Natural Healing: 5 Home remedies to fix cracked heels

Dione Chen

31 May 2016

updated the 8 June 2016 à 21:46

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Vegetable Oil
Any variety of vegetable oil will do the trick. Simply apply a generous amount of oil over the dry or cracked areas of your clean feet before you go to sleep. In the morning, your feet should feel noticeably softer.
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Ripe Bananas
Cheap and effective, this method is one of the best in treating cracked heels. Mash one ripe banana into a paste, and apply over the cracked areas of your clean feet. Leave it on for 10 minutes to allow the skin to absorb the moisture and nutrients, then rinse it off with water.
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Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is mildly acidic, and thus helps to remove dry and dead skin. Soak your feet in a lemon juice solution (you can add lemon juice from one lemon to warm water) for 10 minutes, then lightly exfoliate the top layers of dead skin with a loofa or a foot brush.
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Honey
As if we haven't mentioned this enough, honey has antibacterial and moisturising properties that can immensely improve the condition of your dry feet. Mix one cup of honey with a tub of warm water and soak your clean feet in the mixture for 15 minutes. Gently exfoliate the skin of your feet after.
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Epsom Salt
There are many health benefits of Epsom salt, one of them being to improve circulation and to help moisturise the skin. Soak your clean feet in a tub of warm water mixed with half a cup of Epsom salt. After 10 minutes, gently exfoliate your feet with a scrub and soak them in the salt water for another 10 minutes. You may apply some foot cream to lock in the moisture after the treatment.

Cracked heels can be painful and unsightly, but thankfully easy to treat.

Take a look at the heels of your feet. Do you see dry, flaky patches of skin? How about peeling or cracked skin? Is the skin around your heels itchy? Or perhaps even bleeding? These are generally the signs and symptoms of cracked heels, and if you suffer from any of these, it is highly recommended that you do something about it immediately.

The most common causes that lead to cracked heels include naturally dry skin that is more likely to crack, prolonged standing and hard floors at work or at home, or continuous exposure to water which may result in dry and rough skin. Add a constant neglect of foot care to the list and you’ll have the ultimate formula to getting cracked heels.

Thankfully, it is not difficult to remedy this problem. Yes, you can choose to go for professional treatment, but you can also treat it yourself at home. Browse through our gallery for some cost-effective measures you can take, starting from today!

Dione Chen

Photos: Getty Images

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