I love going barefoot inside my house and on the patio. Will it make me sick?
By caribe
@caribe (2465)
United States
December 31, 2006 12:58pm CST
I have tile floors here in Nicaragua and I prefer to walk barefoot around the house because wearing shoes on a freshly mopped floor just tracks it up and I hate that. People from this country are always telling me that it will make me sick and that I should wear shoes. They all seem to have a real hangup when it comes to shoes. I sometimes see people on the streets with no shoes but that is because they can't afford shoes. I am thinking that this is the reason that this culture has such a hangup on wearing shoes. I would really prefer that they not wear shoes in my house either, but I never ask them to remove their shoes because I don't want them to feel insulted. I am sure that they think of me as that weird "gringa" that doesn't like shoes. So what do you think their basis is when they say that going barefoot will make a person sick?
10 people like this
54 responses
@SunlightSwoon (1060)
• United States
6 Jan 07
I have heard that hook worms can enter your system thru your
feet. Well, maybe in their grandparents and great grandparents day, it was noticed that people who walked without shoes became sick more often than those that wore
shoes...so shoes, when they could afford them became the remedy to a condition with an unexplained cause. So, although
we now know why some saying may have sprang up, they have become so ingrained in a culture, no thought is given to why
we believe that this or that might happen, just that something will happen...and we just continue using and passing on that concept...SS
2 people like this
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
1 Jan 07
I think it could make you sick if you are not careful. You have to take caution if you are outside especially since you might step on a piece of glass or another sharp object and hurt yourself. Cutting yourself on something can lead to illness. I will walk barefoot around my house since the floors are clean and I know there is nothing on the floors that will hurt me but outside I always have something on my feet.
2 people like this
@kodeshkodashim (925)
• United States
31 Dec 06
Your an adult and you can do what ya want.shoes or not thats your choice.I don't think it will make ya sick..unless your walking in human or animal waste,and liking your feet.The only problem you might have is that your feet are dirty.
2 people like this
@tanmayangre (841)
• India
1 Jan 07
no it wont make u sick i alwauys am bare foot i n my house in fact every one in my country r that way
@TerryZ (22076)
• United States
1 Jan 07
I dont think it will make you sick persay. I do it alot in the summer months. I have hardwood floors and in the winter months it can get pretty cold. I love to go barefoot in the grass it feels great. Yes many cultures dont believe in wearing shoes in the house. Im all for it I think it saves your rug.
2 people like this
@sylviekitty (2083)
• United States
1 Jan 07
I go without shoes all the time, unless I have to go somewhere.. or am going to be out walking around in mud or something. I don't get sick all the time. i dont have the greatest immune system, but I highly doubt being barefoot has anything to do with it. :)
@ossie16d (11821)
• Australia
1 Jan 07
I always walk around bare footed caribe and in fact the only time I actually put anything on my feet is if I am going outside or on the dirt or grass. It is possible an old cultural thing as I see that you mention seeing a lot of people not wearing shoes because they ae poor and cannot afford them. This might be one of those things, i.e. we have shoes so we are not poor.
Keep doing what you think is right and if you don't want to wear shoes, then don't do so. Also it is your right to ask people not to wear shoes inside your house. We had a farm and nobody ever wore shoes inside the house, but instead took them off at the door.
1 person likes this
@ossie16d (11821)
• Australia
19 Feb 07
Thanks very much for the best response for this discussion caribe. :)
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
31 Dec 06
The only health related difference between wearing shoes and not wearing shoes is dependant on what you stand on. Inside the house this is hardly relevant, and I never wear shoes at home.
If there was such a problem, then would so many people go to the beach barefoot? The beach may be made of sand, but there are lots of shells and sea creatures there as well.
1 person likes this
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
1 Jan 07
You are up against old wives tales and cultural differences. If shoes are seen as a sign of prosperity people would get upset with you if you are not wearing them on clean floors. You definitely cannot ask them to take their own shoes off, they would be insulted. I know this from experience. We always take the shoes off in our house but when relatives from a certain ethnic background come to visit they leave their shoes on, moreover they get extremely annoyed with others who are used to taking their shoes off.
@Signal20 (2281)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I agree, just an old wives tale. The only thing you'll need to really worry about would be your feet. I do that a lot as well, and I noticed when I moved to a house with all tile floors, I started having problems/pain with my arches and heels. I at least wear flip flops or slippers now, the problem's gone away. Do what you want not what others want you to do, it's your house, be comfortable.
1 person likes this
@Signal20 (2281)
• United States
1 Jan 07
Colds and the flu and stuff that makes you sick is caused by viruses and bacterias. Walking around your house barefoot will not give you a cold/make you sick, just like falling asleep with a fan blowing on you WILL NOT make you sick. People sneezing on you, or you touching something that someone else touched who just got done wiping their nose, can make you sick-because they're spreading their germs/bacteria.
Think about it...
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157546)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I understand your feelings about shoes, etc. I only wonder if perhaps there is some chance that you might get a parasitic infection through you feet from the soil there? I would think that even if this was common, your floors inside your house would be free of parasites, because you mop them frequently. You may also be right, it might just be a social stigma, because only the very poor go barefoot. I would say that I am giving you only a slightly educated guess.
1 person likes this
@caribe (2465)
• United States
1 Jan 07
Getting parasitic infections through your feet from the soil is highly probable here. The ground has had some really nasty trash and excrement from dogs, horses, mules, oxen, cats, as well as humans. I wouldn't walk on the soil myself barefoot. Disease is more rampant here and there are types that are nearly extinct in the modern world that still exists here. For this reason we scrub the floors with disinfectant daily or at least every other day so their fears could be for these reasons. Also there are many people living here with dirt floors which would have the problem with parasites probably.
@Marie2473 (8512)
• Sweden
31 Dec 06
Here in sweden Noone wears shoes inside - if someone doesn´t take their shoes of when visiting someone that is considered very rude =) Although we do keep our socks on most of the time so we are not really barefoot evenif some are. I do not think that itwill make you more sick - just more comfortable =)
1 person likes this
@babystar1 (4233)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I go barefoot all the time I hate wearing shoes but i put them on when I go to work and to the store. In the winter I dont go out barefoot because it is to cold.But i am barefoot all the time in my house, I go outside in the summer barefoot all the time.I just like going barefoot.When I have friends over they take their shoes off before they come into my house.I never got sick from being barefoot, might get dirty feet lol.
1 person likes this
@babystar1 (4233)
• United States
31 Dec 06
Yes i do agree with you my feet do get dry also, I put on moisturizer to
1 person likes this
@pebbles_cubbie (3789)
• United States
31 Dec 06
i doubt that it will make you sick since the floors aren't too dirty. i hate it when you wear shoes on a nice clean floor and make it dirty again. maybe someone did get sick in the past from someone not wearing shoes but something else probably went along with it. i've gone barefoot all the time and havent gotten sick because of it. i live in US but i dont think that makes any difference. cause we have germs too.
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I can't see how going barefoot will make you sick, since that's the most natural way to walk.
While it may be an old wives' tale based on picking up diseases (fungi and bacteria mostly), it could be nothing more than cultural. People want to look more sophisticated and think that going barefoot is somehow less so.
Just tell them it's the new "in" thing - all the rage from progressive medicine. ;) (I'm kidding; it's probably not in any medicsl journal, but you get the idea.)
@caribe (2465)
• United States
31 Dec 06
Yes, I believe it is cultural more than anything else. I believe in this country that possessing shoes is somehow mixed in with prosperity or lack thereof. It really bothers them to see me barefoot because they consider me to be very prosperous and it clashes with their ideas with a very loud crash of cymbals. LOL. I usually just smile at them and thank them for their concern for my health. But if I ever get sick they quickly point out that not wearing shoes is causing my illness, whatever illness that happens to be. To me, nothing looks stranger than seeing a woman walking down a dirt road or going to the beach with a pair of "bling bling" high heels on. LOL The clash of the cultures. :)
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I think this must an old wives tale, because when tetanus ran rampid it was said because people were barefoot. I am sure a cobbler even instilled this into others minds so he could sell shoes. There are many cultures and tribes that do not wear shoes and do not get sick from it. Keeping the head and the torso warm is what deters cold not feet.
However, if my feet get cold my body gets cold! Maybe that is what they mean by that statement. Also I know from experience you can get worms from going barefoot, they always enter in throught the feet. If you step on grass or any area where an animal has peed and they have worms you can contact the parasite through that pee. But not in your own house I would hope. LOL
@caribe (2465)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I agree that if it is outside on the ground that there is a possibility of getting parasites so I try not to do that. It is a warm climate here year round so I don't think my feet will be getting cold from the floors so I should be in good shape. I think you are right--someone started a tale, possibly to sell more shoes years ago and it has built from there.
@taruha (559)
• United States
31 Dec 06
Such practice of going barefooted in the house and the patio will not make you sick under any circumstances.On the contrary, it is a healthy practice from cleanliness of the house point of view.Even wearing slippers in the house makes the house dirty,while moving barefooted will certainly keep the house very clean.moreover,it will be healthy for your feet also.
@manong05 (5027)
• Philippines
12 Jan 07
I don't wear shoes inside the house not only because shoes do leave unsightly marks on the floor but I feel more comfortable withoout them. I don't tell visitors to take off their shoes but I find many are considerate enough. When they see that I go around the house barefooted ,they always make the effort of taking their shoes off.
@sangitagirl (11)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I never wear shoes in my house, that's against my "religion".
I think that it's an old-wives tales, about getting sick from walking on tile!
I have never gotten sick from it, and I do ask other people to remove their shoes!
