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Cracked Heels – The Causes Behind Them and How They Can Be Treated 

Cracked heels are a very common foot ailment that can plague anyone, whether you are an athlete who runs several miles per day or just someone who does a lot of walking during your daily commute to work, nobody can be 100 percent protected from this condition.  This most likely reason that people end up with cracking skin on their heels is for the simple reason that their skin is dried out.  The skin that is located all over your feet can become dried out, but the situation becomes more problematic and complicated when it is your heel that has dry skin.  The rim on your heel, also known as a callus, has much thicker skin than the rest of your foot, making it more susceptible to cracking, as well as harder to heal.

The buildup of thick skin on your heel, the callus, is usually caused by the friction that is created by your shoe constantly rubbing up against the bottom of your foot.  The buildup of thick skin can also sometimes be attributed to something that is irritating the skin on your foot.  Usually the callus by itself is simply just a cosmetic issue more than anything, but later on it can lead to a more irritating problem.  If you don’t do anything to help treat the callus on your foot when you first encounter it, it can lead to cracked heels.

Cracked heels most often come about for a few different reasons.  The biggest leading cause of this condition is having dry skin on your feet.  If you keep your skin moisturized on fairly regular basis with a high quality foot cream, you will be a lot less likely to avoid having your skin start to crack.  Dry skin can either be a natural occurrence in some people or there can be certain factors that cause it in others.  Things like living in an environment that is either too cold or hot with low humidity levels, as well as bathing too often or using a harsh soap can all cause your skin to dry out.

Once your skin dries out, then it becomes very easy to end up with cracked feet.  Things like standing up for a long period of time, being overweight, wearing open back shoes and having certain medical conditions will all hasten the cracking of the skin on your feet if you don’t treat it early enough.  If left untreated, cracked skin on your feet can lead to pain, as the cracks deepen, and even infection, if left untreated for long enough.