Heal Cracked Heels Naturally: Remedies & Supplements for Skin Health

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.

Duct Tape

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Bethany (San Diego CA) on 09/12/2024
★★★★★

Duct tape healed my heel cracks! One week day we decided that on Saturday we'd take the family to the beach. The day before I developed painful heel cracks on one foot. The kind that pinched and just hurts when you walk! I thought we couldn't go to the beach because that sand would get stuck inside my heal cracks. I read all the suggestions online and settled on duct tape. Sounded crazy but worth a shot. Well, the duct tape WORKED! I was amazed after wearing the duct tape overnight the cracks healed enough that my feet felt well enough to go to the beach. Now I read for the duct tape whenever this issue arises. Also learned over time that likely causes are B deficiencies, but in a “pinch” the duct tape helps immensely!

Replied by Vera
(Colorado)
09/12/2024

Bethany, it could be dyshidrotic eczema. Don't underestimate it. It can get very nasty if not attended to.


Duct Tape
Posted by Mike (San Bernardino, Ca USA) on 08/07/2012
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I have had a problem with peeling and cracking dryness in my heels since I was a child. A little piece of skin would emerge and I would want to peel it right off. That would usually leave me with pain for weeks. It would also lead to cracking and painful infections over a period of years. I've used creams and ointments and petroleum jelly with some success. I've saturated my socks and ruined a pair of shoes more than once. You know, you just can't work with your feet squishing around in a slimy gel.

That said, I'm sure you can tell it was not easy for me to get any success out of using ointments. I did have some success but I did not get any great success until I tried putting duct tape on my heels. Of all things, duct tape. Crazy, huh?

Who would think that duct tape would keep my skin so moist throughout the day that I think the healing comes from the inside out. It even makes the pain go away within just a few hours. First, I tried doing it with ointments like Neosporin. That didn't work very well because the tape would not stick when my skin was oily, like that.

Then, when I washed my feet thoroughly, soaking them for 10 min. In hot soapy water and then dried them thoroughly, and used some alcohol to remove the last of excess oils, then the duct tape stuck pretty well. I keep the duct tape on for several hours during sleep and even when I'm awake. I can walk around in it and it even feels very good on my feet. Greatest part about it is that it works amazingly fast.

I would normally take a pretty coarse emery board to dry sand my heels just enough to smooth out the rough parts. But that's all it would ever take to get my heels hurting enormously, the next day. However, when I put the duct tape on immediately afterward there is no pain the next day. I can feel it tingling under the tape but no real pain.

When there was pain because I did not use any duct tape the next day I immediately started to use the tape again and within a few hours the pain went away. What could possibly be in the sticky part that kills pain? I don't know. I just know that it works. Maybe it's not the tape, at all. But maybe it is the body's own defenses, able to operate better under moist conditions. Of course I'm guessing, but what else could it be?

My process usually went something like this:

I would usually go about 12 to 24 hours "ON" and 12 to 24 hours "OFF". Repeating it over several days and weeks. Then, I would not need to do it again for several months. But you know, my problem would always come back because I obviously must have some sort of a problem with circulation, or some type of nutrient deficiency, or something I have not yet been able to identify.

I just thought you might like to try this little duct tape on the bottom of the feet system, yourself. It surely works for me.


Essential Fatty Acids

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 06/19/2012
★★★★★

The cracking feet is an essential fatty acid deficiency and you need evening primrose oil and good quality freshest flaxseed oil you can find.

https://ted.earthclinic.com/cures/athletes_foot3.html


Flax Seed Oil

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Arn (Kenmore, Wa.) on 01/29/2024 20 posts
★★★★★

I used to have a crack in the end of my right thumb. It was always in the way, and hurt worse than a broken leg. By the way, I found that a drop of tea tree oil immediately takes the pain away.

But I had that open crack in my thumb for several years, no matter what I did. Until one day I took a couple of capsules of flax oil. The very next day the fissure had closed up and was healing. First time in years.

Since then I have used Flax oil for heel cracks with the same results. I should have learned by now to take it regularly, but I get lazy.


Hydrogen Peroxide Soaks

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Mo (Battle Ground, WA) on 07/12/2009
★★★★★

soaked feet nightly in drugstore strength hydrogren peroxide until cracks were healed.


Kelp

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Julie (Provo, Ut) on 03/24/2012
★★★★★

Taking a kelp supplement helped clear up my cracked heels. I had read that iodine could cure tonail fungus and I figured it might help with my cracked heels too. It did, and quite quickly. While they were healing I used just a regular heel conditioner.

I ran out of Kelp and didn't get any more for over a month. My heels are cracked and bleeding again.


Lugol's Iodine

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Harrison (Boulder, Colorado) on 07/15/2008
★★★★★

Cracked heels can be cured by first cleaning out the wound with a good neem soap and a q-tip. Then dry the area carefully and add 2 drops of Lugol's iodine to the sore and a glob of aloe vera gel. Cover with a bandage. Repeat once a day. The problem is gone within a week.


Magnesium Oil

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Gean (Salina, Kansas) on 06/28/2009
★★★★★

My mom, who is 62 and has had severely cracked heels for as long as I can remember, started spraying herself with magnesium oil (magnesium chloride). Within a couple of weeks her heels were completely smooth.

I also gave some magnesium oil to a friend in her late 40's. After 1-2 weeks of spraying in on her body, she got "baby feet". She had had very cracked heels.

Neither of these ladies sprayed it on their feet, just on body once daily after a shower. We did not know it would have this effect, but they are very happy about this!


Mentholated Vapor Rub

4 User Reviews
5 star (4) 
  100%

Posted by Cara (Fort Collins, CO) on 07/03/2022
★★★★★

After 5 years of painful cracked heels, I finally tried Mentholated Vapor Rub on my feet. UNBELIEVABLE! The pain was completely gone in 24 hours and has not returned. Cracks closed up. No more walking around on my tippy toes because of severe pain.

I wrapped my heels in plastic wrap and tape after applying the Vapor Rub. I kept both heels wrapped overnight and by morning my feet were healed. AMAZING!!!


Mentholated Vapor Rub
Posted by Wecair (Moose Jaw, Sk. Canada) on 11/22/2012
★★★★★

I have had extremeley dry, cracked and caloused feet for years. Sometimes the cracks were so deep I was concerned they would become infected. Somewhere I had heard that mentholated rub applied to them and covered with clean dry socks overnight would help so I tried it. I smeared my feet with a generous amount of rub and put my socks on, by the very first morning the layers of dried skin peeled off. My feet after just 2 treatments are soft and have not looked and felt this good in years! Even the deep crack is almost gone. Thank you Vapo rub.

Replied by Dukeycash
(Dora, Missouri)
01/17/2013
★★★★★

Thank you so much for this solution to cracked heels. Two nights of vapor rub and socks and my feet are smooth, smooth.

Replied by Donna
(Brooklyn, NYC)
06/12/2021

What kind of socks? I tried it with cotton ones and they just rubbed off the rub.

Charity
(faithville, Us)
06/12/2021

My liver gut conditions cause these heal cracks and I can put on an oil and plastic over it overnight and it helps but does not solve it. See: Why Lotion Never Fixes Cracked Heels & Dry Feet | Dr.Berg - YouTube

Alex
(Thessaloniki)
03/02/2022

I have both cracked heels and dry hands. My dry hands are from washing them often and from cold. I took 500mg of niacinamide per day for a month, as Dr Berg suggested in the video and absolutely nothing happened. The problems remained (until I tried Tricia's Cracked Heel Remedies).

Deirdre
(Connecticut)
06/13/2021

Hi Charity,

Thanks for passing along the video link. I watched it last night and found it very interesting. Did you ever try B3 (niacin) for your cracked heels, per Dr. Berg's video? I have one crack on my heel that I can't get to fully heal NO MATTER WHAT so I have been taking low-dose niacin (25 mg) for the past few weeks and no change yet. Decided to try a 500 mg niacin cap today and wow, what a flush! Lasted a long time. Would love more details if you've tried the B3 - mgt dosage, how often, how long before you saw results, etc. Thank you!

Art
(California)
06/13/2021
2325 posts

Hi Deirdre,

Did you try the 1% Clotrimazole on your heel? It's worth a try if you haven't yet, as the cracks can sometimes be fungal related. It may take a moment because the heel skin is fairly thick, but definitely worth a try.

Niacin is antifungal and that may be its mode of action for this problem. The combination of Clotrimazole and Niacin may hit it from the inside out and the Clotrimazole from the outside in!

Art

Charity
(faithville, Us)
06/13/2021

I do take natures plus B it has a little paper in it to say how it has the actual level of B it states. Gut issues I have faced since birth and hepatic liver surgery in 2010 that made my condition worse but got healed at church 8 years later, to a degree< I don't have to soak my liver at night with castor oil any longer to control misery. Amen. Cortisol is my main issue from trauma programming, since birth. My 4 siblings have similar problems and 3 self medicate daily. I know I am old but it has been a long journey untangling the mess and Eric Berg helped me learn a lot, with my gut/cortisol understanding. My heels are better. I also use fresh comfrey mint vinegar soaks on my feet. I take a LOT of supplements. Ox bile is helping with taurine. I wouldn't have to take so many if I could get my programming to stop running in the sub conscious mind . It runs 24-7. I do go watch teaching healers on youtube and zoom church mark hemans. I study most days and learning to grow a garden. I also watched John Bergman on youtube Digestive Disorders Health Rant - YouTube He was hit by a car as an adult and then he became a doctor who teaches what he learned trying to get himself well. The spine information, as I was hit by a car at age 4 and flew about 18 feet and my head hit a fire hydrant and I had brain trauma. I had about 150 stitches, told I would die of a stroke. My mom was a violent bi polar and father a pedophile. I had split personality I discovered when I was almost 58 and I'm 64 and almost have that all worked through. I still have some dyslexia and ADHD.

Dr.Berg explains Cortisol & Long Term Chronic Stress Effects on Body - YouTube

I could write a book but I am not that focused and need Holy spirit to lead me, so hope this gives you some insights. Love, charity

Goldengirl52
(USA)
06/14/2021

Hello Art!! I'm so excited to see someone else that watches Dr. Berg! I saw your post on Parkinson's Disease and just looked for all your posts here on Earthclinic. I'm in CA as well, up North close to Oregon border. I am on the keto diet, dropped sugars/carbs down very low, and in the safe zone (6.0 and lower)for my t2 diabetes. I'm now learning about insulin resistance from both berg, and Dr. Bikman. I study them regularly on youtube and also pub med. I would love to follow you around the site, but I don't think EC has that option. I can save your posts/replies though and will do that!! Check out Dr. Benjamin Bikman if you haven't yet ;) I could listen to him all day!

Goldengirl52
(USA)
06/14/2021

Another Dr. Berg fan, I'm telling you Charity, he teaches on "my level of understanding" and I can't say how much he's helped me. I have learned from many people since being diagnosed with T2 Diabetes, but it's led me to real eye-openers on other ailments I have and they are being helped so much it is like a miracle. I've never bought any of his products because they are too expensive for me, but I follow him as best I can.

It's a thrill to see others here on EC that are finding truth in the alternatives to conventional medicine like surgery, and drugs, huge hugs!!

Deirdre
(Connecticut)
06/14/2021

Thanks, Art. I did try clotrimazole cream during the winter, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. I will start up again but I want to test the niacin supplementation first for a month to see if it can make a dent. Will update!

Deirdre
(Connecticut)
06/14/2021

Thank you so much for your reply, Charity. So glad your health issues are all improving. Kudos to you.

Tessa
(Okanagan)
06/15/2021

Hi Charity -

Your perseverance is amazing. You've been through so much and you keep learning, trying new things and sharing with others. Thank you.

You mentioned in your post about taking supplements:

I wouldn't have to take so many if I could get my programming to stop running in the sub conscious mind. It runs 24-7.

Dr. Daniel G. Amen is a physician, clinical neuroscientist, child and adult psychiatrist, and brain imaging specialist as well as a best-selling author. His latest book is called Your Brain is Always Listening.

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Brain-Always-Listening-Happiness/dp/1496438205/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=your+brain+is+always+listening&qid=1623814073&sr=8-1

It has good reviews (I haven't read it yet). It might be worth getting from the library (published in 2021 - so there may be a waiting list).

According to Dr. Amen, your brain is always listening and responding to hidden influences and unless you recognize and deal with them, they can sabotage your health, among other aspects of your life. These influences include things from your past that ignite your most painful emotions, negative thoughts, grief and loss, etc.

By the way, I'm a big fan of Dr. Berg's videos, too. I've learned so much from him. One of my favourites!

Take care,

Tessa


Mentholated Vapor Rub
Posted by Shelley (Larkfield, California) on 10/13/2011 11 posts
★★★★★

This may seem like a stretch but it does work.

It takes around two or so months depending on how bad the fungal infection is, if it is in the toe nails that will take two to three months, but it is the only thing that cured my Dad's fungus that he had, been bothered with since his days as a Navy man, back in the mid 1950's.

You take Mentholatum or Vicks Vapor Rub, and rub a thick coat all over your feet at bedtime, and cover your feet with your socks, you must sleep in your socks. In the morning put on a fresh pair of socks, and repeat each night until the fungus, cracks and itchy smelly feet are gone.

It took my Dad two month of this and he had tried all the prescriptions, and OTC remedies and nothing worked until this. I have used it also and it does kill the fungus and dry cracked feet issues.


Nitrile Socks

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Bernadette (Redding, Ca Usa) on 09/02/2011
★★★★★

Nothing on the market today treats moisture loss--only SoleMates nitrile coated socks. Easy to use economical and they really work!


Oil Pulling

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Kitty (Clatskanie, OR) on 07/11/2006
★★★★★

We have a group of people doing this procedure on curezone.com

http://curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=738

also www.oilpulling.com has info

There isn't a lot of information on it, in english anyway. It's excellent for dental health with results within days if not hours. It's truly amazing!!! One lady had 3 #9 pockets plus numerous 8, 7, 6 and 5s. After Oil Pulling for 5 minutes a day for two months, she went to the dentist with 2 #7 pockets at worst.

I've been doing it for a few months now. I had gone to the dentist because of problems with a couple deep pockets. He was going to send me to a periodontist for possle surgery. Then I found out about oil pulling. I had posted on the dental forum at curezone and someone mentioned the oil pulling. After a couple days of doing it my gums felt much better. Now after about 3 months my gums are so much better, my teeth are markedly whiter, my mouth feels clean and gums healthy. My cracked heels are almost cured as well (go figure that). I have less aches and pains. It used to be difficult climbing the stairs and getting up my feet would hurt, but I feel much better all around. It's a crazy thing to do but it's fantastic. It's so simple and inexpensive. I use refined expeller pressed (Hain brand) sunflower oil. I also started adding a few drops of oil of oregano, which has anti bacterial properties. Check us out at curezone! Kitty


Omega 3

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Renate (Parrish, FL, USA ) on 03/20/2009
★★★★★

I have cracked heels. I use flax seed oil or hemp oil 1 tbl. per day. When I stop, the dry cracked heals return. Once they are in good shape, I reduce the oil useage. I make a smoothie in a blender and add it to that, but you can incorporate the oil in salads etc. Interesting about the fungus part - I'll have to do some research on that. Thanks. I hope this helps.


Omega 3
Posted by Bev (Long Beach, CA/USA) on 01/18/2009
★★★★★

I suffered for years from cracked heels. Felt as though I was walking on glass fragments. Nothing topical worked for me. I started taking fish, flaxseed, and borage oil combination (purchased at wal-mart, spring valley brand, 1200 mg per softgel). Within months my heels had closed up and I haven't had a problem since. Hopes this helps others.



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