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Learn how to effectively treat cracked heels if you have diabetes. Discover expert tips and remedies to heal your feet and improve your comfort.
- Overview
- How diabetes impacts feet
- How to treat cracked heels
- Complications
- Foot care tips
- Summary
Diabetes can lead to skin changes on the feet, including cracked heels. Without treatment, infections and other complications can arise. Tips for protecting the feet include regular checking, moisturizing, and wearing appropriate footwear.
Diabetes describes several conditions that affect how the body processes and maintains its blood sugar level. If a person has a difficult time keeping their blood sugar within a stable range, they may experience complications that can include foot problems, such as cracked heels.
Cracked heels, also known as heel fissures, refer to hard, dry skin forming over the heels of the feet. This can cause discomfort and may lead to health complications, such as slow-healing wounds and infections.
In this article, we discuss how diabetes affects the feet, how to treat cracked heels, and how to manage other common foot health concerns that may occur with diabetes.
An unstable blood sugar level can lead to nerve damage and a circulation decrease.
Nerve damage can result in a person losing sensation in their feet. This may make it harder for a person to notice wounds, such as blisters, on their feet. As such, a person may not treat some wounds, so these cuts and sores may have a higher infection risk.
Damage to the nerves can also impact how the body keeps its natural oils and moisture in the feet. This may make it more difficult for a person to feel the formation of hard, thick sections of skin. Therefore, a person with diabetes may be more likely to develop dry and cracked skin.
Usually, a healthy blood flow delivers sufficient nutrients and immune cells to a wound, which encourages healing and prevents infections. However, as diabetes can affect circulation, it causes blood to move more slowly, which means the body may have difficulty healing the wound or stopping an infection.
The American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA) recommends the following options to help treat cracked heels at home and prevent them from coming back. These suggestions include:
•Taking shorter baths and showers: Bathing for too long can make skin dry out, which can worsen cracked heals. It is also advisable to gently blot the skin dry using a towel.
•Using a gentle cleanser: This can help the skin on the heels retain their natural oils and prevent dry skin.
•Moisturizing after bathing: Applying a moisturizer to the heels immediately after bathing, when the skin is still damp, can lock in moisture. People may consider using moisturizers that contain urea, alpha hydroxy acid, or salicylic acid.
•Applying petroleum jelly before bed: Applying a layer of plain petroleum jelly and wearing socks before bed can help heels maintain moisture.
•Protecting the heels: People may consider using a liquid bandage during the day to create a protective barrier over the heel. This can help reduce pain, speed up healing, and prevent pathogens from entering the skin.
Foot health complications that a person with diabetes may experience include:
•Neuropathy: This refers to a potential complication of diabetes that results in nerve damage. This can lead to a person losing sensation in their feet, making it difficult to feel cuts or sores that can worsen and result in further complications.
•Circulation decrease: A decrease in blood flow to the feet can cause injuries to heal slowly or not heal at all, making it harder for the feet to clear infections.
•Foot ulcers: This refers to slow-healing wounds that commonly affect the feet of people living with diabetes. Without proper management, an ulcer can undergo necrosis and become gangrenous.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides tips to keep feet healthy, including:
•Checking feet regularly: By checking the feet every day for any cuts, discoloration, sores, or other changes to the feet, a person can appropriately treat the health concern before it gets worse.
•Washing feet: It is important to wash, dry, and moisturize the feet to keep them clean and hydrate them.
•Avoiding going barefoot: To help prevent potential injuries to the feet, it is advisable to always wear footwear, such as shoes, socks, and slippers.
•Wearing well-fitting shoes: By wearing comfortable shoes that provide appropriate support, people can avoid injuries to their feet, such as blisters.
•Trimming nails carefully: It is advisable that people trim toenails straight across and keep them short. Rounded nails can grow inward, leading to infection.
Potential complications of diabetes can include a circulation decrease and slow wound healing. This means a person living with diabetes may be at a higher risk of foot health concerns, such as cracked heels. Without appropriate treatment, cracked heels can become painful and develop infection.
Therefore, to prevent cracked heels and potential complications, it is important for a person with diabetes to try following foot care tips, such as checking their feet regularly, moisturizing, and wearing well-fitting shoes.
Jan 15, 2019 · Flexitol Heel Balm is a medically proven treatment for dry, cracked feet. It was recently reclassified as a medical device by the NHS BSA pricing prescription divisio, which means you can get it on prescription.
Feb 1, 2021 · Allpresan Diabetic Foot Foam Cream. This cream is made specifically for people with diabetes. Apply it on your whole foot including the underside, the top, between the toes and around wounds and ulcers. It moisturises chapped skin and provides antiseptic protection against infection.
Mar 5, 2019 · Cracked heels can be frustrating and painful. Mix up this soothing homemade natural foot salve recipe to help soften feet and stop cracked heels.
To heal dry, cracked heels, dermatologists recommend doing the following before you get into bed: 1. Apply a cream that contains 10% to 25% urea to your heels. 2. Place a layer of thick ointment like petroleum jelly on top of the urea cream. 3. Put on white cotton socks, which will help lock in moisture, and wear them while in bed.
People also ask
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Jan 1, 2018 · Management (1,2,3): prevention is the most effective treatment for cracked heels. can be achieved by simply rubbing the heels with an emollient (moisturising cream) on a regular basis to maintain suppleness and hydration in the skin.
