Walking around barefoot in the privacy of your own home is a joy for some. But doing so in a public space — such as a dorm room or gym shower area with high foot traffic — means exposing yourself to any number of fungi or bacteria, courtesy of strangers.
As students shuffle their way into new dorm rooms, not to mention student athletes flooding showers and locker rooms, it’s an important time of year to prepare for these potential new health risks. For all the ins and outs of foot care in these types of spaces — and to find out if you’re better off wearing shower shoes — U.S. News spoke with Dr. Dyane Tower, the director of clinical affairs at the American Podiatric Medical Association.
What kinds of infections do I have to be most worried about? Fungal and bacterial infections are the most common types of infections you could pick up. Fungi typically like moist, dark locations — i.e. a shower with the curtain drawn. This fungus could lead to athlete’s foot, a fungal infection that usually begins in between the toes. What’s more: If you go into a shower, and someone with athlete’s foot has used that shower, that person’s skin cells and fungus could still be there.
As for bacteria, any kind could theoretically make its way there. One of the bigger threats these days is community-acquired MRSA, which is an infection people can get when they live in crowded spaces/and or use the same contaminated objects. That’s something that can cause abscesses, which may require antibiotics and drainage.
What do these infections look like? Athlete’s foot typically involves red, flaky skin and can be very itchy. If it’s not flaky, it could also produce a lot of little blisters. It can show up in between the toes and look really moist — pruny, even.
A bacterial infection is usually red, swollen and painful to the touch, and that location can be warmer. Sometimes you actually see drainage like pus or something coming from that area.
If this is going on, have someone take a look at it to triage the situation.
Does the average person have to worry about this? You’re more at risk in a place where you don’t necessarily know or interact with people you’re sharing a shower with. But it’s certainly possible that one of your roommates, for instance, has athlete’s foot that you could pick up. Clean the shower relatively frequently and use products that would disinfect against fungal elements.
On a personal level, make sure you’re taking good care of your feet — i.e. washing them and drying really well in between your toes. Also, don’t put socks on your feet until they’re dry, and make sure your shoes get a chance to dry out in between uses. If you think your feet get moist easily, there are powders you can purchase to use on them.
In theory, a young, healthy person might not get any kind of infection from being barefoot in this kind of situation. But you might not even know you have an open wound like a cut or blister on your foot, so you’d be putting yourself at risk. This is particularly true if you have other medical problems that put you at a greater risk of contracting infections, or if you have a sensitivity toward fungi or mold.
And if you can, wear shower shoes — particularly ones that dry out. Take Tower’s advice to heart: You never know what you might pick up.
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Wear Shower Shoes Unless You Want to Risk an Infection originally appeared on usnews.com
