What can I do to stop my feet smelling

asks ollie:
A. In the course of a day, the average human foot gives off half a cup of sweat, so it's important to give feet the chance to breathe.

Q. What, take my shoes off
A. Yes, the smell is usually caused by the build-up of bacteria that live off sweat: they produce gases which cause the smell. You need to take shoes off as much as you can. Any footwear with plastic or synthetic linings, such as trainers, won't allow the sweat to evaporate, so your feet stay wet.

Q. Not sure if I can live without my trainers...
A. Trainers are legendary for their ability to create smelly feet - witness the thousands of pairs that spend the night on sills outside teenage bedroom windows.

Q. Anything else that might help
A. Yes, buy charcoal insoles, which help absorb the sweat. And wear 100% cotton or woollen socks - change them twice a day if you need to - and wash them on the hottest cycle possible. And there are various things you can do to your feet.

Q. What are they
A. Use an anti-bacterial soap. Buy a foot lotion designed for smelly feet - one containing peppermint might help. Try soaking your feet in a solution of bicarbonate of soda. Or add a couple of drops of essential oil, such as rosemary or tea tree, to a footbath every morning.

Q. Are there any other reasons for smelly feet
A. Yes. Some naturopaths believe that digestive problems - caused by eating a diet high in meat, dairy products and biscuits - can cause food to hang around the body for far too long, causing bad breath and smelly feet. Another trigger (those without a strong stomach should stop reading here) is bacteria called corynebacteria, which eat at the thick skin on the feet creating hundreds of tiny holes like woodworm. This one may require an antibiotic cream.

Q. Can I start reading again
A. Yes, we'll get a little hi-tech now. New innovations to deal with smelly feet include a shoe box for trainers that has a built-in nitric oxide deodoriser (human skin naturally produces the gas to kill bacteria, but the system often breaks down when it comes to the feet). And microfibre socks, which use a new technology called micro-encapsulation: this bonds bubbles of practically anything to the fibres. Marks & Spencer used it at Christmas to create scented socks ('cut grass', 'lavender', 'seaside'), so if you were given a pair for Christmas, maybe someone was trying to tell you something...

Do you have a tip for smelly feet Please give it here.

By Sheena Miller