Fat Old White Geezer seeks Foot Genie...

[Gris]

If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain,
if you can help me - i have severe foot pain!

Seriously, my foot keeps splitting apart right at the backside of the callous on the ball of my foot everytime i do anything athletic. as soon as it heals it splits again. FWIW, i have super high arches. HELP! anybody klnow how to deal with this problem...

 

[pilgrim]

HELP! anybody know how to deal with this problem...

Sure. The obvious answer is the correct one. See a competent podiatrist. My wife finally found one who solved a bunch of nagging foot problems that she's had for years. Does a real nice job of cutting her toenails, too.

 

[DougPaul]

Might be heel fissures (caveat: I am not a doctor--get a professional diagnosis).

Google searches on "cracked heel", "foot fissure" and "heel fissure" bring up a bunch of info, some of which might be useful.

The following is one that seems to put useful information ahead of selling you something: http://www.epodiatry.com/cracked_heels.htm.

Self-treatment seems to consist of applying a moisturizer (eg lanolin or hand cream twice a day) and reducing the thickness of the hardened heel skin (eg with a pumice stone). A doctor can do more.

Doug

 

[Periwinkle]

I don't know if this will help in the long run, but it might be worth a try to heal a painful split...

Now, mind you, my mother paid a dermatologist alotta money for this advice so that I'd have baby-soft feet as a child. This was a nightly ritual for many years.

• 1. Get ready for bed. Get a drink, find the TV remote, got potty. Whatever. Get comfortable. You won't want to be walking around after this.
• 2. Smear feet liberally with any thick ointment. Cream will work, but an ointment is better. Vaseline will do in a pinch.
• 3. Cover feet with Baggies and tape the tops at the ankle for an airtight seal.
• 4. In the morning, very carefully walk to the bathroom and removed the plastic wrap. Or, leave an old towel or paper towels by your bedside to wipe your feet with.

Messy? Yes. A little gross? Yes. But, babies-butt-soft feet? Yes.

Of course, this is only a temporary fix (and can take a few nights to work), but it will make your feet feel better.

Good luck in finding a long-term answer.

 

[Danielle]

I used to have a similar routine as Periwinkle when I was young! As a kid I spent a lot of time walking around in the summer barefoot by a pool, and with sensetive skin, boy did that wreak havoc on my feet I would get major, deep cracks under my toes that just wouldn't heal, and lathering up my feet with some sort of ointment (vaseline, if I recall), then wrapping the feet with saran wrap and putting on socks was the treatment that worked. It might have looked pretty silly, but hey, it worked

Might be worth a try...

 

[Gris]

Thanks gals, seems it's a result of wearing sandals w/o socks too much (i'd do it all the time if i could). my wife turned me on to a couple of lubricants and we're trying that and i'm being forced to abandon my barefoot ways - for a while at least.

 

[Gris]

WARNING: care must be exercised when jumping up to answer phone after lubricating bottoms of feet (tile floors)...

 

[slamdog]

King of cracked feet....

I won't get too specific with details......suffice it to say that I got huge problems. Bag Balm works pretty well. I often use Corn Huskers underneath, and then apply a bit of Bag Balm over the top, then cover with a baggie or sock. If you are hiking and in a real pinch, Chap Stick, DCT Lip Balm, any of those rubbed aggressively will help short term. I have these cracks only on one foot. My brother has the same problem, only on one foot. Same foot. Go figure. His Podiatrist put him on Lamasil for 9 months. It cleared it up. He went off it and 3 Months later it's back. I soak with hot water and vinegar, or epsom salts. A friend (and Podiatrist) told me to use the vinegar water soak. Like Gris, I've gone shoeless (and or sockless) while doing a lot of paddling and fishing lately, and boy am I paying for it now. Good luck! Slam