Your feet work hard for you all day, everyday. Your feet hold your body up all day long. They take you wherever you want to go. Everything you do starts with the feet. It all starts with the ground up. It really is amazing that our little feet can hold up our bodies. Not only may you want to soften your feet with lotion, but you may want to strength your feet as well. There are lots of tips out there about strengthening your feet, which may prevent ankle sprains, shin splints, and other injuries. Try to incorporate single leg lunges and squats into your workout routine, which will cause your feet to stabilize your body. Try to do more yoga and balancing exercises. I think it will help you from falling as you get older too. Being overweight can also contribute to cracked heels, since you are applying more pressure on the feet. Anyway back to talk about healing cracked feet.
The long cold, winter months is one element that can cause cracked heels. The harsh weather can cause feet to become dry very fast. During the winter there is less humidity in the air and feet become more dry. Make sure you wear good shoes that provide support for your feet, callous can occur just because you have bad shoes. Avoid shoes with open backs and thin soles, which will make the callus worse and not allow your heels to heal quickly. When the heel hangs over your sandal, it will cause a callus, so make sure your shoes fit properly.
Cracked heels occur when the feet become very dry. Cracks in heels are also known as heel fissures. When the heels become dry and callused they can crack. Because you are standing on your feet all the time, the brittle skin will crack. The tiny cracks can become deep and then bleed. Sometimes the cracks can become infected as well. So wintertime is when you need to especially pay attention to your feet. It really is all about starting a soft foot habit. Take care for your feet, just like you brush teeth, make it a part of your routine.
Exfoliate Your Dry Cracked Feet
Exfoliate your feet 2 to 3 times a week in order to soften your feet. You have to get rid of the hard, rough, dead calloused skin on your heels. The lotion or cream you are using cannot work effectively on a cracked heel, because is cannot penetrate that hard dead skin. Therefore, your feet are still dry underneath and they do not get any softer. Try a wet pumice stone or a loofa sponge or whatever works for you. Use a PedEgg foot file, which I have heard is better than a pumice stone, to smooth out your rough feet. Check out my other post titled: Soften Your Feet with These 3 Tips for some more tips on exfoliating tools. Gently buff away at the rough spots to get rid of the dry skin. Be gentle, you don’t want to hurt yourself. Do not use any kind of razor to try to cut of the rough skin. You will end up cutting your skin and cause infection and be far worse off then you are now! You could also try a glycolic acid or lactic acid lotion for even more gentle exfoliation. Yes, the lotions are chemical exfoliates, instead of the pumice stone manual exfoliation, but the lotion can be more gentle on your feet. It all depends on what your feet like. There are plenty of prescription creams out there, but there are also plenty of over the counter creams, such as Peter Thomas Roth AHA Exfoliating Foot cream or AmLactin cream.
A cracked heel may also be sign of a fungus. Try applying some athlete’s foot treatment occasionally and see if that helps. To prevent the cracks from getting infected, apply Neosporin on the cracks at night. Neosporin works great on all kinds of sores. It is really a great invention to heal skin. You could even try Listerine! Yes, Listerine. Try it as a home remedy for cracked heels. Treat it like the well-deserving pedicure treatment that you need once or twice a week. Use the original Listerine AntisepticMouthwash. The Listerine will act like a chemical exfoliate, because it contains benzoic acid. Plus, the Listerine also contains ethanol, which will also kill germs and fungi! Pour 1 part Listerine and 2 parts warm water into a bucket and let your feet soak for a relaxing 15 to 20 minutes. If you are scared of the Listerine you could try lemon juice as an acid treatment instead.
Most of all, apply a thick moisturizer everyday. This is key to soft feet and severely cracked heels! A moisturizing body lotion can work just as well for your feet, you don’t need a special foot cream. People recommend a special foot cream, just because it is so thick. However, a body lotion with urea, jojoba oil, and shea butter can work just the same. It is all about the ingredients. When you have dry cracked heels, make sure you are using a quality body butter. Body butters are thicker than body creams, and body creams are thicker than body lotions. Don’t just apply the cream once a day though, apply it twice a day! You will be amazed at just how soft they will be just from applying twice a day, I know I was amazed! Before bed massage on some thick cream and slip on some socks, which will help keep the moisture in. Try using some Vaseline jelly as well, which is really emollient, your heels will just absorb up the moisture. You will definitely need socks with the Vaseline though.
Give your feet a little extra attention, because you are standing on them all day long. Get into a foot pampering habit, just take one step at a time. You might also want to treat yourself to a real pedicure done by a professional once a month or a least every season. Try going to a beauty college for a great deal! Not only do your feet deserve it, but you deserve it too. Gently exfoliate your feet twice a week with a good exfoliating tool or AHA lotion and apply body cream twice a day. You can heal those cracked heels!
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