Cracked Heels - Editor's Choice

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.

I recently developed a "rash" on my ankle near my heel. At first I thought it was bug bites. It was a small cluster of red itchy dots. At first I tried ACV and H202 on them, but in a halfhearted way. It didn't really seem to help much. Then I got the idea to use borax, for some reason.

After bathing while my feet were still moist, I took about a teaspoon of borax powder in my hand and rubbed it all over my feet, heels, ankle, between toes, etc. The itching from the rash stopped and my feet felt "good. " I left the powder on my feet (a very thin coat remained) and went to bed. I repeated this for a few nights. The rash has been scabbing over and healing (I still don't know what caused it -- fungus or something else).

But the remarkable thing is the skin on my heels! It is healing, getting softer, younger-looking. My heels had been cracked, dry and ugly for about 5 years! I've been doing this for two weeks now, and the improvement is remarkable.

As well, my toenail fungus and athlete's foot between my toes is going away. I now have "pretty feet" and I am not ashamed to go out wearing my sandals (and no nail polish, either, to hide the ugly nails! They look normal, now).

I have also started applying a homemade ointment to my feet each morning, consisting of coconut oil, aloe, tea tree oil and lavender. This feels soothing and I think it's helping, too, but the borax seems to be the main thing.