Running Shoes Giving You Skin Allergies? Here's How to Prevent That

If you often experience pain or itching on your feet after your morning jog then there’s a big possibility that your running shoes are giving you skin allergies.

If that’s the case here are a few tips on how to prevent that from happening:

Wear pure organic cotton socks

Shoe allergy may be caused by contact dermatitis, which means that your skin is allergic to various chemicals and materials of a shoe. Your skin may be allergic to certain dyes, fabrics, adhesives and other substances often found in shoes and in order to determine what kind of allergen is causing a reaction to your skin you should undergo a patch test.

The skin patch test will involve exposing your skin, or portions of your skin, to various substances and the allergist will wait for a reaction to occur helping him figure out what substance is causing a reaction.

After the skin patch test has determined the allergen the doctor will probably advise you to avoid that material at all times. Unfortunately, most running shoes have all the substances that you’re supposed to avoid so the best remedy here is to simply put a barrier between your feet and your shoes.

This is where the pure organic cotton socks can come in handy because this kind of fabric is 100% hypoallergenic and it can protect your skin from coming into contact with the material that you’re supposed to avoid.

Use hydrocortisone cream

Hydrocortisone cream is the most effective remedy for contact dermatitis. The chemical in this cream is effective in reducing the inflammation caused by the allergen alleviating the irritation in your skin.

But if hydrocortisone cream won’t do the trick you could also use oral antihistamines to reduce the inflammation in your epidermis. If the condition on your feet worsens, it’s best to consult your physician because you might need something stronger than a hydrocortisone cream to fix your situation.

Some allergists would prescribe a topical steroid cream to get rid of your contact dermatitis depending on the severity of your condition.

Try foot soaks

Foot soaks are also helpful in relieving contact dermatitis on your feet. A lot of people attest to the effectiveness of green tea foot soaks, apple cider vinegar and Johnson’s baby cooling bath. There are several ways to alleviate the contact dermatitis in your feet that your condition is no longer deeply detrimental that you won’t be able to enjoy a nice morning jog around the block.

Just consult your physician and employ some of the remedies featured here and you’ll be back to running regularly.