Best Home Remedies to Cure Cracked Heels You Must Try – During winter most of us have to deal with cracked heels. For some, the cracks are light and they are painless, but those with deep cracks know how difficult it is to cure them. In extreme cases, the cracks start to bleed and even putting a step becomes so much painful. The oil glands present on our skin keep the skin moisturized, but there is no oil gland on foot and that’s why, they become dry and start developing cracks during the dry and cold winter weather. But worry not, because your kitchen already has all the ingredients to cure your cracked heels. In case you are wondering what to use on your cracked heels, check out below for the best home remedies to cure cracked heels naturally.
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Before we start talking about the best home remedies to cure cracked heel naturally, here are the reasons that can cause cracked heels.
Causes of Cracked Heels
- Dry weather condition is a major reason behind cracked heel, which is why, we mostly suffer from dry, cracked heel during winter.
- Lack of moisturization on our feet is another main cause of cracked heels.
- Dehydration can also cause cracks on our heels. Lack of fluid intake can lead to body dehydration, which in turn can cause severe dryness of skin.
- Prolonged standing is another major cause behind developing cracked heel. Sometimes it is considered as an occupational hazard. Standing on our foot for long hours on daily basis hardens up the skin on our foot, which can lead to cracked heel later.
- Often we soak our feet in hot water for a bit of relaxation. However, keeping the foot in hot water for too long or too frequently can dry out the skin on the heels and cause cracks on the heels.
- Walking around barefoot for most of the time is another factor, that can cause rough and cracked heel. Constantly wearing the same open back sandals for prolonged period of time can also cause cracked heel.
- Wearing tight footwear or something that does not provide enough support for the heels is another reason to develop cracked heels over time.
- Cleansing is important, but using harsh soaps on feet or scrubbing the foot with pumice stone while they are dry can also results in developing cracks on the heels.
- Additionally, there are few medical conditions that can result in cracked heals, including vitamin deficiency, fungal infection, diabetes, hypothyroidism, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, obesity, etc.
Simple Home Remedies to Cure Cracked Heels
1. Coconut Oil and Shea Butter Remedy to Treat Cracked Heels
How to use coconut oil and shea butter to get rid of cracked heels?
With the help of a double boiler, melt 1 tbsp raw shea butter. Once it is melted, add in some pure coconut oil and keep stirring in low flame until the ingredients mix together.
Turn off the heat and let the mixture cools down slightly. Massage it thoroughly all over your dry and cracked heels. Keep on massaging for some time and then cover your heels with a pair of socks. Leave it on overnight.
Reapply this home remedy with coconut oil and shea butter to repair cracked heels every night.
Benefits –
Coconut Oil –
Coconut oil is an amazing moisturizer. It is a rich source of medium chain fatty acids. These fatty acids, specially capric acid and capryllic acid are known for their skin nourishing and protecting benefits.
Coconut oil not only moisturizes the skin, but also creates a protective layer on the skin surface to retain moisture and thus it effectively repair cracked heel.
The fatty acids found in coconut oil are structurally similar to the fatty acids present on the outer layer skin cells. This allows coconut oil to reach the deepest layers of the skin and repair the damage by providing moisturization and nourishment.
Coconut oil contains a good amount of vitamin E. This vitamin comes with anti oxidant benefits and protects our skin from dryness. It also speeds up the healing process of dry and damaged skin by boosting cell renewal rate.
Furthermore, vitamin E also replenishes the skin with the lost moisture as well as strengthen the connective tissues of the skin. This helps in treating dry heels.
Coconut oil, being rich in protein, helps improving cellular health and repairs damaged skin tissues to further provide relief from dry skin.
The anti fungal as well as anti inflammatory benefits of coconut oil help preventing skin infections on the dry heels. It also reduces skin inflammation and provides relief from the itching and other discomfort caused by dryness of the skin.
Coconut oil, with regular application, helps in keeping the skin soft, supple and healthy. Moreover, the exfoliating properties of coconut oil help removing dead skin cells from the heels and restores soft and supple skin.
Shea Butter –
Shea butter is a rich source of fatty acids, such as are oleic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid, etc. These fatty acids are extremely nourishing and moisturizing for our skin.
They help to repair cracked heel with regular use. Shea butter comes with natural anti inflammatory properties, which also help to heal cracked heels.
Natural shea butter is a great source of vitamin A and E. Vitamin A can boost cell growth and help repairing dry and cracked heels.
Vitamin E comes with anti inflammatory as well as anti oxidant benefits, that help in treating various skin conditions, including cracked heels. Also, vitamin F is found in shea butter, which is known for its skin benefits.
Shea butter is one of the best natural moisturizers for our skin. It has great emollient as well as humectant properties, which not only add moisturization, but also help locking the moisture into the skin.
Excessive dry skin on heels not only develop cracks, but also can cause peeling and itching of the skin. Shea butter nourishes the skin and soften it as well.
The moisturizing and anti inflammatory benefits of shea butter help healing the heels and provide relief from the discomfort.
Shea butter, with regular application, helps in improving blood circulation in the skin. This in turn, keeps the skin cells nourished and also results in faster cell renewal.
This is how it helps to repair cracked heel by replacing the dry and dead skin cells with new and healthy ones.
2. Glycerin and Aloe Vera Remedy to Treat Cracked Heels
How to use glycerin and aloe vera to get rid of cracked heels?
Take some warm water in a big container and soak your feet in that for 15-20 minutes. Pat dry with a soft towel. In a bowl, take a tsp of glycerin and mix it with equal amount of pure aloe vera gel.
Massage the resultant mixture onto your heels and feet. Cover your feet with a pair of socks and leave it on overnight. Reapply this DIY cracked heels remedy with glycerin and aloe vera daily.
Benefits –
Glycerin –
Glycerin is known for its wonderful moisturizing benefits for our skin. It helps to eliminate dryness and give us soft and smooth skin.
With regular use, glycerin work effectively to repair cracked heel. Glycerin is a natural humectant, which means it can absorb moisture from the air and locks it in the skin.
Glycerin actually works like a sponge. It pulls in water to the outer layer of the skin and also enhances our skin’s water retention ability by slowing down the evaporation process of the water from our skin surface.
This goes a long way to balance the moisture level of our skin and keep dryness at bay.
Regular application of glycerin helps to fill in the cracks of our heels and also provides relief from irritation and redness due to moisture loss. It makes the skin on our heels soft and smooth.
Glycerin comes with natural emollient properties that help to keep our skin moisturized, soft and supple. Plus it has therapeutic benefits for our skin, that further helps to maintain healthy skin.
With consistent application, glycerin can increase the thickness of epidermal layer or the top layer of the skin. Also it improves skin’s barrier function, thus protecting the skin from harmful chemicals as well as environmental elements and ensures healthy skin.
Glycerin is also known for its great skin healing properties. It heals dry skin and also treats fungal infections like psoriasis and eczema, which are associated with extreme dryness of the skin.
Besides, it boosts our skin cell growth, thus replacing the dry, damaged skin cells on the heels with new, healthy ones and making the heels soft and smooth.
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Aloe Vera –
Aloe vera gel is an excellent remedy to restore soft heels. It contains 96% water as well as over 200 healing phyto nutrients and 18 amino acids, that help resolving almost all of our skin problems.
Being a rich source of water, aloe vera offers great moisturizing ability to heal dry and rough skin. With regular use, aloe vera softens the dry skin on the heels.
When applied on the skin, aloe vera can reach in to deep layers of our skin and provides a boost of moisturization. This helps to repair cracked heel.
Exfoliation is also important to restore soft and smooth heel. Aloe vera helps to exfoliate the top layer of the skin and remove the dead skin cells to make way for softer and healthier skin.
Aloe vera is a source of ‘gibberellin’, a growth hormone and ‘glucomannan’, a polysaccharide. These two compounds play vital roles to achieve soft, smooth skin.
The anti oxidant compounds present in aloe vera also help to heal dry skin on our feet.
Aloe vera is a source of several skin nourishing vitamins, including vitamins A, B, C as well as E. They nourish the skin cells and repair the damaged cells to treat skin dryness.
Also these vitamins help strengthening the skin tissues to further improve our skin texture.
The mucopolysaccharides found in aloe vera also help healing cracked heels. Mucopolysaccharides is a long chain sugar molecule, that help protecting the moisture level of our skin and eliminate the dryness.
Furthermore, the polysaccharides in aloe vera also support faster cell regeneration to restore healthy, soft and smooth skin.
Aloe vera has anti inflammatory properties, that help to treat dry skin effectively and provide relief from the itching and irritation caused by excessive dryness.
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3. Banana and Honey Remedy to Treat Cracked Heels
How to use banana and honey to get rid of cracked heels?
Take half of a ripe banana, remove the skin and mash it. Add 1-2 tsp honey to that. Mix together and prepare a paste.
Apply this on clean heels and keep it on for 15-20 minutes, before washing off with plain water. Reapply this simple remedy with banana and honey every day to cure cracked heels naturally.
Benefits –
Banana –
Banana has excellent moisturizing benefits for our skin. It contains a high amount of potassium, which helps to hydrate and moisturize dry heels and give relief from cracked heels.
Potassium also helps to improve blood circulation in the skin, which further ensures better flow of oxygen and other nutrients to the skin cells. This helps to repair the damaged skin cells and eliminate dryness.
Along with potassium, banana is a good source of several vitamins, such as vitamin A, B, C, E etc. Vitamin A helps to heal dryness of the skin by increasing skin cell renewal rate, that replace the dry and damaged skin cells with the new ones and repair the cracks on the heels.
The B vitamins come with anti oxidant benefits. They protect the skin from dryness by fighting off the free radicals as well as environmental elements.
Vitamin C in banana also has anti oxidant properties. It neutralizes the free radicals to prevent skin dryness. Vitamin C also has hydrating benefits, that further help to repair cracked heel.
In addition, banana is a good source of vitamin E. Vitamin E has anti oxidant benefits and it also supports healthy cell growth, that help to restore soft and smooth heels. Also it can replenish the skin with lost moisture to heal dry skin.
Furthermore, the amino acids present in banana nourish the skin cells and help to improve skin texture.
Exfoliation is important to restore soft heels. Banana can exfoliate the skin and remove the dry and dead skin cells to further soften rough and dry heels.
Honey –
Honey has unmatched moisturizing properties for dry skin. It is a natural humectant, which means honey draws moisture from the air and locks it into the skin. This helps to add moisturization to dry skin.
And it doesn’t end here. Along with providing moisturization, honey also helps to retain moisture by creating a protective barrier on the skin. Honey is the powerhouse of several vitamins and minerals.
It contains vitamins and minerals like, thiamine (vitamin B1), niacin (vitamin B3), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), zinc, potassium and selenium, organic acids, specially gluconic acid as well as 18-20 amino acids.
All these help nourishing our skin and eliminating dryness. Honey is rich in potassium, which is known for its moisturizing and hydrating benefits for our skin.
Potassium also improves blood flow to the skin cells. This helps to nourish and repair damaged skin cells and improves our skin texture.
Exfoliation is very important to soften dry and rough heels. The natural enzymes present in honey along with the AHA, exfoliate the skin on the heels and remove the dry and dead skin cells to soften and smoothen our heels.
Furthermore, honey is enriched with anti inflammatory properties. Once applied on the skin, it feels very soothing and educes the itchiness and irritation caused by dry skin.
Besides, the anti oxidant compounds found in honey, such as chrysin, pinobanksin, catalase, pinocembrin, etc. also contribute to healthy skin by boosting cell turnover rate and also protecting our skin cells from oxidative stress to prevent dry skin.
These were few excellent home remedies to repair cracked heels naturally. I hope you found this article helpful, stay tuned for more such articles.
