Old Forum Barefoot: the downside

[ali]

Enjoying a post S&S stretch outside, barefoot in the sun between rain showers here in the 4 seasons in a day scotland when a tiny little bug landed on my ankle and gave me a nip. An itchy night followed. Throughout the next day, pain increased and I had a cartoon-like swelling as if I had swallowed an american football and it had bypassed the usual digestive process to end up in one piece in my ankle. Walking became a problem, pain in calf and hamstring complete with distinct red line of infected lymph. A trip to hospital ensued and on a dose on antibiotics. All in the pursuit of strength and vitamin d. Back to indoors, boots and a boiler suit from now on, that's Mother Nature for you!

 

[Mike E]

Damn, even the bugs in Scotland are bad-a#@.  Perhaps you could think of it as HIT for your immune system...

 

[MikeMoran]

Yeah I live in the Desert and train outside and we have Scorpions and Venomous Snakes,Spiders,Wasps,Etc. I would love to do Barefoot outside but I wear Converse All Stars instead to protect my feet. Indoors I will do barefoot no problem.

 

[ali]

You have good reason to protect yourself from those beasties. I've been bitten many times but never had an infection that required hospital. All from a tiny little beastie, who'd have thought.

 

[NCmedic]

Wow... do you know what it was?

 

[ali]

Just a tiny little bug carrying a big load of bacteria. Fortunately the antibiotics seem to be working. I've a penicillin allergy and respond slowly to infection. A week of rest, could have been a lot worse. I've ordered my beekeepers suit in preparation for my next session. Apologies for updating the forum on my medical issues, it is just very odd that such an innocuous little event whilst exercising can have huge health implications. That's microbes for you,it's a jungle out there, even in Scotland!

 

[Jason Paul]

Yikes!

I don't go barefoot outside either. I don't wear Converse, but something like aqua socks. Flat, no support, but they wouldn't protect against bugs, just protect the soles of my feet.

We've got mosquitoes here, and often pretty bad. What's a danger there is to have one land on your face while in a precarious position in the TGU with a 32kg overhead. So, I actually bought a mosquito head net to wear for TGUs (when I get back to them).

So, maybe a full-on beekeeper suit is in order!

 

[Paul Sellers]

Sorry to hear about your bug, Alistair - sounds nasty. We can't compete with scorpions here in the UK but we can offer a dose of Lyme's disease carried by ticks, the symptoms of which can be extremely serious if not treated and last for years in some cases. In Scotland attacks by packs of wild Haggis can be an issue. I used to live in Manchester where the main issue was trench foot from all the rain. Personally I use Hot Tuna Splasher shoes when outdoors - lightweight neoprene with extremely grippy flat soles, barefoot indoors on laminate flooring (can get sweaty during long swing sessions).