Cracked feet normal (YANBU) or not (YABU)

[tawnytowel]

Ok, so like many of us I haven’t had many treatments in the past year. Certainly no pedicure. I’ve developed a painful heel as a result of cracked skin. I’m 43, not overweight (but not tiny), first time ever. Dr Google tells me that cracked feet could indicate all sorts of deficiencies and conditions. I have a bit of health anxiety so am interested / worried / wondering what other people have. So, AIBU:

No: You generally have no health worries and have cracked heels to the extent they are occasionally painful. Or it’s an especially bad year. It’s nothing to worry about.

Yes: I have cracked heels, they’re the result of an illness / condition / something more than a few months neglect. You should get them checked out.

Have you been keeping your feet well moisturised?
Sometimes it can just happen bc your feet get so much abuse. The body shop do a peppermint foot lotion which is really good.
I'd also get a pumice stone and file down any excess hard skin and give yourself a little at home pedicure.
Try this before worrying about underlying health issues. It likely just needs some TLC

Cracked heel balm.

Just treat them stop overthinking.

I get these. Especially in summer when my feet get dry because I'm not wearing socks. I use a corn knife/razor thing to shave off all the dead skin and if I have a crack then I moisturise twice a day and wear socks. There are also specific cracked heel creams.

I get cracked heels, google tells me it’s be ause I’m barefoot so much round the house. I use scholl foot repair cream, can’t remember exact name - ‘heel repair’ perhaps? It takes a few weeks but it totally sorts them out.

Not convinced it means there is an underlying problem but to be fair I do have some health problems.

And don't panic. My dad had sore feet and so do I. It's not anything serious.

My feet get very dry and cracked and painful in summer when I’m wearing sandals all the time. I do have other health issues but my dry sandal feet have never been mentioned as a concern with those other conditions. I usually find that giving them a good rub with a pumice stone and slathering on a thick coat of Vaseline with some thick socks for a couple of nights helps. If they’re especially fucked I find that a coat of this with cling film round my feet and socks over the top also does wonders.

Frankly, I’d you buy a pumice stone and have a little scrub each time you shower and use a moisturiser in your feet, don’t walk barefoot, you should be fine. Wearing socks will help too.

If it’s gone quite far, soak your feet in warm water with some salt. Then light scrub with a pumice stone, use cracked heel moisturiser followed by socks. Keep using the moisturiser and wearing socks. You can buy the cracked heel moisturiser in most supermarkets, chemists and on line.

If you’re having problems after doing this (using a cracked heel moisturiser as the moisturiser) for one week, then call your doctor.

Foot care should be part of your daily shower routine - scrub and moisturise after drying off from your shower or bath.

I have them, I find the Vaseline lip therapy really good, I put it on before bed when I notice my feet getting bad, it really softens them up. For some reason the normal Vaseline doesn't work as good, so I'm not sure why!
Sometimes they get sore and bleed. I hate wearing socks and usually wear flip flops or go barefoot around the house so I think that's why

All you need is 30 seconds with a pumice stone during every shower and bath on each foot.

I get it in one foot, in the summer, because they get dry, not because of Heath issues

Just moisturise

Flexitol heel balm - recommended on here many times (which is why I bought it) and really does work x

Thanks so far everyone, relieved to know rest of world does not have lovely soft feet! I have a foot file, used it today second time in a year with cream. So I guess by sound of it I’m guilty of neglect which makes sense (and i wfh so often in bare feet)... just weird that I am not much more neglectful than before but never had them sore before

The foot balm suggestions here are great, will try, do you all file - soften - cream and if so how often? In my 20s / 30s / 40s I just assumed pedicure was a bit of a luxury

I used to have this problem when I walked around the home barefoot. My feet are better since I bought slippers, and cream them after every bath.

I get it in the winter when I neglect my feet because no one can see them it's just dry skin.

I do - entirely my own fault as I don’t tend to wear socks and wear crocs. Pumice stone after a soak and some flexitol heel cream solve it.

Entirely normal and can be solved in under a week by Flexitol Heel Balm and a foot file, even if the cracks are deep,

Another vote for flexitol heel balm. I usually have a shower and at the end have a go at the hard skin with one a metal foot file. Once i dry my feet I put the flexitol on fairly generously, and then put on a pair of cotton socks for an hour or so to let the cream soak in.

Permanent cracked heels here and no health problems, yes you just have to keep on top of it. Might be hereditary? My podiatrist said to pumice or file the hard skin off and then a cream with a % of urea (synthetic) is best for keeping the skin supple. Also just discovered Babyfoot acid peels for feet - brilliant if a bit minging!

I sometimes used to get dry heels, quite badly on occasion & in the past used all kind of things to try to fix them, but actually I discovered that if I drink enough water every day I don't get dry heals, even being barefoot pretty much all summer

I don't get cracked heels, but I regularly use pumice on my feet in the shower. If they start feeling dry I use a heel balm.

I get really dry, cracked heels. I do a lot of walking at work and usually blame that but they are terrible at the moment and I've been doing hardly any walking the last few weeks.

O'Keeffe's foot cream is a miracle worker.
I slather it on at bedtime and wear a pair of little socks. It works brilliantly after a few nights.

I have extremely dry skin on my feet and my heels crack horribly every winter. No matter what I use, they're still dry. I'm healthy though!

I get very bad cracks from dry skin (I have bad eczema) I don’t find pumice stones or files work well personally but they might work for you! I put on a heavy duty moisturiser (I find the body shop foot hemp cream amazing) and a pair of socks and leave them over night. My feet are normally soft by morning and the cracks have started healing.

I also find blister bandaids over the sore cracked spots make it less painful to walk around whilst healing.

I agree with everyone about the flexitol cream and spending a bit of time to care for your feet.
I also want to add another pov, I used to suffer with terrible deep cracks on my heels and a build up of dead skin on the balls of my feet and on the side of my big toes. My feet would burn after a walk or a day at work on my feet. I could soak and pumice for hours and the hard skin would still be there. Then I ended up seeing a physio for back issues and they prescribed insoles because of flat feet, amongst other exercises etc.

Within a short time I realised the build up of dead skin had stalled, and each time I got rid of some it didn't rebuild. I then had a pedicure where all of the dead skin was removed and it has never come back! I don't moisturise my feet often, I never need to pumice them and they are still soft. I really think mine was because of my flat feet and incorrectly placed friction in footwear. I've had 5 years of no rasping at my feet and it's so nice as I used to do it since I was a teen.

Just thought it might be something else to think about if you have flat feet.