Dry, cracked feet are caused by several factors and treatment depends on the cause, such as environmental factors, aging, or certain skin and health conditions.
At-home treatments may include doing a foot peel, using petroleum jelly, and sealing cracks in the skin. Ways to prevent dry, cracked feet include moisturizing your feet daily and getting regular pedicures. If self-care strategies aren't enough or you have an underlying health condition, you may need to see a healthcare provider for more advanced treatments.
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At-Home Care for Dry and Cracked Feet
General dry skin-related issues can be treated or prevented with home treatments. For example, applying moisturizer to your feet twice a day (including after bathing and before bed) helps seal your skin to keep water from escaping and drying out your feet. Look for products that contain one or more of these ingredients:
- Alpha-hydroxy acid(AHA): such asglycolic acidandlactic acid,to slough off skin and retain moisture
- Lanolin: an effective moisture barrier
- Urea cream: a natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory ingredient
If you are prone to allergies or skin sensitivities, use hypoallergenic products formulated for sensitive skin.
Another way to avoid dry, cracked feet is to get regular pedicures to remove dead skin and prevent callous build-up
Ways to treat dry, cracked skin include:
- Exfoliation: Similar to a pedicure, you can remove dead skin by gently scrubbing your feet with a loofah sponge or exfoliating foot scrub. A pumice stone is also an effective way to slough off dead skin and smooth rough areas on the soles of your feet.
- Foot peels: This involves wearing a pair of plastic socks containing exfoliating chemicals for one hour. The chemicals soak into the feet and allow dead skin to peel away over several days. Note this treatment is not recommended for people who may be sensitive to exfoliating chemicals.
- Petroleum Jelly: Apply a generous amount of petroleum jelly to your feet, then cover with cotton socks and leave on for at least an hour or overnight. After about a week of this treatment calluses should soften and be easier to remove with a pumice stone.
- Liquid bandages: This topical skin treatment seals cracks in the skin and prevents infection. After cleaning and drying your feet, use your fingers to close the cracked skin and apply the liquid bandage over the top and sides of each crack. Hold for about a minute to allow the adhesive to dry completely.
Why Are My Feet Dry and Cracked?
Dry feet occur when there is a lack of moisture in the skin. Also known as xerosis, dry skin can be due to environmental factors or an underlying health condition. Dry skin can also cause other symptoms such as itchiness, rash, and pain.
Environmental Factors
Things your body comes into contact with may sap the moisture from your skin and contribute to your feet's dryness. Environmental factors may include:
- Heat and humidity: The inside of your shoe can get very hot—sometimes well over 120 F. This heat and humidity can cause your skin to lose moisture and thicken.
- Skin cleansers: Certain soaps can strip protective oils from the skin. They can also leave irritating residues that contribute to dry skin.
- Cold weather: Dry skin often worsens in the winter months. That's because cooler outdoor air is less humid. In addition, indoor heating further dries out the indoor air.
- Going barefoot: Repeated friction or pressure causes the skin on the bottoms of your feet to thicken into calluses.Dry skin can also set the stage for fissures (cracks in the skin), particularly on the heel.
- Hot water: Excessive hot water exposure, such as taking long, hot showers or baths can strip away the skin's natural oils allowing moisture to escape, leaving skin dry.
Skin Conditions
Certain skin conditions can result in dry, thickened skin on the feet. These conditions include:
- Athlete's foot (tinea pedis)
- Psoriasis
- Skin rashes caused by an allergy or irritants (contact dermatitis)
- Leg vein problems (called venous stasis)
In children, atopic dermatitis (eczema) is a common cause of dry, scaly skin on the feet.
Why Are the Bottoms of My Feet Peeling?
The bottoms of your feet could be peeling due to sunburn, eczema, dry weather, athlete's foot, psoriasis, genetics, dehydration, or even reactive arthritis.
The best way to remedy the peeling is by treating the underlying reason for it. If athlete's foot or eczema are the cause of foot peeling, a podiatrist can offer specialized treatment such as medicated creams for dry feet.
Medical Conditions
Certain health conditions and nutritional deficiencies can lead to feet that are dry and cracked. These include:
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Hypothyroidism
- Anorexia
- Vitamin and mineral deficiency (not getting enough vitamin D, vitamin A, niacin, zinc, or iron)
- Essential fatty acid deficiency
Conditions that cause poor absorption of nutrients from your diet, such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease, may lead to vitamin and essential fatty acid deficiencies.
Aging
Due to changes in hormones and metabolism, as you get older, your body replaces skin cells less often. These changes result in your skin's outermost layer growing thicker.
After menopause, some people develop acquired keratoderma, a skin disorder that can lead to cracked skin on the feet and other parts of the body.
In addition, as you age, the protective fat pads on the soles of your feet become thinner. As you lose this cushioning in the heel and ball of the foot your skin becomes more stressed.
As you walk and put more pressure on the area, the fat pads in the heel and ball expand, causing the skin to split. Over time, these small cracks become deeper, more painful, and may begin to bleed.
Other Common Risk Factors
- Standing for Long Periods: constant pressure on the heels may contribute to heel cracking.
- Shoes that don't fit: Footwear that is too small, too hard, or unsupportive can lead to dry, cracked skin and calluses. Wearing shoes without socks can also contribute to skin issues.
- Obesity: the extra pressure on your heels may contribute to skin cracking.
- Bone spurs: specifically heel spurs, that rub against surrounding tissues or tendons may lead to thickened, dry skin (calluses) that are more prone to cracking.
- Smoking: One of the long-term effects of smoking is dry skin. It is believed that smoking affects the skin by breaking down elastic fibers in the skin, narrowing blood vessels, producing free radicals, and reducing levels of vitamin A in the skin.
At-Home Treatments
If the prevention strategies aren't helping, you may need more advanced treatment to get rid of thick, dead skin.
A foot peel involves wearing a pair of plastic socks containing exfoliating chemicals for one hour. The chemicals soak into the feet and allow dead skin to peel away over the course of multiple days.
Some people may have a sensitivity to the exfoliating chemicals, so be sure to read the product ingredient list beforehand. Foot peels are available online and at many drug stores.
When to See a Healthcare Provider
If at-home treatments do not help heal dry and cracked feet after a few weeks, it may be time to see a healthcare provider. The type of provider you should see will depend on what is causing the dry, cracked skin.
Podiatrist
Cracked and callused skin on your feet should be evaluated by a podiatrist, a doctor who specializes in feet if they are causing pain and discomfort or inhibiting your daily life in any way.
Dermatologist
A dermatologist, a doctor who specializes in skin conditions, also treats some skin conditions that involve the feet. Symptoms that indicate a dermatologist may be needed for dry feet include:
- Dry, itchy feet that do not improve with home remedies
- Hives or rash that persists
- Peeling skin on your feet or between your toes
- Symptoms that occur both on your feet and skin on other areas of your body
Primary Care Provider
Dry, cracked skin can be a sign of a more significant health issue, such as diabetes or neuropathy. If you are unable to treat cracked heels at home and suspect an underlying health condition, see your primary healthcare provider.
When to Seek Urgent Treatment
Foot cracks can develop into an infection. If you notice any of the following signs of infection, see your healthcare provider or urgent care right away:
- Pus coming from cracks in the skin
- Redness or red streaks spreading from the cracks
- Swelling
- Whole-body signs of infection, such as fever with or without chills
People with diabetes, neuropathy, or poor circulation are at greater risk for developing serious infections in their feet and should seek prompt treatment for any foot sores, cuts, or cracked skin.
Medical Treatments
Treatment for your dry feet and cracked heels will depend on the cause and the type of healthcare provider you see.
Podiatrists treat calluses and cracked feet in the following ways:
- Debridement or cutting away the hard and thick layer of skin
- Recommending a change in shoes
- Adding padding to shoes
- Cortisone injection if the callus is causing significant pain
- Using tissue glue, similar to liquid bandage, to hold the edges of the cracks together so they can heal
A dermatologist may prescribe the following types of topical medications:
- Anti-fungal creams for fungal infections, like athletes' foot
- Moisturizing cream that contains 10% to 25% urea, alpha hydroxy acid, or salicylic acid
- Steroid creams for dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, or other inflammatory rash
Summary
Dry, cracked feet are caused by several factors and treatment depends on the cause. At-home remedies like moisturizers, pumice stones, foot peels, and liquid bandages can help prevent and treat dry, cracked skin.
When the skin on your feet is dry, it can set the stage for more serious problems, including calluses and painful cracked heels that can get infected. If home remedies do not work or you have an underlying condition that may be causing dry, cracked feet, see your healthcare provider.
