What Are Cracked Heels |
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| posted: Jun 05 2007 at 8:14 PM |
| >> Health |
Cracked heels are a common foot problem that is often referred to as heel fissures. Cracked heels are commonly caused by dry skin (xerosis), and made more complicated if the skin around the rim of the heel is thick (callus). For most people this is a nuisance and a cosmetic problem, but when the fissures cracks are deep, they are painful to stand on and the skin can bleed. In sever cases this can become infected.
What do cracked heels look like?
The skin is normally dry and may have a thick callus which appears as yellow or dark brown discolored area of skin, especially along the inside border or the heel. Cracks in the skin are usually obvious.
What are the symptoms of cracked heels?
If the cracks are bad enough there will be pain on weight bearing that is not there when weight is off the heel. The edges or rim around the heel will generally have a thicker area of skin (callus). Wearing open or thin soled shoes usually make the symptoms worse.
What causes cracked heels?
Some people tend to have a naturally dry skin that pre-disposes them to the cracks. The thickened dry skin (callus) around the heel that is more likely to crack is often due to mechanical factors that increase pressures in that area (i.e.: the way you walk).
Other factors that can be involved in the cause of cracked heels include: Prolonged standing (at work or home, especially on hard floors) being overweight (this increases the pressure on the normal fat pad under the heel causing it to expand sideways. If the skin is not supple and flexible, the pressure to ‘crack’ is high). Open back on the shoes (this allows the fat under the heel to expand sideways and increase the pressure to crack
Treatment for cracked heels.
A pumice stone can be used to reduce the thickness of the hard skin; pediatric management of cracked heels; the pediatric treatment of cracked heels may involve the following: Investigating the cause of the problem so this can be addressed; removing of the hard thick skin by debriding it (often the splits will not heal if the skin is not removed). This may need to be done on a regular basis. Regular maintenance may be the best to prevent the problem. If very painful, strapping maybe used to ‘hold’ the cracks together while they heal (a maintenance program after this to prevent recurrence is very important).
For more information on Cracked Feet visit http://www.dermnetnz.org/scaly/cracked-heels.html
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