There are many reasons for cracked heels including dry skin, flip flops or health issues. Regardless of why you may have them, the cracks and fissures can be a health risk for you.
If you don’t take care of them, they can get worse, get deeper and become not only dangerous to your health, but painful. The reason is that the “crack” or “fissure” as it is known, can attract bacteria, germs and be hazardous for your lymphatic system. People don’t realize what a simple break in the skin can lead to, especially for your immune system.
It is best to start treatment of cracked heels before symptoms begin. If you notice the skin of your heels itching, peeling or flaking you should get started hydrating and caring for your skin properly right away. By doing so you may be able to avoid the development of cracked heels.
If you already have cracked heels, don’t worry. There are many things that you can do to help alleviate this problem. Here is a collection of both organic and inorganic home remedies for you to try.
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Begin by making sure to keep your feet clean. If you have cracked, bleeding heels, it's best to give your feet a nice soak every day. You can purchase a foot spa, or you can simply use a basin.
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Here are basic instructions for a good foot soak:
**NOTE**: Use enough water of a comfortably warm temperature to cover your feet to the ankles in a foot spa or basin. Add a tablespoon of salt (this can be plain salt or Epsom salt). If you like, you can add some essential oils such as lavender for aromatherapy and relaxation and/or tea tree oil for its antiseptic and antifungal properties. Approximately 20 drops of essential oils total should be an effective amount. However, you can adjust this as you wish.
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Here are four types of soaks that work:
4 Great Soak Recipes
#1 – Lemon Juice or Vinegar
Soaking your feet in pure lemon juice, white vinegar or apple cider vinegar is also a possibility one time weekly. The acidity helps break down dead, dry skin for easier removal. This is also an excellent treatment for athlete’s foot.
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#2- Lemon, Rosewater & Glycerin
Lemon juice can be used in combination with other soothing, healing ingredients. You can create a healing foot soak for yourself by combining rose water, glycerin, salt and lemon juice.
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of rosewater
- 1 teaspoon of pure glycerin
- Soak and treat your feet as usual.
#3 – Honey
You can add honey to a foot soak for excellent moisturizing and nourishing properties. Honey has natural antibacterial qualities and is well-known for helping with burn healing and other types of healing. Add half a cup of honey to a basin of comfortably warm water and enjoy a 15 to 20 minutes soak.
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#4 – Turmeric and Neem Oil Foot Mask
Neem oil also called margosa with its anti-fungal properties can help prevent cracked heels from becoming infected.
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- Mix a few drops of Neem oil with 3 teaspoons of turmeric powder to create a paste.
- Massage the paste into the cracked heels
- Leave the mixture on to soak in for approximately 30 minutes.
- Rinse the paste off using warm water and towel dry.
- Repeat the process daily until you no longer have cracked heels.
There are many other pleasant and effective recipes available for callus fighting foot soaks. If you are just soaking your feet in a basin, you can feel free to experiment with any and all.
If you are using an electric foot spa, be sure to check the manufacturer’s instructions to make certain all of the ingredients you use are safe for the machine.
