In case you aren’t as fashion-forward as I am, I’m here to tell you that it’s very “in” for men to wear their shoes without socks these days…and that trend is causing some BIG problems, especially in England.
The College of Podiatry released warnings earlier this year that wearing shoes without socks is a very bad idea, especially for men, because: “The average feet sweat about half a pint a day. Too much moisture and warmth can lead to fungal infections such as athlete’s foot.”
In fact, they’ve noticed a large jump in fungal foot infections in men, especially those 18-25 who are clearly more interested in looking hip than men in more mature age groups like my own. One article even noted an uptick in incidents of trench foot, which (if you’ve never heard of it) is a serious condition that can leave your feet with:
- blisters
- blotchy skin
- redness
- skin tissue that dies and falls off
- coldness
- heaviness
- numbness
- pain when exposed to heat
- persistent itching
- prickliness
- tingling
The problem is caused by allowing your feet to stay wet for too long (Click here for a truly freaky pic of a serious case of trench foot.) It was a major problem in the trenches of World War I (hence the name) and killed about 75,000 soldiers…but, if you just put your darn socks back on, it shouldn’t really be an issue today.
So do yourselves a favor, guys: choose health over hip and rock those socks with pride!
