Cracked Heels - Disabled Son.

[ohdearme1958]

Can anyone pls advise on how we can sort my sons heels out? They are not in this state because of neglect. It's just that due to his general condition his feet are really difficult to take care of. He uses medication that causes sweating and a combination of other factors mean that quite often they become like this rather suddenly. We used to see a chripractor who's since left the country we live in but all he could really do was file them a bit then paint some brown stuff on them. The large crack in the picture was not there yesterday after we cut his toenails etc and scrubbed his feet.

He came to me just now, said ouch, and punted to his feet. I'm at a loss as to what to do next and I hate him suffering.

Thank you

That looks very sore. Is there another chiropractor you could see?

Thank you but no, there isn't. Or I would have taken him.

Try Flexitol Herl Balm. It's often prescribed to diabetics as it has a high Urea content -that helps "lock" the moisture into the skin. I used it a few years back when I had painfully cracked heels and it was like a miracle

I'm guessing your not in the UK??
If you can find and heal cream with urea in (flexitol, Schol, anything local - I have some brown stuff which stinks, but seems to work), plaster it on.
If nothing else, pile on the vaseline at bed time, then put on a pair of socks to stop it going all over the sheets. You can even do this if his feet aren't cracked to prevent them suddenly deteriorating.
My feet are much better if I wear socks and shoes rather than walk about barefoot outside, or even in sandals. Is this a factor or not??

Once the cracks have lost that raw look at the bottom, a quick file once a week can help prevent the cracks getting too big when they do set in - don't file sore skin tho.

Hope they heal up soon,vthey look really sore, your poor boy.

Boots do a really good cracked heel balm, and my dad who used to suffer really badly would slather it on, then put sandwich bags on his feet overnight with socks on top. Apparently much better than just socks as it stops the cracks filling up with sock fluff and helps it all soak in.

Thank you 😊

We're not in the U.K. but I'll be able to get the creams suggested from the U.K. if they're not available here.

It's a constant battle with my sons feet and we manage to keep them comfy and nice then all of a sudden that changes and within a week it's got the better of all our efforts. He goes to bed every night with Vaseline and socks on but even so this still happens.

He actually lives like a Magarajah with myself and a team of people providing 2-1 care around the clock including daily foot care.

He's soft from head to toe, like a giant baby, and I think it's his daily 4km walks as well as his 4 times a week personal training sessions that are too much for his skin. He also does a lot of stimming due to his autism and Tourette's that involves his heels and his feet. So they actually do take a lot of ware and tear but I suspect because of the sweating caused by his medication and the climate we live in contribute to the problem in s big way.

Thank you

Ok then plenty of vasilene and socks on a night. Or anything you can find to put moisture back in.

Oh and yes to sandals. He wears sandals. But he's mostly barefoot on tiled floors in the house, for sensory reasons I suspect, though we can get him to wear flip flops and I'll insist a bit more from now on. When out walking he wears Asics gel trainers.

And I'm living the mention of the sandwich bags. 😍 He laughs enough when we wrap his feet in cling film and the sandwich bags are going to take that to a whole new level. I'm looking forward to it

My feet crack when I eat too much stuff which my body doesn't agree with. If I keep away from shop bought cakes and sweets my heels are healthy and smooth.

Thank you, we'll keep on with the Vaseline at bedtime.

Re cakes and sweeties - my son is on a restricted diet to one of his medications putting him at high risk of diabetes and as it is we monitor his blood sugar regularly just to keep an eye on things.

Sorry meant to add that with my boy it's very very much a case of prevention is better than cure and we constantly try and keep a few steps ahead of ourselves.

Def give Flexitol a try with socks at bedtime, it's really good !

I used to have heels almost as cracked as your son's, and despite nightly use of Flexitol Heel Balm covered with cling wrap, they didn't fully improve until I bought a microplane.

The very first time I used it, in the shower, after my feet had gotten wet and softened up a bit, it painlessly removed about 80% of my dry, cracked skin. I now run it firmly over my heels every time I shower and my heels look great.

Here is a photo of it. Look for it on whatever big online retailer you use, if you have one that delivers where you are.

It is very safe, I have never removed healthy skin despite using it to aggressively debride my heels.

I am not saying that it is sweets what makes everybody's feet crack but it may be something he is sensitive to.

Antimatter, thank you, his diet is very simple and healthy. We'd knoe if he had a sensitivity to anything in it.

It is highly likely though that his medication, as explained further up thread contributes to this problem. So that could be described as a sensitivety of sorts.

Pitilessyank we use something very similar, it's just a different brand. But I will buy the one you've mentioned and give it a go.

Thank you

Sorry about my typos. Fat fingers and lazy previewing.

Eucerin foot cream. 10% urea.

Sounds like your doing loads of positive stuff.
So yes, next step in a Urea containing cream. And the plastic bags.

Flip flops destroy my feet too - don't know if it's the constant knocking?? Barefoot inside (clean and sand free!) might be better than flip flops. Maybe something to look into and see what's better?? Unless he'd wear a soft, padded pair of slippers, which I do even on our tiled floors (and hot temperatures)

When I was looking into preventing checked heels it said to avoid sandles, fit flops or anything without a proper back a the fat pad of our heel isn't supported, over stretches and this can cause the cracks. But if you're in a hot country I can't see not wearing sandles would be an option.

I'll second Flextol cracked heel balm.

I'm not a podiatrist / chiropodist etc but I did listen to a very interesting thing on the radio the other week about cracked heels (I realise that sounds slightly odd!) The podiatrist said that sandals and walking around bare-footed contributed hugely to cracked heels and any sweat is instantly wicked away instead of coating the foot. The sweat produced by the foot has a kind of balming effect, apparently, which helps to moisturise the skin. So maybe try encouraging your son to wear his trainers most of the time for a while and see if there's any beneficial effect?

Best of luck

Thank you Sauvignon

Bell - thats really interesting. Thank you.

I have found the Flexitol Hard Skin and Callus cream to be much more effective than the heel balm at preventing those cracks that you showed. It also softened the skin to make filing them much easier and quicker. Ouch! They can be very painful. Hope something works for you.

Ohdearme-do you use your device after his feet have been soaked in water a bit? It makes the thick, dry skin come off much more efficiently. And press hard when using the plane-it won't take off healthy skin.

I had used other, similar tools on my feet, and this one worked much better than the others ever had.

Good luck and my best wishes to you son!