused by a mushroom that loves the humid and warm environments typical of sweaty socks and sneakers, is the Tinea Pedis (commonly known as the athlete foot), a mycosis often located between the fingers whose symptoms include itching, desquamation, redness and, in some cases, blisters and pain.
The advice of the experts to avoid infecting are intuitive: do not walk barefoot in public places and shared such as gyms and swimming pools, do not share socks, towels or shoes with any socks, and wash feet and socks well. The latter, however, deserves an extra study, because probably many of us do not wash the socks in the correct way.
Foot washing guide. Science tells us that a classic washing at 30-40 ° C is not enough to eradicate mushrooms and bacteria: better to raise the temperature at 60 ° C, turn the socks so that the richest part of microbes (the internal one) is well exposed, and use an enzymatic detergent, which helps to eliminate the remains of skin and sweat. Finally dry very well (better if in the sun).
