Have you ever felt too embarrassed to wear a certain pair of shoes or sandals because you didn't want your friends or family members to see the flaky cracks in your heels? Do you experience pain when you walk because the cracks in your heels are so deep?
If you answered "Yes!" to either of these questions, then you're not alone. Having dry, cracked heels is a common problem, especially if you live in a drier climate and during the colder seasons.
Fortunately, cracked heels is not an incurable skin issue, so if you're tired of dealing with them then keep on reading, because in today's blog we'll be sharing with you the most common causes as well as ways to get rid of your dry, cracked heels once and for all!
The two key items you'll need to overcome painfully dry heels are a good body scrub and moisturizing socks. With an effective exfoliator, not only will you be ridding your skin of cracked heels, but you'll also experience these five transformative benefits.
Let's start off today's blog by first explaining what causes cracked heels.
As you walk around, you put pressure on your heels, which causes the fat pads under your heels to expand and dry calluses to form. Over time, these calluses can develop into cracks.
Naturally, having dry skin in your heels is also a precursor to developing cracked skin, but it is not the only culprit. The following are other common causes of cracked heels:
🧍 Prolonged standing, especially on hard floors. Again, putting undue pressure on your heels promotes their drying out and cracking
👡 Wearing shoes or sandals with open backs. Skin that is exposed to the elements tends to get dried out and damaged more easily. Whether it’s the burning rays of the sun or water getting onto your skin and then evaporating, such exposure can dry out the skin faster and thus lead to cracked heels
🦶 Walking around barefoot causes friction between the bottom of your foot and the ground, which can cause calluses and thus cracks to form on the soles of your feet. Especially if you walk a lot on hard surfaces, such as concrete or asphalt, you’ll be more prone to developing calluses
👞 Using hard, unsupportive footwear. Similar to the point made previously about standing on hard ground for extended periods of time, the extra pressure on the fat pad of your heels from unsupportive shoes can also cause dried out skin to form cracks
🚿 Taking long, hot showers. Because heat sucks the moisture out of your skin, regularly exposing the skin on your feet to hot water during showers and baths will dry out your skin, especially if you don’t moisturize within about 10 minutes after bathing. In addition, as we mentioned before, because standing on hard surfaces for extended periods of time tends to worsen or cause cracked heels, it’s best to keep your shower time to a minimum.
😷 Chronic conditions such as diabetes. Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage the small blood vessels that supply resources to the nerves in your body. As a result, your feet become unable to sweat and provide the needed moisture to your feet, which naturally causes dry, cracked heels.
⚖️ Being obese. The more excess weight you carry, the more pressure the fat pad of your heels has to carry, which can cause the calluses in your heels to crack further
If left untreated, over time the cracks can become deeper and may even begin to bleed. In severe cases, the cracks can lead to a painful infection. That’s why it’s important to take care of your dry, cracking heels right away or prevent them from becoming completely dried out in the first place. In the following section we’ll go over some of the ways that you can take care of and prevent dry, cracking heels.
6 Ways You Can Heal Your Heels Back to Health:
1. Drink more water. As basic as this sounds, it’s an often overlooked tip. But if you consider the fact that 60% of our body is made up of water, then it makes sense that our skin becomes dry when we aren’t drinking enough water. Always make sure to keep a glass or bottle of water within arm’s reach. You could even set an alarm to go off every 30-60 minutes if you are the kind of person that tends to go for hours without drinking a single sip of water.
2. Apply a rich and intensive healing moisturizer consistently. This may be another tip that you’re rolling your eyes at, but here are two questions regarding this for you to consider: 1) What kind of moisturizer are you using, and 2) how often are you applying it?
Sure, you may be applying a moisturizer, but in the world of moisturizing skin creams, the consistency ranges from very thin and lightweight to heavy and thick. Depending on how severe your cracked heels are, if you are currently using a lighter moisturizer, try switching to a thicker one so that your skin gets as much assistance with hydration as possible!
Secondly, if you are only applying your moisturizer once or twice a day thinking that’s enough yet your cracked heels are still persisting, then it may be time to start applying even more frequently, to ensure that your heels get all the moisture they need to heal. Same as we said for tip number one, if you tend to find yourself too busy to remember on your own to reapply, then try setting alarms to remind you to reapply throughout the day.
The Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream is a great choice for healing cracked heels. The soothing camphor in the formula will help to alleviate the inflammation caused by the painful cracks and the rich glycerin content will soak into your skin, providing the much needed moisture that your heels need in order to heal.
3. Use moisturizing socks in conjunction with your moisturizer. If you want to really see massive results overnight, then just before going to bed, apply and massage into your heels your moisturizer and then slip on some moisturizing socks.
Leaving them on while you sleep will allow the moisturizing skin cream to fully absorb into your heels without any getting rubbed off onto your sheets, and when you wake up the next morning and take the socks off, your heels will look and feel incredibly soft. Do this nightly (or even during the day) for at least a week and your heels will be crack-free in no time!
The Yu-Be Heel & Elbow Moisturizing Socks work excellent in helping get rid of cracked heels! They are made with chitosan material, which is an antimicrobial material that will prevent odor from developing on your socks, and they also provide some support for plantar fasciitis inflammation, if you are dealing with that as well. Check out these incredible socks here.
4. Soak and exfoliate your heels. When your skin lacks moisture, cell turnover rate can rapidly increase and lead to excess dead skin that may not shed properly. This layer of dead skin cells is what forms the white, dry layers around your heels. In order to combat this, exfoliating with a body scrub one to two times a week is recommended, not only to reveal smoother heels, but to also buff out shallow foot cracks.
If you want an even more effective exfoliating session, try soaking your feet beforehand (but only after the cracks in your feet have healed). Mix one part of white vinegar with two parts of warm water and soak your feet in the mixture for 10-20 minutes. This will help to gently exfoliate your skin while at the same time soften it so that the dead skin cells come off easier when you scrub your skin afterwards.
5. Don’t peel or shave your calluses. We know it can be hard not to pick at your peeling skin, but it’s one of the worst things you can do, because it leaves your skin open to getting bad infections. If your heels are severely cracked and calloused and you feel like you need further assistance, then it may be best to see a doctor.
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