Why You Shouldn’t Walk Around Barefoot, Even at Home

Kicking off your shoes the second you get home is just what you need to relax after a busy day. But letting your tired feet relax doesn’t equate to going completely barefoot at home. In fact, walking around with no house shoes can have some unpleasant consequences for the health and beauty of your feet.

We at Bright Side also feel too lazy to change into our house shoes sometimes. And we decided to find out what happens if you walk barefoot on a daily basis.

1. Your feet are more exposed to bacteria.

Even if you’ve just washed the floor, it doesn’t mean that it’s completely germ-free. Your floors may look clean, but in reality, there’s still house dust that contains lots of harmful bacteria and fungus. If you are walking around in bare feet, you are exposing yourself to microorganisms that may infect the skin of your feet. This, in turn, can infect your toenails and cause them to turn yellow and brittle.

2. Hard surfaces aren’t good for your feet.

Walking barefoot on grass every once in a while feels nice and can even help you de-stress, but doing so indoors may actually damage your feet. Softer surfaces allow your feet to sink naturally and support the inside of your feet. But most floors are too hard, and walking without the support of your shoes causes unnatural stress which eventually may lead to pain in your heels and knees.

3. It may lead to injuries.

Taking off your shoes and letting your feet breathe surely feels good after a long day at work, but walking around the house without shoes might lead to falls and injuries. Studies have shown that wearing slippers or socks with no shoes can cause falls and pulled muscles as a result of the fall.

4. It might hurt your back.

If you ever felt that your feet were sore after you walked barefoot, there’s actually a scientific explanation for that. Walking barefoot on hard surfaces causes an uneven distribution of weight across your feet. This imbalance can worsen existing foot deformities, and can even affect the upper parts of your body, causing your knees and back to ache.

5. It may cause smelly feet.

Apart from making your legs and back hurt, walking barefoot regularly may lead to unpleasant body odor. Not wearing shoes means no protection against bacteria in gym showers and even at home. When you walk barefoot, you can easily come into contact with these infections, which can cause your feet to smell.

Do you walk barefoot often? Have you noticed how it affects you?