SHOPPING FOR SHOES WHILE BAREFOOT CAN BE HAZARDOUS

posted: Sep. 07, 2018.

A mother’s warning about back-to-school shopping has gone viral after her daughter developed a serious infection and nearly died after trying on shoes at a store in the United Kingdom. Grace Torres-Hodges, DPM, a podiatrist in Pensacola, Florida and a spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association, agrees that socks are a good idea while trying on shoes that other people have worn. There’s no way of knowing where Sienna’s infection came from, she says, but it’s not a stretch to say that shoes can harbor all sorts of unhealthy microbes.

 

Dr. Grace Torres-Hodges

 

 

“Bacteria can lead to cellulitis, fungus can lead to athlete’s foot or nail infections, and viruses can lead to warts,” Dr. Torres-Hodges says. “When you see commercials for Clorox or Lysol about what’s living on surfaces, those same germs can absolutely live in shoes.”

 

Amanda MacMillan, Health [9/4/18]  

 

Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News.

 

Brought to you by Doctor John A. Hardy, owner of Toronto's foot clinic, Academy Foot and Orthotic Clinics.