Cracked heels
treatment and prevention

Cracked heels, if left untreated, can result in a very painful condition.

At the worst the hard skin on feet can break open leaving a very sore and painful open wound which makes it 'open' to an infection of the skin.

As the skin is moved, through a normal walking mode, the crack can develop into a serious open wound needing medical treatment.

A visit to a Podiatrist a Chiropodist or a Doctor and days of treatment and inactivity while the skin is slowly repaired.

There is no one set cause for the build up of hard dry skin cells around the heel.

Some of the main contributors to the condition are:

• Poor fitting shoes
• Shoes that do not allow the feet to breathe
• Dry or hot air
• Psoriasis or other skin diseases
• Poor quality socks (nylon especially)
• General lack of attention to the feet
• Infrequent foot bath or foot soak

The condition is nearly always a result of pressure and dryness.

The pressure can come from contact with a poorly lined shoe.

Or some problem with the heel bone or a mixture of the two.

The dryness can be from the air temperature or the ph value of the skin, in which case nutrients and

vitamins may be required to nourish the skin.

I would always recommend seeking professional help in cases like this as each and every case is different.

A half hour session with a Chiropodist would be of great benefit.

If professional help is not available common sense and some home treatment can be beneficial.

First, while the feet are still dry use a sandpaper foot file, or pummice stone and remove as much of the dry dead skin cells as is possible.

Do not use a metalic file as this can damage the skin and never use scissors to cut away dead the skin.

Use only sandpaper or pummice stone to remove the dry dead skin of the cracked heel.

Then a good

foot soak will soften up the rest of the skin.

Adding a little

Tea tree oil which has natural anti fungal qualities to a foot bath is always a good idea.

With the skin softened, it is now possible to remove a little more of the dead skin by scraping the heel with a blunt object.

Do this gently as it is only to 'clean up' any remaining dead skin cells.

Start by drying the feet with a soft towel by patting the area around where the heels of the foot.

Then dry under, between and around the toes.

The skin should be starting to look better now and feeling a little better too.

However, we still need to add some specialist cream that can soften and repair the cracked heels and counter the dry skin.

We have found

Sole solution by Nu Skin to be the best foot cream on the market today.

It works immediatly to soften and repair the skin.

After one weeks treatment using this cream the wound and condition will be looking and feeling significantly better.

Click on the Sole solution link above to find out more details and ingreients.

Fire walker is specially formulated to give the nourishment and treatment your feet need.

Soothes and rejuvenates the feet after a long day.

Another excellent foot cream from Nu skin.

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