A while back, we’ll forget it was July and that I don’t really know how so much time has passed without me starting these posts, I talked about writing a few Burning Questions posts. This will be our first installment and as the title suggests it’s going to be a little bit about keeping the feet soft.

First let me say that I don’t really consider myself an expert in this area. I am one of the lucky few who have historically not had a lot of problems with my feet getting dry or cracked. I’m going to share with you here what I do know and what I do to keep my feet in shape and hopefully you can take something from that and apply it to your own personal foot care protocol.

Second I’m going to tell you something you’re probably not going to like. A lot of the problem is the shoes. From years of observing my own feet and watching what my regular clients wear and how their feet perform and react to the footwear they’re in, I’ve discovered that a good-quality, closed shoe worn with a sock is the best way to minimize heels from cracking.

Flip flops and cute sandals, while stylish and sometimes comfortable provide no support to the fleshy part of the heel. I believe that this lack of support and the accompanying exposure to the environment and the grossness that we walk through every day promotes the drying, cracking, flaking and peeling processes we see.

That being said, I wear flip flops and sandals and Crocs and other footwear that don’t support the fleshy heel quite often. I live in the South and the closer I am to barefoot in the summer, the better. I also pay for it with flaking and cracked heels and thickened skin in different places on my feet. The oddest place is a patch that thickens right at the top of my little toe. Yours may be in different places. These things develop from our own personal walking styles and how our shoes fit and rub.

Here’s what you do when you look down and realize your feet are nasty and in need of some help. Wash your feet. Wash them really good. No, the soap running off your body during your shower is not enough. Really get in there and scrub. Use your washrag to get all the nastiness off the sole of your foot and in between your toes. Use the nail brush and get all the nastiness off the nails. While you’re scrubbing, look at your feet. Where are the rough patches? How do your nails look? You should do this every day.

While you’re still in the shower or bath, use a pedicure tool or pumice stone to scrub the rough patches. I like the ceramic pedi tool pictured because it has two different speeds. One is more like a rough grit sandpaper to get the really big areas and then a finer grit to polish. You want to take care not to get too deep during this process. Nothing hurts worse than having an open wound on your heel. That skin flexes and moves with every step and can get very, very sore if you run it into the quick.

If your problems run more along the lines of flaking versus cracking, I do not recommend the cheese grater types of pedi products. In my experience these worsened the flaking by sharpening the edges up real nice and expanding the area. I also do not recommend trimming flakes with toenail clippers or the like.

If you’re really into the pampering thing you can use a facial exfoliating product to slough off all the dry skin on the top of the foot. This can be nice, but really starts biting into the morning routine so I don’t do it often.

And here’s what I think is the most important part of getting your feet into shape, lotion. Put lotion on your feet, the heels in particular if they are dry. You do want to be careful if you’ve got open sores or cracked fissures here. I’m no doctor, nor do I play one on tv, but I do know that most lotions and creams warn against using on broken skin. Perhaps a bit of antibiotic ointment until it heals? After that, lotion every day, after your morning scrub and again before bedtime and wear socks to bed if you can stand it.

If lotion isn’t helping, go to something thicker like a cream. I’m not a huge advocate of petroleum-based products, but I’ve heard of Vaseline being effective. My great grandmother swore by Crisco. Recently I’ve read that Castor Oil can be effective when used on cracked heels for those not finding relief with any other products. The trick is to find what works for you.

I have had people tell me they’ve done everything and nothing works. And while I believe they believe they’ve done everything they can, I also think that daily attention is absolutely necessary. Only those who are genetically predisposed to the most severe cases of heel cracking and fissuring don’t respond to simple daily maintenance.

For those of us who are healthy and not suffering from any circulatory issues a doctor should not be necessary to start a war against dry, cracked heels. Diabetics should consult with their doctor before starting any kind of aggressive maintenance plan on their feet.

And before I forget, a word about toenail fungus, go see a Podiatrist. They specialize in foot ailments and can help you.

So I hope this answers some of your questions and gives you a few tips. Happy Buffing!