Why do my feet smell like popcorn?

Why does my sisters feet smell so bad?

• Last week I came home late and realized I left something in my sisters room. When I went in her room she was asleep and what I needed to get was by her bed so as I was picking it up I couldn't help but notice how awful her feet smelled. So I thought well that's ok, tomorrow they shouldn't smell as bad. So the next day I waited until my sister was asleep in her room and then I went in there to smell her feet. But they smelled just as bad (if not, worse) than the previous night. I did this (snuck into her room and smelled her feet) for the rest of the week but every night they always smelled the same. What do you think is wrong with her feet? Could she be getting some sort of a disease on her feet that make them smell so bad. I'm really worried, my sisters only 13, I'm scared that if she is getting a disease she may have to get her feet amputated and then she will never be able to live a normal life. Do you think she will be alright, or is she getting some kind of a foot disease?

• Answer:

  Foot [and armpit] stink is caused by bacteria interacting with sweat and hormones on our skins surface. You have nothing to worry about, your sister's foot stink is perfectly normal. Especially since she is just turning into a teenager. She may not have had such rank feet before, but now, because of hormone fluctuation from becoming a adolescent which results in the smelly interaction of sweat and bacteria, her feet smell like butt. She'll be fine. If she complains of having itchy/burning feet she may have athlete's foot, but that is also non-serious and extremely common- you can purchase a medicated foot powder to cure it at your local drugstore. If her shoes/socks smell really bad, you can also pick up some Goldbond foot/body powder [also availible at your local drugstore] and sprinkle it inside either one which will help combat the smell and will help keep her feet cool.