Horrendous Foot Odor.

My husband has horrendous foot odor. Room clearing, rotten cheese smelling odor. It has gotten worse over the years. He uses a foot cream half the time and it works but then he has to take a couple weeks off because his feet get dry and cracked. He uses clean cotton socks, washes and dries his feet daily, wears well ventilated shoes when he can, etc. Should he see a doctor? Is there a possible underlying and treatable condition?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Although perspiration is basically odorless, it can take on an unpleasant smell when it comes into contact with bacteria on your skin. Most often, it's the bacterial breakdown of apocrine sweat that causes a strong odor.

The other reason could be a fungal infection of the skin. To check whether it is a fungal infection or not, you can get a KOH examination of the skin scrapings and fungal culture done.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.