Fish cream can repair painful cracked heels

CREAM made from fish skin could soothe cracked skin, such as on the heels.

Kerecis cream contains oil from the skin of Atlantic cod, which is rich in the type of fatty acids that maintain skin moisture.

The outermost layer of human skin is made up of several layers of dead cells. When cells die, they dry out and are eventually shed to be replaced by new tissue.

Between the dried cells is a substance rich in the fatty acids that keep the skin structure intact and watertight.

When these layers lose the fatty acids, the skin becomes tight and inflamed, causing itching, pain and calluses.

Because the fatty acids in fish and human skin are similar, the idea is that the new cream, developed by Icelandic firm Kerecis, will act as a replacement.