Ya know the whole barefooting thing is cool, I think I get it But you walk around all day getting all kinds of germs on your feet Hep A,B, and maybe C. or the aids virus, Hell who knows there are so many bad germs out there, then you step on a sharp object and the germs are all ready at the cut. Does anyone think about this? Im sorry if this is a repete question, Damn germs anyway. Any comments? Would I be a poser if I wore flip flops? I would feel safer.
Why do shoes and shoe-wearing feet and socks stink? Because they are soaked in germs. Shoes create an enclosed space where the feet cannot air out and the sweat builds up. This warm, moist environment causes germs to multiply in great numbers. Bare feet stay dry and never smell like this, and have much much fewer germs. I happen to have a germ phobia and guess what? I never wear shoes and have never had an infection on my feet since going barefoot. However, back when I was a kid, I always wore shoes and my feet stank bad. They also got infected every time I had a small scratch, cut, or blister. Now that my feet are really tough from going barefoot all the time, I never get injuries of any sort. I feel WAY more hygenic going barefoot, especially in the wilderness or on hot summer days when the pavement is so hot that germs cannot survive. By the way, flip flops and sandals still cause germs to multiply. It is really best to go barefoot. Only place I don't like going barefoot are gross public bathrooms and overpopulated cities. Too much humanity = too much filth.
I believe you have your germs/viruses slighly confused as to their survival outside the human body. I do know you won't read many responses here based on sound Medical/practical Logic. Yes, I was brought up/am still going barefooted w/a touch of Common Sense. Edit: I was mistaken - I'm reading more Common Sense than the last time the subject was addressed. I guess the flu season recs sank into a few Folks (washing hands/keeping hands out of mouth/eyes/nose)...*c* As for barefooting in public restrooms/motel rooms - Thanks but no Thanks.
Samething goes for hands. But at least with feet your not touching your face with them like you do your hands (unless your really flexable and have alot of free time on your hands lol). Sure you may wash your hands alot and try not to touch your face. But you can't wash your hands 24/7 and your bound to touch your face at least a few times a day. And think of all the bathroom doors, door knobs, shaking hands, handling money (remember those ones where most likely in a g-string at some point), etc. your hands do. Now that I grossed myself out about my hands I think I'm going to go wash my face and hands. But even if going barefoot means more germs on my feet I'll still do it. I'm not eating with my feet so I have nothing to worry about.
Ya I hear you, but I worry about getting a cut on my feet and the germs are all ready there from walking around. And you are right about the hands thing also very dirty, I might have to start wearing gloves, No just kidding. But I don't walk on my hands, at least not on bathroom floors, I think I should start washing my hands a little more often
how exactly does the aids virus get on the floor unless there is blood there... would you step in someones blood or urine, or spit? I dont think so, aside from that, it cant survive outside the human body for any extended period of time so the chances of getting aids from the floor are pretty slim.
Look at it this way, you can cut yourself anywhere on your body and there will be germs there. If you wear shoes or gloves then you will literally have THOUSANDS of times MORE GERMS on your hands and feet than if you keep them bare and dry. If you wear gloves as often as you wear shoes, your hands will eventually smell like stinky feet- I guarantee it. Keep you feet and hands dry and you will have no problems with germs! I can't stand all this B.S. about people thinking bare feet have more germs. It is completely the opposite! If you still don't believe me- try this experiment: Wash your feet until you think they are clean. Then wrap them in plastic wrap. That should keep out the germs, right? Wrong! You feet will stink like no tomorrow in just a few hours because the few germs that stayed on your feet after washing will multiply to millions of germs because the plastic prevents air drying and keeps your feet moist. If you go barefoot then you will have the minimum amount of germs. Shoes are one of the evils of modern life that are causing people to become unhealthy and unclean. I have come to believe that shoes even cause the common cold. Before I went barefoot I caught colds a few times per year. Now for the past 18 years I've been barefoot I never once caught a cold. I think the germs that cause colds grow on stinky feet and shoes.
I really do not think that Hep A, B and C, and HIV, are so ubiquitous that as I walk around town barefoot I am "stepping in it." For one thing, our skin is our most important defensive barrier against infection, far more than our immune system. (This explains why it is so easy to die of burns -- the skin is not present to protect against germs getting into the body.) If all these germs were around for our feet to track up, implying that they live for so long just around on the floor, wouldn't people who wear shoes be tracking them all over, then touching the shoes to lace them, unlace them, remove them, also be subject to infection? What about someone walking in from being about, and their small children and toddlers, who spend so much time on the floor, getting infected? Kids always have scrapes and cuts, wouldn't they be getting Hep. and HIV at alarming rates if your shoes and feet were tracking this all over the place? I think, overall, you are vastly overstating the likelihood that these viruses would be around at random on public floors. Besides, I don't often get cuts on my feet, and if I do, I don't go barefoot with them exposed and running with blood! Simple, common-sense precautions deal adequately with these threats. And urine is sterile when it leaves the body -- HIV could not possibly live in human urine, I think due to its high ammonia or acid or something content. In short, don't fear. Problems like this due to barefooting are probably negligible. As others mentioned, you are FAR more likely to contract your life's illnesses via your HANDS, or your PECKER. -Jeffrey
Yes what you all say makes sence, Thanks for the input. Maybe I will try it more this summer. I still don't think I want to go barefoot in a public restroom tho, Call me crazy.
As has been said, your hands are far dirtier (germ wise) than a barefooters foot. You also, every day, eat with your hands, rub your eyes, mouth, nose... Yet you only get sick occasionally. Right now you are inhaling many germs, every breath. Mold and bacteria and viruses, all going in and out, even living in your lungs. But you have no infection, because your immune system is on top of it (usually). Your feet are cleaner barefoot. They may have dirt on them, but not the bacteria that thrive on sweaty feet. Also, you aren't touching mucous membranes with your feet, and cuts on feet seem rare for barefooters. Even then you aren't likely to get an infection. Besides, most diseases don't live long outside the body (HIV lives at most 2 minutes after being exposed to air). Some that you mentioned, like tetanus or hepititus can live longer, but aren't really all over the place. I agree with the rest, I think you're way overestimating the danger of germs. Keep your immune system in good shape (eat healthy, don't stress) and you'll be nearly unable to get sick. Just remember, your gut, your lungs...they're full of germs every second of the day, right there on your mucus membranes, where they can easily get in your body...BUT YOU DON'T GET SICK. Relax and enjoy the barefooting, man
please, ive been walking barefoot for a long time, last night i went to the dade county fair, i was barefoot, so was my sister. durring summers when we were in school, neither one of us wore shoes. and think of it this way, if you wear shoes, and then walk barefoot in your house, you tracked those nasty germs inside your house. please..
HIV can survive outside the body for only a brief time, on needles (with blood) a little longer, but still not for a very long time. Reports vary from hours to days, but the main danger from sharing needles obviously comes from the fact that doing such is usually done directly, while also sharing drugs or meds, rather than using a discarded one that may've been laying around for days or weeks. Hepatitis is somewhat hardier, living outside the body even in dried blood for a week or more, but even there it's extremely unlikely you'll pick it up through walking barefoot unless perhaps you live in a real drug infested neighborhood strewn with needles. As others have pointed out, you touch at least as many commonly shared objects with your hands, and with your hands you have a greater chance to transmit germs, virii and other contaminants to a place where they can enter your body like your mouth. Personally I also tend to have more breaks in the skin of my hands; I do a lot of gardening & crafts that often give me minor scrapes, cuts or splinters, but I suppose that won't apply to everyone in today's world of office jobs. This is exactly why I *don't* put on footwear when going into a public restroom; I trust the skin of my feet (I haven't had a serious cut since going barefoot and only once before that, and even tiny splinters of the size that don't draw blood are very rare). Skin is meant to keep contaminants out of our bodies. On the other hand, if I were to slip on a pair of flipflops or mocassins, I'd have to take them off afterwards (with my hands!) and put them in my bag (where I also carry groceries, lunch, candy). Even if I wrap them in a bag of their own, it's that much more handling them with my hands, immediately after walking around in the public restroom, that much more chance I do touch the outside of the bag, etc... I also like to snack when I'm out and there often isn't much opportunity to wash hands (well, apart from restrooms but that doesn't help if you want to take your footwear off after leaving them!) No, I haven't done any scientific research, but I've got the strong feeling I'd have *more* to worry about if I used footwear just to go into a restroom (or any other dirty area) than if I just walked in and out with my bare feet. The alternative is of course wearing shoes and keeping them on, however that isn't a choice I want to make. I honestly don't think it's necessary in most part of our Western world; if I ever were to visit a slum in a third world country I would have to re-evaluate my choice and may make a different one, however since I have no travel plans to any such areas it's a moot issue at this time.
Thanks Myranya. All this goes to show that proper hygiene is variable from person to person depending on their rituals. If I do wear flip flops to a public restroom, I'll actually leave them on after leaving the facility and walk around on dry ground awhile before taking them off and putting them back on my bike rack or in the car. I never put them inside a bag and always carry them only by their straps. But come to think of it, if I'm out barefoot I never bring any kind of footwear with me anyway and I frequently end up using public bathrooms barefoot. It's only when I have the car nearby will I opt to put the flip flops on knowing I'm just stopping to use a restroom. I keep the flip flops in the car for this purpose, and for entering fancy restaurants.
Ah, neither would work for me, don't have a car and I rarely use my bicycle for long distances... so I'm pretty much always on foot/using public transport when I need to use a public restroom, and I'm sure not going to carry footwear in my hands all day just in case I have to go potty! In fact I never carry footwear 'cept in mid-winter, and I'm always glad when I can throw it out in spring. I used to have loads of stuff 'just in case' behind the seat when I had my pickup truck, but now I like to keep the extra stuff down a bit more.
Understandable about getting cuts on your feet. But whenever I get a cut anywhere I wash it really good as soon as I can and slap a bandaid on it. I know it won't be 100% no chance of infection. But after awhile the skin on your feet with get thicker with calluses and it won't get cut as much. Even mine now don't have alot of calluses on them and I noticed alot less scraps, cuts, etc. on them.
