Walking barefoot?

Many people enjoy going without the encumbrance of shoes and walking barefoot. Your feet may be made for walking, but walking barefoot isn’t always a good idea – especially in public places.

Walking outside under controlled conditions, in your own, well-maintained yard, may be fine. However, walking around outside in public while barefoot can be hazardous to your health.

Hot Surfaces Can Hurt the Feet

The pads of your feet are sensitive. Walking on hot sidewalks, hot asphalt, or hot concrete parking lots can burn your feet. Even strolling on a hot sandy beach can cause injury to the soles of your feet, causing them to burn and blister. Houston’s Foot Doc Sherman Nagler treats blistering feet.

Even if you try to skip along quickly, trying to avoid letting your feet touch the hot surfaces too much, you may not realize until later how badly the heat is affecting your unprotected feet and toes. Plus, heat makes the skin softer and therefore more prone to injury – so if you step on a hard or sharp object while walking barefoot in public, it is more likely to pierce the skin of your foot.

Walking on Hazardous Surfaces

Whereas walking in your own yard is one thing – because you are privy to the layout of the yard and you know where the hazards are located – walking barefoot in public territory heightens the risk of injury to the foot.

Outdoor public areas can be littered with broken glass, metal, or hazardous liquids. Don’t run the risk of harming your feet on glass, a rusty nail, or worse.

Dangerous Bacteria Can Cause Foot Infections

Going barefoot in public places introduces your feet to bacteria and fungi. These organisms can enter the foot through tiny cracks or cuts in your skin, and can negatively impact your podiatric health.

Fungus of the foot, also known as athlete’s foot, is an uncomfortable condition and can lead to infection. To avoid fungal infections, avoid walking barefoot in public restrooms, public showers, poolside dressing rooms, and bathhouses – all of which present the perfect environment for growing fungi that can infect the skin.

Call Nagler Foot Center With all Foot Ailments. 713.529.1010