Skip to content

Bromodosis

Among the more wonderful medical words is bromodosis, the fancy word for smelly feet. Most likely there is some boring explanation from either ancient Greek or Latin but—let’s not spoil the fun.

Anyway, the smell is produced by bacteria eating chemicals in your sweat. You can mostly eliminate it with benzoyl peroxide, the over-the-counter anti-acne medication. As a gel, it's quick but can bleach your socks.

Easier on the socks but more time consuming is to use a 2% (gentler) or 5% (more potent) benzoyl peroxide wash. Dry your feet after a shower, apply and leave on for a minute or two and rinse off. You may need to apply some moisturizer after. It's a process.