BIG PROBLEM: Innocent Sibanda shows off his troublesome feet

MAN WITH SMELLY FEET SEEKS HELP

Innocent Sibanda does a lot of walking. Not because he is a keep fit fanatic but because even though he lives 4kms from Francistown, he seldom takes a taxi into town because of his embarrassingly smelly feet.

Last week he took a rare combi ride from his home in Gerald Estate and was convinced that he was the subject of our recent Conversations from a Combi feature, ‘Smelly Shoes or Dead Rat?’ in which passengers complained about the overpowering smell.OK

The 32-year-old with the size 13 feet admits that he has a problem, and is often accused of polluting the environment.

Locally he is known as ‘tear gas,’ and although people laugh at the nickname, for Innocent it is no joke.

“People dread being in a confined space with me because of the dreadful smell. That is why I usually avoid travelling by combi,” he said.

He said that while relatives understand the problem, some people have concluded that his smelly feet are caused by poor hygiene.

Innocent, who washes his feet several times a day, however insists that his feet are so clean that you could eat your supper off them.

He has consulted doctors and has tried just about every foot powder on the market, but still the smell remains.

“I think it is some kind of curse,” he says.

Another problem he faces is in finding shoes big enough to fit his size 13 ‘plates of meat.’

“I can’t get my size in shops locally so I wear sandals, but my feet still sweat and stink like hell. I only wear shoes when a friend donates some of his old size 11 pairs. I then have to cut a hole in them to get them to fit,” the miserable man said appealing to people with big feet to consider donating their reject shoes to him.

He also said anyone who might offer a solution to his problem could contact him at Gerald Estate.

Innocent is well known in area so finding him is not difficult. “Just follow your nose,” he says with just the faintest of smiles.

10 ways to cure smelly feet

1) TEA- Soak your feet every day for a week in strong black tea for 30 minutes. Add two tea bags in a pint of water. Boil it for 10 minutes. Now add cool water and soak your feet in the cool solution.

2) WATER – Drink a lot of water. It is a better way to fight body odour.

3) ZINC- Taking 50mgs of zinc a day for 2 weeks will cure any foot-odour if its caused by a zinc deficiency

4) APPLE CIDER- Soak your feet several times a week with natural apple cider and remember to dry your feet after soaking.


5) BLEACH- Pour 1/4 cup of common household bleach in a footbath with warm water and soak feet for 30 minutes.

6) VINEGAR- Pour half cup white vinegar into a warm footbath and soak feet for 30 minutes.

7) BAKING SODA – Take a bath with baking soda, along with a few teaspoons of vinegar. It will sooth your feet and lessen foot odour.

8) PARAFFIN – Rubbing the bottom of your feet with paraffin is another good way to fight the smell.

9) TURNIP JUICE – Take some turnip juice or radish juice and try rubbing your feet with it. Being natural deodorants, these juices are excellent mediums of fighting body odour.

10) AVOID ALCOHOL- Do without any intake of sugar and alcohol for about a week. This experiment on your body may tell you if these elements have to do anything with it.

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