by Dyana Hepburn

Created on: January 07, 2010

The bottom line: socks can be a cool fashion statement, cute cuffs, pretty colors, but comfort and the fiber they are made from should be the first priority in a buyer's choice.

First, let me mention the simple problems I have had with socks. They slide down and coagulate into a lump beneath the arches of my feet. I loved the look of slouch socks and immediately bought them in all the colors I could find. Then, I found out I was stuck with a useless collection because they gradually worked their way downward, so that I had to stop every few feet or so to pull them up.

So, at least for me, I found I cannot just pick out cute, colorful socks, but I have to pay special attention to the way the elastic band is knit on the top of the socks. But now, after the attack of the killer socks, I don't buy them anymore except for work, where I'm required to wear black socks. Then I look for the smoothest material and the longest elastic knitting on the top.

I was on a job that required hours of walking on concrete and I needed a fairly thick sock to protect my feet. I found a soft, fuzzy, nylon wool sock. They didn't slide and felt so good. Then one morning when I put them on, I felt a burning, stinging on the inside of my lower right leg about three inches above the ankle. It was a little circular rash and I ignored it.

Whenever I put on the socks, the rash started burning and stinging. I tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away, but it began to spread. I treated it with alcohol, dabbing it on with cotton and it would subside, then suddenly flare up, little raised bumps forming. I thought it would help if I rubbed it hard enough to open up the bumps and let the pus out.  That was a bad mistake.  Nature has a reason for walling off an area and producing a rash, it is to inundate the invading bacteria with white corpuscles. 

It suddenly began to spread like wild fire, my leg swelled up, pus began to ooze from the bumps and I would feel a sharp stabbing pain, followed by a longer drawn out one, like a needle and thread were being drawn through my leg and then a new red bump would spring up. It was on the march in a straight line. I looked the symptoms up in a medical book for nurses and it fit the description of stitch staphylococcus, a bacterial infection that spreads from one hair follicle to another.  

I read up on it and learned that it is a common bacterial infection, Staphylococcus aureus, which can be a minor one on the skin, but also travels

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