Are you ashamed of keeping your heels high during the sandal/slipper season? How many times have you felt embarrassed to take off your shoes in public due to cracked and dry heels? It’s not everyone’s cup of tea to achieve glowing skin. Just like one takes utmost care to maintain a radiant face through a proper skincare routine, it is all the more important to take care of one’s feet. Ignoring foot care can result in cracked heels, inflammation, excessive pain, etc often leading to embarrassment.

WHAT CAUSES DRY, CRACKED HEELS?

Cracked heels may not be visible and usually do not cause any serious issues. However, severely cracked heels can lead to a skin infection called cellulitis. Remember, your feet carry the weight of your body, so you need to take care of it. If you notice the skin around the heels becomes dry and thick, it might just be the start of cracked heels. The pressure you put on the pad of the heels make fissures and may pain as well.

These are some obvious causes that aggravate the condition:

• Taking hot showers
• Using harsh soaps
• Inadequate moisturizing
• Standing for long periods
• Weather conditions
• Wearing open-healed footwear

Other than the causes mentioned above, certain medical conditions also lead to cracked heels. These include diabetes, obesity, eczema, hypothyroidism, athlete’s foot, flat feet juvenile plantar dermatosis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and heel spurs.

How to Fix Cracked Heels Permanently?

Maintaining and keeping your feet healthy should be one of your priorities. Just like your face, you also need to keep your feet nourished and moisturized. Fortunately, there are many treatment solutions available nowadays that can permanently fix cracked heels. Here are a few of them:

Soak and Exfoliate Your Feet

If you notice the skin around the cracked heels, it is thicker than the rest of the skin and splits when pressure is applied around. Applying moisturizer and soaking your heels in warm water can surely help. Here’s how to go about it:

• Soak your heels in lukewarm water for around 15 to 20 minutes.
• Use a scrubber or a pumice stone to do away with any hard skin.
• Dry your feet. Just pat dry.
• Apply thick moisturizer on the cracked skin.
• Lock in the moisturizer by applying petroleum jelly over it.
• Wear socks to avoid spreading the grease on the floor.

You can also try moisturizing heel sleeves which look like socks and just work as foot soaks. These contain essential oils and vitamins to treat the affected area and can be easily purchased online.

Use a pumice stone

Pumice stones are made of a mixture of lava and water. They are easily available at a cosmetics store. These abrasive stones are used to remove dry skin, especially from the heels. This is how one should use it:

• Place your feet in warm water for around 10 minutes and pat dry them.
• Moisten the pumice stone with water and move the abrasive side in a circular motion with a slight pressure for about 2-3 minutes.
• Then apply moisturizer.

Do use pumice stone with care as excessive pressure can cause cuts and injury. Also, people with diabetes need to consult with their doctor before using pumice stone.

Wear the right footwear

It is very important to wear the right footwear and avoid slip-on shoes. This will help reduce the chances of getting cracked skin around your heels.

Very tight shoes can lead to blisters and horns, while too-loose shoes will lead to calloused skin. This occurs due to constant rubbing of the shoe on the skin. So, wear the best-fitted shoe according to the seasons, moisturize your heels regularly to avoid blisters and get smooth, soft heels and carry yourself confidently.

Home Remedies for Cracked Heels

Taking care of dry and cracked heels is very easy. Thankfully, our kitchen is a hub of great ingredients consisting medicinal and healing properties that can cure a lot of daily problems, including cracked heels. Check out the below home remedies which are proven to be quite effective in improving the quality and texture of heels.

1.  Vegetable oil

Cooking oil is easily available and is stacked with a lot of nutrients including Vitamin A, D and E, all of which helps in revamping the dead skin and creating new cells thereby healing the cracked heel.

How to do:

• Place your feet in warm water for around 10 minutes and pat dry them.
  • Take 2 table spoon of vegetable oil and spread a thick layer covering your heels and toes
  • Wear comfortable socks and leave them overnight
  • Repeat every night to heal the cracked heels

2.  Banana

Banana is a natural moisturizer and is rich in nutrients like Vitamin A, B6, and C. This eases to keep up the elasticity of skin and prevents drying skin.

How to do:

• Mash 2 ripe bananas to a smooth paste.
  • Apply the paste all over the feet.
  • Let it rest for 20 minutes and then rinse your feet with room temperature water.
  • Repeat this for at least 2 weeks before going to bed to get best results.

3.  Honey

Honey is a natural antiseptic that is helpful in healing cracked heels. It also moisturizes the skin and prevents drying. It revitalizes and soothes the skin.

How to do:

• Mix 1 cup of honey to a bucket of warm water.
  • Clean your feet, apply the prepared mixture & massage gently for about 20 minutes.
  • Dry your feet and apply moisturizer.
  • Repeat this for few weeks before hitting the bed.

4.  Vaseline and lemon juice

Lemon juice is acidic in nature which when combined with Vaseline, a moisturizer eases dry skin and soothes cracked feet.

How to do:

• Soak your feet in lukewarm water for about 15 minutes.
  • Rinse and dry.
  • Combine 1 tsp of Vaseline with few drops of lemon juice.
  • Apply this mixture thoroughly over the feet.
  • Wear a pair of woollen socks overnight and wash off in the morning.

5.  Coconut oil

Coconut oil is an excellent remedy for dry skin and eczema. You can use coconut oil after a foot soak. Coconut oil soothes inflammation and also has antimicrobial properties. How to do:

• Wash your feet with room temperature water before going to bed.
  • Pat them dry gently.
  • Take some coconut oil in between your palms and gently massage it over the affected area.
  • Alternatively, you can also just simply apply a thick layer of melted coconut oil on your entire feet.
  • Wear a pair of cotton socks. You don’t need to wash the oil off.

6.  Other natural remedies

A lot of other home remedies are there for cracked heels but none of them have been proven for their efficacy in treating the same. Most ingredients focus on moisturizing and softening the skin. These include vinegar, olive oil, shea butter, and paraffin wax which acts as a moisturizer, and oatmeal mixed with oil for exfoliation.

Take Away:

In most cases, cracked heels don’t cause concern. However, you might have to consult a doctor if you observe severe cases of cracked heels, or an underlying medical condition like diabetes to prevent any serious complications.

No matter when you see signs of improvement after the initial treatment, it may still take several days or weeks for the cracks to heal. It is at your utmost care that you wear shoes that fit properly and continue a proper foot care regime to help prevent new heel cracks.