TOP Suffolk dermatologist Dr Tim Cutler has stepped into the national tv spotlight – to cure a reality tv show contestants' smelly feet!Sweat expert Dr Tim Cutler, a consultant at Ipswich Hospital, starred on Channel 4's The Fit Farm this week , as the dozen participants spent a week learning about the process of detox.

TOP Suffolk dermatologist Dr Tim Cutler has stepped into the national tv spotlight - to cure a reality tv show contestants' smelly feet!

Sweat expert Dr Tim Cutler, a consultant at Ipswich Hospital, starred on Channel 4's The Fit Farm this week , as the dozen participants spent a week learning about the process of detox.

He organised a sniff test to find out which contestant had the smelliest feet, then set about the first stage in curing Nicky who had the most fetid feet.

She claimed she had tried every method known to man, but Dr Cutler told her: "It is quite avoidable."

The 20-year-old has long been the object of conversation from her fellow Guests, owing to a putrid pair of sport shoes stored adjacent to her sleeping area.

Dr Cutler whisked Nicky off and immersed her feet in a shallow tray of water wired up to electrodes, to push salt into the sweat glands on her feet to tackle the problem.

He also gave her and the other guests a lecture in perspiration.

He said: "I was there for an hour and a half, answering the questions everyone wants to know the answer to but is too embarassed to ask.

"We talked about body odour and smelly feet, and I treated Nicky by a safe process which can be applied to either hands or feet.

"One treatment is not enough - Nicky would have to have it repeated every now and then.

"Sweating disorders can be very embarassing and people are often too embarassed to ask for help, and some GPs are not aware of all the treatments available."

It was not Dr Cutler's first taste of tv fame. Last year he was on a series called What the Industrial Revolution did for us' talking about medicine in the 18th century, and he said: "I enjoy it.

"On The Fit Farm the cameras were hidden, so it felt quite natural and quite fun. The people in there are being filmed all the time, and I don't think I could live in that sort of pressurised atmosphere."

Dr Cutler hit Star headlines in November 2000, when he spoke out about the strain of running a department single-handedly for more than a year.

At the time, he was the only senior consultant in dermatology at Ipswich Hospital, and was suffering constant worry while his patients had to wait 15 months for an appointment simply because he only had one pair of hands.

Then a new department was opened within weeks, and colleagues for Dr Cutler were finally recruited.

Weblinks:

www.ipswichhospital.org.uk

www.channle4.com/fitfarm.