14 Simple Ways to Cure Cracked Heels

How painful are cracked heels is known to you like no one else! You can’t wear those stylish stilettos nor can you walk properly. With every step you take, your heels remind you of the pain they are going through. When you can look after all of yourself, why to leave this important part of our body? After all, your feet only make you stand for whatever you want! To take proper care of feet means to give them the right nourishment through balanced diet. Oh yes! Lack of zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, calcium and iron can give you sore heels too. It also means keeping your feet well moisturized and protected from extreme temperatures, dampness, too cold or hot air, dust and so on. Here you don’t look after your heels and there you get those ugly fissures into them. Before taking all the preventive measures though, you need to repair your cracked heels! Take help from these time tested home remedies for cracked heels!

Home Remedies to Cure Cracked Heels

1. Glycerin-Rosewater Remedy for Cracked Heels

Glycerin is one of the best moisturizers that one can imagine. Mixed with rosewater, it can give you a smooth and soft heels without any cracks.
Get this:

• Glycerin- ¼ part
• Rosewater- ¾ part
• Lemon juice- from half a lemon
• Warm water – enough to soak your feet
• Salt- 1 tsp
• Pumice stone

Do this:

• Mix ¼ part of glycerin with ¾ parts of rosewater.
• Add the fresh lemon juice to this mixture.
• Take the warm water, add salt to it, mix and soak your feet in it.
• Let the feet be there for 15-20 minutes. If you wish, you can add some lime juice to this water so that your dead skin cells may loosen up quickly.
• Now rub feet with pumice stone to drop off dead skin cells.
•  Pat dry and apply your glycerin mixture.
• Do this preferably at night before going to bed. Once your heels are cured, apply this glycerin lotion to your heels everyday after having bath to prevent recurrence of cracked heels..

2. Oil Massage to Cure Cracked Heels

Oils are the best natural moisturizers, not only for your dry feet but also for your skin anywhere. You can either use any hydrogenated oil alone or mix them to get added benefits of their different components.
Get this:

• Almond oil; or
• Grape-seed oil; or
• Olive oil; or
• Sesame oil; or
• Coconut oil
• Warm water
• Socks

Do this:

• Use one or a mixture of these oils (for example- a mixture of almond, grapeseed and olive oil)
• Wash your feet with warm water at night before going to bed.
• Massage your heels with any of the oils or an oil mixture.
• Wear socks and go to sleep.
• Continue this till your cracked heels are cured!

3. Fruit Mask for Healing Cracked Heels

Fruits have many enzymes and other wonder components and that’s why they are so healthy! They can even make you get rid of your cracked heels. You just need to pick certain fruits like banana, pineapple, avocado, papaya etc. and mash them to massage your feet. Banana and papaya are the best options as you can mash them easily. Rub them alone or make this fruit mixture.
Get this:

• Banana- 1
• Avocado- half of it
• Coconut flesh- from half coconut

Do this:

• Mash banana and avocado.
• Add coconut flesh to this.
• Mix well to get a paste
• Apply the mashed fruits mask on your heals.
• Leave for 15 minutes
• Wash off with water.
• Do this everyday till your cracks are healed.

You can use papaya too instead of banana. In fact, if you don’t have much time or will to put so much of efforts, just mash banana or papaya and apply this to your heels. However, if you have wide fissures, you should try to make the mask with all the ingredients.

4. Milk-Honey Exfoliate for Cracked Heels

When you lack in taking proper care of your feet, you may get cracked heel. Therefore, it’s essential to follow a daily regime of cleansing and moisturizing your heels and a weekly regimen of exfoliating them. If you already have cracked heels, exfoliate them daily and moisturize them till they are cured. Here is a natural exfoliating mix made with honey and milk for you.
Get this:

• Milk – 2 cups
• Honey – 1 cup

Do this:

• Pour the honey and milk into a foot soaking basin and mix well. If you feel, you need more of them, get 2 more cups of milk and a cup of honey (one cup honey to two cups of milk- maintain the ratio)
• Soak your feet for 15-20 minutes in this mixture.
• After about 10 minutes of soaking, start massaging your heels that are still into the basin soaked in milk-honey mixture.
• Keep doing this for about 10 minutes.
• Now wash with lukewarm water.

5. Herbal Neem-Tulsi Remedy for Cracked Heels

And now an Ayurvedic remedy for cracked heels which has been used since ages in India. The anti fungal and anti bacterial margosa leaves or neem leaves when mixed with the very skin friendly herb turmeric, can do wonders to give you soft and smooth heels. This remedy is particularly good for bleeding heels.
Get this:

• Margosa (Neem) leaves- handful of them
• Turmeric powder- 3 tsp
• Water

Do this:

• Crush the neem leaves adding a little water to get its paste.
• Add turmeric powder to neem leaves paste.
• Apply this paste to the cracks of heels.
• Leave it for half an hour.
• Wash off your feet with water.
• Pat dry with a soft cloth.
• As turmeric leaves stain, be careful when using this remedy.

Use this remedy once daily. However, if the conditions of your heels are really bad, do it twice a day.

Image Credit: Flickr by Ianz

6. Oatmeal-Jojoba Oil Remedy for Cracked Heels

Ingredients having moisturizing effect are a boon for your heels. Jojoba oil mixed with oatmeal is just what you need for your cracked heels cure.
Get this:

• Oatmeal powder- 1 tbsp
• Jojoba oil- enough to make paste

Do this:

• Mix jojoba oil with oatmeal to make a thick paste.
• Apply this paste to your cracks. Fill the cracks with it (don’t force though, do it gently by massaging the paste over the cracks).
• Leave for 30 minutes.
• Wash off and pat dry
• Do this everyday until your cracks are gone.

7. Rice Flour Scrub for Cracked Heels

Make a natural exfoliating scrub for your cracked feet. This home made scrub not only use rice powder for the natural grained scrub but also the very beneficial honey and apple cider vinegar.
Get this:

• Rice flour (fine yet coarse)- 3 tbsp
• Honey – 2 tsp
• Apple cider vinegar- 1-2 tbsp
• Olive oil or sweet almond oil (optional)- few drops
• Warm water- to soak feet

Do this:

• Soak your feet in warm water for 15-20 minutes.
• Rub gently with a towel or cloth to drop off the dead skin cells.
• Now take the rice flour and add honey and apple cider vinegar to it to make a thick paste.
• If using oil, add to the mixture and mix well.
• Now apply this coarse rice flour scrub to your heels and rub gently.
• Massage for about 10-15 minutes and then wash off with lukewarm water.
• Do it daily till your feet become cracks free.

8. Wax-Mustard Oil Treatment for Cracked Heels

This is a total treatment for your cracked heels. If you have wide fissures that bleed often, you need to make an ointment type mixture with wax and mustard oil to be applied to your cracks on heels. Although, it uses paraffin wax, you may use the normal wax taken from a candle at your home. Use w white candle though to obtain wax pieces as colours may aggravate your problems.
Get this:

• Wax – 2 tbsp
• Mustard oil- ½ to 1 cup
• Socks

Do this:

• Heat the mustard oil in a pan.
• Add the wax to the oil and stir it continuously till the wax melts into it.
• You should get a consistency like a gel or paste that can be applied to your feet. So, use wax more or lesser whatever is needed.
• Let it cool down a little.
• When the oil-wax mixture gets lukewarm that your skin can tolerate, apply it to the heel cracks.
• Wear the socks so that you don’t stain anything that comes in contact with your oiled feet.
• You may like to do it at night before you go to sleep for better results.
• Store the rest of the mixture in a jar or bottle to be used next day.
• Next day, if you see that wax has solidified, just heat it a little and apply to your feet.
• Do this for 7-10 days till when you’ll get rid of your heel cracks.

9. Vinegar Soak Remedy for Cracked Heels

White vinegar contains acetic acid which is gentle on your feet skin and softens them up. However, do not directly apply it on your heels as the acetic acid in it may dry up the skin further. Follow the below method to use vinegar for cracked heels remedy.
Get this:

• White vinegar- ¼ cup
• Water- ¾ of a feet soaking basin
• An oil or natural moisturizer like cocoa butter, Shea butter

Do this:

• Add the vinegar to water
• Soak your feet in it for not more than 5-10 minutes.
• Gently scrub the feet while soaked in water.
• Wash the feet with normal water and pat dry
• Apply oil or any natural moisturizer
• Do not soak feet in vinegar water more that 1-2 times a week.

10. Homemade Foot Ointment for Cracked Heels

It is actually a salve made with some natural moisturizing agents so that your stubborn heel cracks are reduced gradually to vanish for giving you the much wanted relief. It also uses magnesium flakes (or magnesium oil) which is also a natural ingredient. Magnesium flakes have magnesium chloride which is a type of salt sourced from sea water. Magnesium oil, although called oil, is actually water which is highly saturated with magnesium chloride. When you touch it with skin, it feels oily but as it is not an oil in reality, it gets absorbed quickly into the skin making it soft and supple.
Get this:

• Shea Butter- ¼ cup
• Coconut Oil- ¼ cup
• Beeswax- 3 tbsp
• Magnesium Flakes- ¼ cup or ¼ cup of Magnesium oil (you can also use Epsom salt in place of magnesium flakes or oil)
• Boiling water- 2 tbsp (only if using magnesium flakes)

Do this:

• If using magnesium flakes, mix it with boiling water and stir well to get a thick paste. After making this magnesium paste, keep it aside.
• Melt the beeswax, Shea butter and coconut oil. To do this, you can place them in a bowl. Heat a pan with a little water in it (about 1 inch). Place the bowl with wax, butter and oil on this. You should do this on medium heat.
• When the things get melted, remove the bowl and leave it to cool down a little.
• When the mixture gets a little liquidy solid (neither fully solid nor liquid), blend the mixture slowly with a blender.
• While blending, pour into the magnesium flakes mixture/ magnesium oil. Do not pour it at once, do it slowly- few drops at at time. Keep on blending.
• Place the prepared gel like substance in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes
• Blend it again till it becomes buttery with a consistency of butter.
• Store the prepared cream in a container with lid.
• At night, apply a thick layer of this ointment on the cracks of your heel and wear socks.
• Do it everyday at night till your cracked heels are cured.

11. Lemon Juice Remedies for Cracked Heels

Lemon juice is not only the bleaching agent which is used for whitening skin. It can also be used for healing your cracked heels. Its acetic nature removes the dead skin cells excellently to help you get a new soft and smooth skin in place of your cracked skin at heels. There are many ways to use lemon for cracked heels.

Ways to use lemon juice to cure cracked heels

1. Cut a lemon in two halves and take one half of it. Rub this lemon half on your feet while squeezing it so that the juice is transferred to your heels. Do this for five minutes. Now gently scrub your feet with a soft cloth or brush. Wash off with water.
2. Take a lemon and squeeze out its juice into a feet soaking basin filled with warm water. Soak you feet in it for 15-20 minutes. Do it twice a week.
3. Mix lemon juice with mashed papaya and apply this to your cracks on heels. Wash after 15-20 minutes.

12. Aloe Vera Remedy for Cracked Heels

While aloe vera is beneficial for overall health, it can also prove useful to heal your cracked feet. You need to mix certain herbs with this gel to cure your fissures and get smooth feet. This remedy is good for people with diabetes too. Diabetic foot when cracked may harbor bacteria and germs giving rise to further complications. Tulsi being antimicrobial is good for such cracks on diabetic foot. Even neem leaves can be used for cracked heels when suffering from diabetes.
Get this:

• Aloe vera gel- 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
• Tulsi leaves (holy basil leaves) paste- 1 tsp
• Camphor powder- 1 tsp

Do this:

• Crush the basil leaves to get its paste.
• Mix turmeric tulsi paste and camphor powder with aloe vera gel.
• Mix well and apply on your cracked heels.
• Leave for 10-15 minutes.
• Wash off with luke warm water.

You can use plain aloe vera gel without any herbs mixed into it for daily usage to prevent your heels from cracking.

13. Ayurvedic Remedy for Cracked Heels

Here is an unusual way to heal your cracked heels! Ayurveda, the ancient Indian medicine system believes that one of the causes of cracked heels is the excessive heating up of digestive system. The excess heat which is called pitta in Ayurveda flows down the body to the feet and cause cracked heels. It thus recommends making a herbal mixture to be had internally and which reduces the heat of your stomach while curing your cracked heels in the process.
Get this:

• Roasted cumin seeds powder- 3 tbsp
• Roasted coriander seeds powder- 3 tbsp
• Candy sugar (powdered)- 3 tbsp

Do this:

• If your candy sugar is in crystal form, crush or grind it to get its powder.
• Add all the three ingredients- powdered cumin, coriander and candy sugar- and mix well.
• Store in a container with lid.
• Mix half a teaspoon of this herbal powder with half a cup of water and have it thrice a day.

You can also use amla powder (Indian gooseberry powder) with candy sugar in equal quantities to have the same effect. This herbal recipe cools down your digestive system and gets you rid of cracked heels along with other digestion related diseases.

14. Homemade Herbal Foot Cream for Cracked Heels

Here is yet another recipe for making a foot cream for your cracked heels, this time with certain herbs and other natural ingredients recommended in Ayurveda. Before knowing the ingredients, you must know certain facts about them so that you may use the right ingredients for your herbal foot cream.

Ingredients facts for Ayurvedic foot cream:

1. Guggul: One of the herbs this recipe uses is called Guggul which is a resin of a plant. There are two types of guggul. First is edible one called Guggil which is used in herbal medicines. Second is called Guggilam which is used for making incense sticks. This foot cream uses the second type, Guggilam, which is used for incense sticks.
2. Edible camphor: Another ingredient used is camphor but the one which is edible. It is called pachcha karpuram or pacha karpuram (Pachchai means raw or green)
3. Black mud: The recipe also uses black mud which is found along the banks of rivers and lakes.

Why take so much pain to find these ingredients? Because it is a sureshot remedy for cracked heels that can cure your feet once you have tried everything else without any result! What more! It can even heal the cracks in thighs. Yes, some people do get cracks all over their legs due to extreme dry skin, especially in winters. This is one of the best remedies for cracks in skin.
Get this:

• Yellow bees wax- 100 g
• Rock Salt (Saindhava lavanam) – 100 g (get fine powder, not crystals)
• Powdered Guggilam (the one used for incense sticks) – 100 g
• Black Mud (Jeguru matti, found by riverside) : 100 g
• Jaggery powder- 100 g
• Honey – 50 g
• Clarified butter (Ghee)- 100 g
• Edible camphor (Pachcha karpuram)- 5 g

Do this:

• Take the bees wax in a pan and heat it (simmer).
• Pour the ghee (clarified butter) into it slowly, few drops at a time (if the ghee becomes solid, add using spoon but do not put all at once)
• Once the beeswax-ghee mixture gets blended, put off the flame and leave it to cool down
• Now add powdered rock salt, jaggery, guggilam, black mud, and honey.
• Mix well to get a uniform paste like consistency.
• Store the ointment in a container with lid.
• Apply this cream to your cracked heels daily once or twice, as needed.

Depending upon the severity of your cracked heels, this ointment will cure them within 7-20 days.