Your feet are constantly exposed to the pressure of your weight, the surrounding environment and other factors. Whether stuck in a tennis shoe or high heels all day, or walking barefoot, your feet can become dry and damaged. Like a riverbed that develops cracks as it dries out and loses its moisture, the skin of your feet can dry and crack as well -- especially the heels -- leading to pain and discomfort.
Moisturizing Cream
Moisturizing creams can be found at most convenience, grocery and drug stores, typically in the body care aisle with other lotions and skin products. Moisturizing creams use a mixture of emollients and humectants as active ingredients to draw moisture to the skin. They create an oily layer of protection over the dried out portions of your feet to help slow the loss of moisture from the skin. This helps the skin regain moisture, which can stop the feet from getting worse, and help heal the cracked skin. Several moisturizing creams are available specifically for cracked feet, and are marketed as such.
Salicylic Acid
Salicylic acid may be used on cracked feet, especially the heels, to debride or remove the calluses that often form with dry, cracked skin. Salicylic acid is a keratolytic agent, which breaks down the keratin proteins that make up a large portion of the hard, callused skin. This helps return cracked heel skin to its original soft texture. The use of a pumice stone while using salicylic acid can help expedite the process.
Urea
Urea is often used on cracked feet as a skin emollient. Urea is typically naturally found in the skin, but its levels are noticeably smaller in dry skin, such as that of cracking feet, says the New Zealand Dermatological Society. Once applied to the feet, urea creates a protective layer over the skin tissue to help slow the loss of moisture from the feet. With moisture retained in the skin tissue, skin can start to heal and return to normal.
Alpha-Hydroxy Acids
Alpha-hydroxy acids are another keratolytic agent that help remove the thickened tissue that can develop with cracked feet. Alpha-hydroxy acid works by loosening the keratin bonds that act as a glue to keep the skin together. By loosening these bonds, skin cells on the feet shed at an accelerated rate, and are replaced by new smoother and healthier skin tissue.
Strapping or Pads
Straps or pads are another option for severely cracked feet. Both options provide a protective barrier for the sensitive dry tissue of your feet to help reduce skin friction and movement, which can further aggravate the skin or cause the cracks to increase in size. Pads can also help redistribute the weight on the cracked areas of the heel, preventing the skin from being pulled further apart sideways.
Medical Intervention
For seriously cracked feet, your doctor may suggest additional treatments such as debridement or the use of tissue glue. Your doctor can debride, or cut away, the hardened skin that has formed around the cracks. This should not be done at home, as infection can quickly develop, and the risks of cutting off too much skin are high. Tissue glue can then be used to hold the cracked skin together to prevent the cracks from growing in size, as well as to help your cracked feet heal.
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