Painful Cracking Heel Callus… remedies?

Can't speak for the heels, but I have a lot of experience for cracked, bleeding callused hands. Thickened skin does not heal well. Callused hands and feet can be a good thing because they are tougher and won't blister , but if they crack or if they do blister it will be deeper and quite painful. After years of struggling with this I found that keeping skin moist and preventing thick calluses ( calli??) is best. I suggest you use a file to shave off some of the callus ( carefully!) and then treat is as a cut. Once healed don't let it get that thick again. Not sure on products, but others will chime in on that. Good luck and sorry this is ruining your trip. Edited for auto correct errors..

I am a HUGE fan of the hydrocolloid bandages made by Johnson & Johnson called Tough Pads. There are a lot of knockoffs, and I've tried many of them, but the fact is these guys are by far the best. It completely covers the crack/open skin and is waterproof and mostly bombproof. Keep it on as long as it will stay on (several days if you're lucky) and you should feel literally NO pain. Change it when you need to – buy a few packages of them – and keep them on until the raw skin under the crack is all nice and healed. You'll never carry anything else on your trips!

Thanks Jen… where do you get these pads? Hard to find? billy

I was also wondering about using Super Glue to close the crack. I have head of people doing this with painful cracks on their hands. But I wonder if the moisture that a foot generates would make it hard for the Super Glue to stick? billy

And Jen… with these Tough Pads, can I put the foot in a boot and backpack? Or best to let it heal a few days? A week? More? thanks, billy

Oh yeah – stick it on, and as soon as it's nice and adhered (maybe 5 mins?) then put your foot in your sock, in your boot…and off you go! I've had NASTY blisters, cracks, etc and they hold up really nicely. I used to be able to get them at CVS, but then they started carrying their own CVS version and those are terrible. I googled them and per their websites, CVS and Walgreens do carry them (but i can't find them in my stores). Walmart, Target, etc should have them… Here is the amazon link for a huge packet of them http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Tough-Pads-4-Count-Pack/dp/B001E96M26

Any of those hydrocolloid-type bandages should work perfectly (I've used both brand-name and generic). I cover them with a good piece of duct tape, though, which allows the bandage to stay on longer. Totally agree with Jen that they are "stick and go". No matter how bad the crack, once you stick the bandage on, you can start hiking immediately with zero pain. Wonderful invention!

Jen, can they be trimmed to size, or is the adhesive only around the border?

The best thing I’ve found to prevent cracking is to not allow the thick calloused skin to form. Remove the dead skin with a Ped Egg Pedicure file and then smooth out with 80 grit drywall sandpaper on a hand sander. If you keep the dead skin remove, there’s not even a need to use lotion. Before I starting doing this I’d get horrible cracking, and not matter much lotion I’d the cracking would still occur and be painful. But you have to work on your feet every couple of weeks to keep them in shape, it’s not a last minute fix all. But that doesn’t help now, as you’re already past that point and have cracking. Jen’s method sounds good, I’d give that a try. As a backup I’d bring zinc oxide with Leukotape. Put the zinc oxide over the cracked area, and then cover with the tape. It’ll have a lower profile than the pads and may be a little more robust.

For daily foot care at home, to prevent this kind of stuff from happening, I highly recommend O'Keeffe's Working Feet. I use it every night when I'm working and it's awesome stuff. Works well for lizard skin that cracks.

I have found super glue helps. Daily care helps and I use a product called healtastic found and bed bath and beyond. I found the reason for the cracking was swelling.I have been Gluten free for two years and the only time I experience cracks now is if I have gluten exposure.

"Jen, can they be trimmed to size, or is the adhesive only around the border?" Oh, they can be trimmed to whatever you want… The whole bandage is adhesive, so trim away!

This may help you in the long term: I use a pumice stone on my heel, sole and toes nearly every day in the shower. Sometimes, when I remember or when needed, I apply a balm, like Burt's Bees hand salve or comfrey ointment or Badger balm, to my feet before I sleep. Sometimes I put on thin cotton socks after the balm to keep the balm off the sheets and to allow the balm to soak in. I am not so prone to blisters anyway, but this method helps. The idea is making the skin on the feet soft and supple yet tough–like leather.

Zim's is awesome, heals overnight. Amazon carries it.