The slip-up

YOU GO BAREFOOT IN THE GYM CHANGING ROOMS

THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN

You’d have to be having a truly unlucky day, but you could be in trouble if you cut yourself by, say, snagging a blister on the corner of a rough shower mat or stepping on a nail. “That nail would be covered in bacteria, so you could get a very deep infection that could require hospital admission to treat,” says podiatrist Meredith Ward. Fortunately, there aren’t too many rusty nails hanging out on changing room floors.

WHAT WILL PROBABLY HAPPEN

It’s highly likely that nothing will happen, but you could get athlete’s foot or plantar warts, Ward says, since the fungi and viruses that cause these thrive in damp environments. The typical fixes: a couple of weeks of cream to fight athlete’s foot and laser or surgical removal of the warts.

For a more natural approach, some doctors apply cantharidin, a liquid derived from certain beetle species.

(It causes a blistering effect that kills off the wart-causing virus, Ward says.) Duct tape – worn over the wart until it falls off – can work, as well.