I love wearing sandals or flip flops in the Summer! But do you get cracked heels like I did? They hurt. I mean, they REALLY hurt. When I was 11 or 12, I never had them, didn't think about them, just ran free.
When you first become an adult, there is an awesome rush of freedom; but after a while, it seems that the physical aspect of adulthood comes with some caveats, like: cracked heels.
To me, that's a deep, painful hurt. (And I'll bet you agree.) At first, I would put on hand cream, the best I could find, on my heels, as thickly as I could. Then I'd put socks on and go to bed, hoping for some relief the next day.
I got really tired of being disappointed over, and over again. It's true that the surface of my skin felt better...but the heel cracks hurt just as much as before. I didn't come up with a solution for years. Did you try lip balm? So did I. Did you try now obsolete automotive door latch lubricant in stick form? OK, probably not...I did.
Finally, I determined to look into natural (I don't like physically toxic substances like super glue or such 'junk') skin care therapeutic ingredients. I experimented, actually got a double boiler and started concocting various combinations of natural ingredients to find a solution; I was that desperate.
Long story short, I will share with you here what you yourself can mix up at home and apply to your cracked heels and find the same relief I did:
-Beeswax (If you are bee sting/product sensitive or allergic, you won't want to read further: Please consult a dermatologist or other medical professional. We wish you complete relief and satisfaction for your heels that are cracked!)
Seals the skin from drying, but still allows it to 'breathe, soothing your dry hands and feet ... this is the best, in my opinion and experience, natural ingredient 'base' for lip balms and dry skin therapies and treatments.
Careful scrutiny, in fact, will show it as a major ingredient of many of your already most favored skin treatment products.
If you go online and do a bit of research, you'll find that beeswax is actually anti septic as well as anti inflammatory (works to relieve the symptoms of redness, pain, heat, and swelling). On top of that, it is an emollient, i.e., softens and smoothes, and a humectant, which means that it retains moisture - just what I want to see for my 'Summer run-amuck' cracked heels!
Did you also know that beeswax is described as 'anti-oxidant'? Oxidation in this context means 'deterioration', and you want 'anti deterioration' in dry skin treatment products. Finally, you'll also discover that it contains Vitamin A to help when it comes to skin cell development.
-Organic Virgin Olive - Olive Oil is something used throughout History to help with soothing dry skin on feet and hands. Cleopatra was never without it. She didn't actually know it was high in Vitamins E and A , or that Squalene, loaded with collagen and fighting deterioration while moisturizing, was in the Olive Oil Marc Anthony lovingly stroked on her dry cracked heels.
OK, I imagine she didn't actually care about analyzing the components of the Olive Oil but I bet she swore by its soothing qualities. So I suggest you make it part of the 'Royal Treatment' for your cracked heels.
-Honey 'pulls' moisture from the environment and passes it on to the skin you apply it to. It also has rejuvenating elements like Pinocembrin, (a component of bee propolis), which is also listed as anti inflammatory, and anti bacterial in addition to being an anti-oxidant.
Honey also has the natural quality of stickiness that causes any skin treatment for cracked heels to naturally stick into the crack for maximum beneficial exposure of the healing qualities to the skin.
-Aloe Vera Oil has been known to native peoples as well as modern naturopaths to be anti bacterial and anti-inflammatory. Its Zink,Vitamin C, E, polysaccharides, and a large number of amino acids help with natural skin healing; I've found AVO to be effective in treating those split, painful fingertips and other symptoms of dry skin, such as cracked heels.
What is described above is vital when it comes to the ingredients included in any solution for skin care products that actually allow your body to heal itself. But for more difficult cases, i.e., painful, cracked heels, there is a 'secretive' aspect that I believe is absolutely necessary for the full efficiency of all the above ingredients: It must be quite thick.
Why is this? To fill dry, cracked skin areas and remain in them as long as possible. It does no good to put the highest quality natural ingredients on severely cracked heels, just to have those ingredients 'melt' away in seconds! (However, for extreme cases, you may find that application at bedtime, covered with a clean, natural fiber sock, is an additional, effective strategy even when using the best ingredients.)
Salves, balms, ointments, and creams might be great strategies for crack prevention if used religiously, but if not thick and sticky, they WON'T help with severe cracking that has already taken place!
Look for Beeswax, Honey, Organic Virgin Olive Oil, and Aloe Vera Oil used as a base of skin therapy products when you are looking for relief and healing for dry, painful, cracked heels. May you enjoy the same soothing relief I have.
Jackson Ordean, via CrackZapIt!, provides relief for those suffering from cracked heels. For effective relief from painful skin cracks, visit CrackZapIt.com.
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