Feet!

[PerverseConverse]

Not sure if the right board but basically my feet look like I've attacked them with a Parmesan grater (not envy). The skin is coming off in tiny yet straight strips on my big toes and balls of my feet. It's not particularly dry as if I try and pull it off the attached but is soft and it bleeds and really hurts. The best I've been able to do is cut the bits off with nail clippers as they catch on the carpet which feels like needles going in my skin. Not sure if I can get a decent picture but will try. Question is what can I do about them? I moisturise regularly.

Sorry for the grimness of it being feet but here is my poor big toe. They are very dry in places as have pomphlox too but not where this torn skin is.

I used footner boots. Got rid of all my hard skin in 10 days and now i’ve Started using flexitol moisturiser. Seems to be working (I had horrible cracked heels before)
You can’t use the footner socks on open wounds. I can’t see from your photo if that’s the case..

Thanks. I need to wait for the pomphlox to heal as it's sore and open.

Athletes foot maybe? Try an anti fungal?

It's not athletes foot. I've had that before and not similar.

I finally took my feet off to a podiatrist to sort my manky skin, she’s been fabulous and has worked wonders on my sore, cracked heels - I’d highly recommend rather than trying to fix it yourself.

@Jellycatspyjamas that's a good idea, thanks. What did they do to make them better?

She has been removing the hard skin with a scalpel (not as scary as it sounds and very therapeutic actually), moisturising, cutting and shaping toenails and generally checking my feet.

She said that most of the home care methods actually increase hard skin production in the long term so are counter productive really. Cost me £30 for two half hour appointments and worth every penny.

File it and use a cream for cracked heels.

Do you know what the cause is? My feet get very dry and rough during sandal season such that my heels start to hurt a little, so I take to doing a regular foot scrub (just using gloves in the shower), followed by lots of nivea blue tub cream and socks. The skin was fine again after a short week or so of this.

I have a bath every day (as opposed to a shower) so they get a good soaking. Even my pedicurist commented on how little hard skin I have. When I just showered I had feet like an animal!

Also if you can bear it, when you're at home can you wear socks (a) to stop them catching and (b) to remove the temptation for you to have a go at them?

I think it's a result of having very narrow feet and walking many miles a day so my feet have a bit too much movement in my shoes and it causes friction and tears the skin. No matter what kind of shoes I wear.

Hi OP I have the same and it hurts when it snags on carpet and rips up.

I bought a really cheap foot lotion, I smother my feet in it and wrap it in cling film then a pair of socks and wear it for a few hours it really does help. I also got a foot grater the Scholl one and use that on my feet every 2nd day.

@Beaverhausen it's horrible isn't it?! I file mine at least every other day and apply thick grease-like eczema cream at night and put socks on to help it absorb. They are less dry but the catchy bit don't improve.

And it is always the upper part and big toe lol

Yes! My heels are dry too but not too bad really having seen some of the feet around this summer! I look at my 3 year olds baby soft feet and wish mine were like that.