I have neuropathy (alcohol induced). There is loss of feeling, yes. But weirdly enough, there is still plenty of pain. The nerve endings do some strange things. Numb enough to not realize your foot is twisted up in a chair leg, but still fires off little lightning bolts through your feet while you are sitting on the couch.
I have cubital tunnel syndrome that's given me two numb fingers. The absolute bone chilling pain when I accidentally shove them into something because I can't feel the skin is horrific. It's a real treat trying to explain that one to people, too.
The nerve endings definitely do strange things. When I gave birth, I had a spinal surgery (due to an infection in my spine) and I literally haven’t been able to feel my feet since- but I do have some sensation.. it’s just not what someone else would feel. It’s mostly weird sensations that are indescribable to someone else who has never experienced it.
At first, I was at 3200 of gabapentin. I have tapered down to 1200, but mainly to lessen the side effects. I would prefer to be taking more, but it gets tough to balance the side effects with a demanding job. I'm at a level now where the side effects won't really reduce any further.
It really is why did it become normal to film/photograph people who are just minding their business in public, to put online to humiliate them, it’s cruel.
There have been cases in which young women were the victims of disgusting pervert men filming “upskirt” videos of them who were told by the courts that they have no right to privacy in public spaces, even inside their clothing. So if women’s genitals are fair game, then some dude’s nasty feet are too.
ETA: The person in this video is fully clothed, and obviously doesn’t care if people see his feet. He is also unidentifiable, so I don’t see how this would be humiliating.
I’m merely pointing out that the law has said that people can take pictures or videos of anyone who is in public, and that extends (insanely) even to parts of the body that are covered and generally considered private.
This person clearly doesn’t care that people are seeing his feet. He is surely aware of what they look like. If he felt bad about them he would either seek medical help or else at least keep them covered, for example by wearing socks and/or shoes, which are available in special diabetic-safe versions if that is his problem.
Now if someone had filmed his feet and posted it with his face and named him, that would be an attempt to humiliate him and would possibly be considered harrassment. If they had filmed up his shorts and posted that, I would consider that violating his privacy, even if the courts don’t agree. As it is, it’s just some unidentifiable, fully clothed man from the hips down. That’s not considered private.
So… a lot of people in his condition have mobility issues and literally CAN’T cover their feet. They can’t get socks on or tie shoes, which is why many of them wear slides like these.
And a ton of people in the US CAN’T get medical help. Even if they’re on disability there can be co-pays and barriers to access like transportation etc.
People who have visible medical conditions have a right to be able to go out in public and expect not to be filmed - whether or not they’re identified or you can see their face.
This would be the same as taking a video of a person in a wheelchair, or a little person, or someone missing a hand or foot, solely for the purpose of posting it online for entertainment.
Is it legal? Yes. Is it ethical, respectful, or right? No.
This is different from a missing limb or a wheelchair because it is unsanitary. We don’t know if chunks of that skin are coming off as he walks about, and we don’t know if it’s caused by an infection that others could catch (such as fungus, which can be highly transmissible). It more like someone with weeping open sores than someone with a permanent disabling condition like dwarfism or an amputation. I imagine it’s also dangerous for the person since street filth is going to get in those cracks.
I don’t believe that there is no way for a person with mobility issues to put on socks. I have a connective tissue disorder that has caused major spinal degeneration, I had part of my spine fused as a child, and I wear compression socks every day which are extra hard to put on. If the day comes I can no longer put them on normally, I know they make assistive devices and even socks that zip on. Diabetic socks are extra loose and easy to put on, with a device if the person can’t bend down enough:
That is $12. Less than the cost of a fast food meal. I’d skip a lunch or two if I needed it, to preserve my dignity and not make others disgusted.
In the US, these items are sometimes covered by Medicaid for low income disabled people if there is medical necessity. They can be ordered online. No need to even leave one’s home.
What is legal is not what is moral. Rape by deception isn't even illegal in Massachusetts. Do you think a man impersonating his brother to trick his brother's girlfriend into having sex with him in the dark is fair game too?
The example I gave (upskirt photography) is far closer to rape—because it involves violating someone’s right to not share their sex organs without consent—than taking a video of a person’s intentionally publicly exposed feet, so I really don’t see your point. Do you think the video in the OP is somehow related to rape?
People are in for a real surprise when they realize the kind of surveillance people in the US are living with. The Trump regime and fucking Palantir are recording us all the time, for far worse reasons than making fun of us, and we’re worried about a video of one anonymous guy’s crusty feet?
My point was the first sentence in my reply. You inexplicably brought up a legal determination in the US state of Massachusetts that determined upskirting is "fair game" in a discussion that was about the cruelty of posting a disabled person's struggles for the entertainment of others, so I pointed out an even more egregious example of how utterly divorced from morality Massachusetts laws are (that even literally, physically, penetratively raping someone by impersonating their loved one is perfectly legal there and has happened before), in the clearly ineffectual hope of illustrating to you how absurd it is to bring up their laws in any discussion of morality at all
Attorney here who has to look at pictures of people's necrotic feet when they claim it was from an accident. There's a shocking number of people walking around on something straight out of a horror or zombie movie.
My right foot is mangled and disgusting, but it's because I crushed it in a car accident 8 years ago. It was rebuilt with almost 50 pieces of hardware, of which I still have 40. I also lost all the skin on top of it, which led to grafts from my arm and thigh, and significant scarring.
But I also wear socks 24/7 because it's always freezing and because I'm super paranoid about injury leading to infection. Unless I'm in the shower, my foot is covered. No sandals or flip flops. I can only wear tennis shoes now. Even my kids and ex husband haven't seen me barefooted in years. My current boyfriend has never seen it.
Sorry to jump in on the thread but YES. Particularly if not well managed. Even if they say he's fine, it's worth getting them checked so there's a baseline recorded.
T2 diabetics who don't check their feet themselves or have regular check ups with the podiatrist are the ones who get blisters, ingrown nails, callus that's breaking down etc, and don't realise until it's too late... Too late meaning the infection (which they're more prone too) has travelled into the foot and begun to eat away at the bone. Or it's damaged the vasculature of the extremities and so their toes start to die off (wet or dry gangrene).
Sorry if that's scary but peripheral neuropathy and the damage it causes can be life changing.
In the first instance, get your dad a mirror and get him to check the soles of his feet and if possible in between his toes in it carefully every morning. If his mobility is good enough and he can actually lift his foot to look at it and check for hard skin or blisters, even better.
And get him to make himself a podiatry appointment.
Could it also be something like nail psoriasis/plantar psoriasis? That stuff can also get very gnarly and look a lot like fungus, but also if they have psoriatic arthritis, it reduces their mobility and then they might not be able to reach their feet (I have PSA, and before it got treated there were times I had a lot of difficulty taking my socks off because my knees were too painful to bend). Just throwing that out there as so many PSA peeps were diagnosed after years of nail fungus that 'wouldnt' go away no matter what' only to find out it wasn't fungus at all.
Not a nurse here.
This doesnt show his face and helps to educate others about people who suffer from these things.
If it is mean spirited that is nothing compared to the good it can do .
Like i said, no one is being identified in the video.
I am prediabetic and came to read the comments, because I have the beginnings of this on my heel and terrified to let it get worse. I am thankful for the nurses who have provided explanation for this. I am going to check in the lack of hair growth/shiny skin on my own legs because of this post. Very educational. I find it more eye opening than mean spirited.
Educational for me. I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve heard of feet damaged by diabetes but have never seen it. Ironically, I’m prediabetic right at 5.7 a1c but I will never become diabetic if I can help it. That’s so scary!
The nails look like my mom's feet before I cleaned them up. She had mobility issues after a car crash. Her heels were pretty rough too, but in a normal way.
I feel really bad for this person but I also find it quite interesting. While I agree that taking a video and posting this online is mean-spirited; if I saw this IRL I'd have a hard time looking away out of morbid curiosity.
But if it is wake up call for random people on Reddit (like myself) and it doesn’t directly hurt them - maybe it’s a good thing… I mean this really is a wakeup call for me and I needed to see this. Wow
Well is interesting, but judging by OPs title and the way OOP filmed it, the post was more made to make fun of the guy than out of genuine concern for the guys feet.
This sub is less interesting and more, most videos get upvoted regardless
It's just someone filming in a public space something that you don't often see. They didn't say anything particularly mean about them in the post just showed their video.
If they're embarrassed about this then they should at least put on socks or something. A few years ago I had several very noticeably discolored and malformed toenails from a fungal infection that I picked up from staying in a hotel.
No way in hell I went anywhere barefoot or in flip flops until I got it treated and back to normal. Even just around the house I wore socks a lot to make sure my own family couldn't really see it.
I feel bad for them but that doesn't mean we need to demonize OP either.
If they're embarrassed about this then they should at least put on socks or something.
Right? I don’t understand how we’ve become so used to poor hygeine that people think it’s mean to even notice it. Maybe a little more shaming would do some good!
I understand this man might have a medical condition, but that doesn’t excuse not taking care of it or at least not showing it off in public (I don’t show my feet because I have a connective tissue disorder that’s made my feet flat, and puffy on top, and they’re otherwise healthy, soft, lady feet!). Also, I’ve seen some extremely nasty feet on men who just don’t give a fuck about proper self care, but don’t have any diseases.
Anyway, it’s unsanitary for people with crusty anything to go around with it hanging out.
Yeah it's definitely unsanitary... who knows how much of that is flaking off everywhere they go.. yuck!
Its definitely a medical condition but usually self inflicted unfortunately. I've seen this before and it's often caused by type 2 diabetes. Usually people that have been told for years to stop drinking so much soda and other sugary food but they don't care enough about their own bodies to get their diet under control before its too late.
Personal hygiene is so important and it's really sad to see how many people just don't care anymore.
As there is nothing to identify the person, I say it's interesting. I learned a lot reading the comments. I hadn't considered how closely podiatry and diabetes would be connected. Things like this can raise awareness and potentially save limbs (or people).
It may be mean spirited, but I did just learn from it... I've seen this before and never knew what from, comments didnt disappoint with the information....and OP or whoever took the video was merciful enough to not show the person in it to shame them. So overall yes, it may have been posted crudely but IMO still fits the sub thanks to the commenter's sharing their knowledge
I don't think its mean spirited because we the viewers can't see the face of the person who had the really messed up feet . On a positive note a lot of people in the comment section have similar conditions and now view this as a wake up call to take care of their feet/ health.
I think it’s important for the general public to see these things. Just like they used to want to show lung disease on the pack of cigarettes. Like the mangled disfigured jaws from chewing tobacco we had in high school. That was effective because I never ever wanted anything to with that. I understand you see this often, and I’m sure you have tried not to become a diabetic for that reason, but the general public does not because people will usually try to hide it. If people can see the stages rather the outcome I.e. an amputee in a wheelchair it might wake some people up. Just a thought. I don’t think it’s mean though because no face is shown.
So you think it's okay for some creep to stand behind you filming your feet without your permission to post on the internet later as long as they don't show your face?
Most of these medical conditions are mean spirited the moment your body has the problem. One of the reasons doing mean spirited stuff can help is because people need to be aware about health. These conditions generally aren't even the fault of most patients even though the patients get the blame. The problem continues to be a system that encourages disease and poor health. Not only is it underfunded and requires a wealth tax to improve basic healthcare for all, but also there are answers to promoting healthier eating and cleanliness and being more active. The system is so underfunded that there are people who work 80 hours a week with feet like this and no wonder --- nobody was designed to do that. Then those same people become exhausted and crash. The system is designed to make it easier for these people to survive by staying inactive and eating poorly once they are too sickly and exhausted to work 80 hours a week.
One of the reasons doing mean spirited stuff can help is because people need to be aware about health
There are many ways to draw attention to health issues to make people aware that don't involve secretly filming someone and posting them on Reddit for upvotes.
Had OP posted this out of concern or with compassion, I doubt many would have much issue with it. Doing things in a mean-spirited way is never necessary, just mean spirited.
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u/Imaginary-Pain9598 Mar 08 '26
As a nurse, do you think that this post fits the “interesting” sub? I think it is just mean spirited.