How to treat the dry, cracked skin on your feet
Our feet are remarkably high maintenance in the best of times: We have to worry about bunions and blisters; corns and calluses. Heels start to hurt; tendons tear. But during the pandemic, experts have reported that life at home has translated to even more trouble for feet, including broken toes.
Another ailment that they say has been exacerbated by excess time spent barefoot during the pandemic: dry, cracked feet.
“A lot of people have dry skin – that’s just a lack of moisture in the skin itself,” said Priya Parthasarathy, a podiatrist who practices in Silver Spring, Md., and is chair of the American Podiatric Medical Association’s communications committee. “When you have severely dry skin, or you don’t treat that dry skin, it develops into what we in the medical world call fissures” – or cracks – in the skin. They are usually found on the heels – thus the common term cracked heels, but Parthasarathy recently treated a patient who had a deep slit in the middle of her foot.
Cracked skin is more than painful, Parthasarathy said. “It’s also dangerous, because when you have dryness and cracking and you don’t treat it, it’s a perfect little portal for infection – especially for diabetics and immunocompromised people.”
You’re most likely to experience dry feet two times of the year. In the summer, many people wear sandals or other open-back shoes, which increases the risk of dryness, according to Nelya Lobkova, a podiatrist in New York City. Walking around barefoot, especially on warm surfaces like outdoor concrete, can cause dry skin, too.
The issue also flairs up during the winter. “We tend to be indoors, and more radiators are on, and that creates an overall dryness in the air,” Lobkova said. “That dryness translates to our skin – everywhere on our skin.
But the feet, because they are weight-bearing areas, tend to present a little differently. That’s more of the cracking.”
Another culprit: aging. “You know how your grandmother’s hands are always drier?” Lobkova said. “As we age, the glands in our bodies don’t work as well, and those glands produce oils. Also, elastin [a protein that contributes to elasticity] drops, and that creates increased dryness.” Taking hot showers and using soaps that contain harsh chemicals can also dry out the skin on the feet.
Sometimes, the underlying cause is more serious, said Patrick McEneaney, a podiatrist and owner and CEO of Northern Illinois Foot & Ankle Specialists. It could indicate diabetes or nerve damage, for example, because those conditions can affect the production of oil that lubricates your skin. Dry skin is also linked to conditions such as athlete’s foot, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, contact dermatitis, eczema and the immune disorder Sjogren’s syndrome.
“When people have chronic dry skin for long periods of time, and no matter how much lotion they put on, it doesn’t go away, that’s when they may need to see a doctor,” McEneaney said. The same is true if the cracks in your feet hurt so badly that it’s uncomfortable to wear shoes. Make a doctor’s appointment to figure out what’s going on, and to ensure you haven’t developed an infection.
ADVICE FOR DEALING WITH DRY FEET
Moisturize regularly. This can help prevent and treat dry, cracked feet. When you’re considering products, note that there are increasing levels of moisture in solutions, lotions, creams and ointments, in that order, podiatrist Nelya Lobkova says. A cream will usually do the trick for everyday maintenance; if you have painful cracks, opt for an ointment.
Parthasarathy recommends purchasing products that contain urea,
Awhich absorbs moisture from the environment and draws it into your skin, while softening and smoothing. Moisturize your feet daily, she said. “I tell my patients the best time to moisturize is before you go to bed and after you shower.”
Sometimes, depending on the severity of the situation, your doctor might prescribe a special ointment or a steroid cream that can help relieve inflammation.
Adopt an overnight routine. Lobkova often recommends this regimen to patients with dry or calloused skin: At night, slather on a thin layer of a urea-based cream, and make it a bit thicker on the cracked areas. (She likes Udderly Smooth products with 20% urea.) Then cover the cream with plastic film, “so it doesn’t go all over your sheets and instead stays on your foot,” she said. “You could put a sock on to hold the Saran Wrap up, and wear it overnight.” That will help the dead skin separate from the good, healthy skin, she
Asaid. If your dry skin isn’t too severe, just a few nights of this regimen may do the trick.
Consider a pumice stone. This is a natural exfoliating product that can help smooth your skin, Parthasarathy said, and is typically more helpful than a loofah. Look for a pumice stone with a handle attached, which will make it easy to gently rub over your foot, sloughing off dead skin. “Use the pumice stone in the shower, or right after the shower, a few days a week to try to maintain” healthy skin, Parthasarathy said.
Invest in a humidifier. Moisture is key to preventing dry feet, so during the winter, when you’re blasting the heat, a humidifier can be an ideal way to keep your environment from getting too dry. Install one a place where you spend a lot of time – your bedroom, say, or your home office.
Don’t bother with foot peels. These are like facial masks for your feet, and many make lofty promises to remove callouses, exfoliate your skin and make your feet feel smoother and softer, for example. However, they’re often made with abrasive chemicals in unregulated doses, Parthasarathy said. She recommends saving your money: “There’s just not enough information on them.”
Don’t soak your feet.
Luxuriating in a tub of Epsom salts might be relaxing, but it won’t help your dry feet. “Soaking them can actually dry out the skin even more – it’s kind of counterproductive,” podiatrist Patrick McEneaney said. Because the body produces oil to lubricate the skin, , soaking in water washes away those oils. “People say,
‘Oh, my feet are dry, I’ll soak them and they won’t be dry anymore,’” McEneaney said. “But essentially what they’re doing is drying them out even more.”
Don’t use sharp files.
Parthasarathy recommends steering clear of metal foot files or callus removers – or anything sharper than a pumice stone. When patients tell her they’re using an athome file, “I cringe – because what that does is, it actually traumatizes the skin, and then your body gets drier and it adds more calluses,” she said. “You’re making the problem worse.”
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