Advice on dry & cracked heels for Anonymous.

A reader was asking on how she can solve a dry and cracked feet problem even after moisturizing twice a day.  If the skin is not getting rehydrated even after moisturizing, I'm thinking there might be a barrier that is preventing your skin to rehydrate, most commonly it would a layer of dead skin cells and even a build up of calluses.

For any moisturizer to be absorbed in your skin, exfoliating with a foot file or a pumice stone is always a good idea to prepare your foot properly. If you are going to use a foot file, usually it's 2 sided with the grain of the file coarser on one side than the other. You want to use the coarser side first to remove the larger dead skin cells than transfer to the finer side of the file to smooth out the job. The trick is using the foot file on dry skin.

The pumice stone is used on wet skin and it should be used in a similar manner by rotating the pumice from one side to the other. Depending on the shape of the pumice stone, it's sometimes more useful to get in the nooks and crannies that are harder to reach than with the foot file to remove the dead skin. Keep in mind to do this always in moderation. The fact is you don't want to overdo anything when it involves your skin and this type of quick maintenance can be done once a week depending on the severity of your cracking and dryness.

Dry and cracked heel

The best time to apply your moisturizer is once you're done with exfoliating your clean foot. Not all moisturizers are created equal either and it's not always the expensive creams or foot balms that work the best. The trick is finding the one that works for you. If you see moisturizer that contains urea, that would be a good choice since this ingredient will help draw the moisture to a deeper layer of skin. To those that suffer from food allergies, avoid the same ingredients in your moisturizer. My mother has celiac disease and has to stay away from some products containing oatmeal and wheatgerm, it will make her skin extremely dry.

A few things I'm really curious about this type of problem is what is causing it. A few factors to keep in mind is if you wear a lot of colored/dark or black type of socks. The dyes and chemicals that are used for them might be detrimental to the moisture of your skin. Natural fibers such as cotton, bamboo or hemp material.
Also, what kind of physical activities that your feet perform for you on a regular basis? Is there an area of your foot that is more dry than the rest of your foot?

So many questions to really get at the sole bottom of this, yes, the pun is intended. The more information you can provide me with, the more accurate my answer. If any of you have trouble explaining a foot problem in particular, you might want to consider sending me a picture by email if that's more convenient and you can find my address on my contact page.

I hope this information will help some of you sooth your dry skin and put your best foot forward.