How to Get Rid of Cracked Heel Forever: Free and Easy

I will never forget the first time I saw cracked heel gone wild. A coworker and I plopped down in chairs at the airport after an exhausting wait and walk. Within seconds we both scanned those around us and I think at the exact same moment noticed a woman directly across from us with heels so cracked and black, it was shocking. When my eyes met my coworker friend, I could tell we were thinking the exact same thing. It was so horrifying we both almost laughed out loud. As an adult, we knew better and certainly didn't want to make anyone feel badly. But it was just one of those times I will never forget, where we had to look away from each other to keep from laughing. But strangely our eyes kept gravitating to those feet. It was like a freak of nature, what was going on, on those heels.

You know the old saying, "What goes around comes around?" Well, I know it all too well after warring with cracked heels the last 5 years. My friend and I should have never considered laughing and some days I think...this is karma, that's what this is. Needless to say, I have tried so many things to get my heels back in shape and this year I actually figured it out!

First, let's dispel what didn't work.

Repeated Pedicures

When I worked, I got pedicures weekly. That did keep the heel from getting worse. However, week after week, the cracks would return and the pedicurist would break out the razor. (Yes, I have heard a razor makes matters worse, but it seemed to help weekly, so I just didn't care.) When I stopped working and my husband and I reviewed a financial plan, we cut out a lot and we agreed a pedicure wasn't totally necessary. (And yes, I totally miss them!)

As you could probably guess, the cracked heel worsened without periodic attention. It was then that I learned a pedicure was never fixing the problem. It was masking it. And without financial backing for self grooming, this is no solution anyway. On to home remedies...

The Ped Egg

So, I did what any good girl would do, hit the aisles of a drug store in search of foot care. It was there I succumbed to marketing and bought the hottest new thing; The Ped Egg. This product is available in most all chain stores. It is designed to sluff off dead skin. It seemed to take off a small top layer, but it never got me back to norm. Sure, my feels felt smoother right after a bath and Ped Egg treatment, but an hour later? Heel issues were evident as ever.

Find the Ped Egg online for more information http://www.pedegg.com/

Pumice, Rocks, Sand, Sea salt and Specialty Creams

Versions of all of these solutions worked about like the Ped Egg, never addressing more than a top layer and never lasting for more than 2 hours. And all of them required a drawn out time commitment. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend 20 minutes a night scrubbing one area of my body. Any given one of these products probably works with great success if you do it religiously, like twice a day. I just find that type of maintenance exhausting.

Jelly Socks

There are people out there making millions on these jelly sock products. I have bought them. They look and feel like a sock, except they have a gel-like heel on the inside. Often the toes will be cut out or they are sold with crèmes that you rub on before putting on the sock. This was a total waste of $15, for me. First, I don't want to wear socks to bed - even without toes. Second, if you walk on them, say to get up and use the restroom in the night, the gel and crème cause your heel to slip around. This is not a good combo with sleepy, too unstable. And lastly, this is a routine I had to work at. I absolutely hate routines that are uncomfortable. This product probably works, I just couldn't stick with it.

This product can be found online. http://www.footsmart.com/p-nighttime-heel-treatment-cream-50600.aspx

After 5 years of this and that, I almost gave up...almost. Until one day, I decided to put on tennis shoes after work. As I was about to pull on regular white socks, I looked at my heels in disgust. So, I went to get the Vaseline (or Auquaphor - similar product by Eucerine.) I swiped the Petroleum Jelly on my heels before putting on everyday socks and out of sheer laziness threw the jar back into my sock drawer.

For a week, every time I went to put on tennis shoes, I would see the Vaseline in my sock drawer and swipe my heels before putting on the socks. In literally one week, my heels look normal for the first time in 5 years! Simple. Free.

(Aquaphor is a great product. For more information visit: http://www.eucerinus.com/products/hb_aho.html )

All it took was putting a product I already had in a spot that was easy for me to apply it consistently. These days, I don't have a special bath routine (outside of relaxing), I don't have to wear special socks to bed. I don't need stones, salts, special soaps or crèmes. I simply swipe my heels before putting on socks when getting into my tennis shoes. Now that my heels are better, I do it once in a while. But I couldn't believe I tortured myself over my heels for so long when the cure was so simple.

Now, if I could just find that woman at the airport! I could close the cracked heel chapter of my life, forever.