Bag Balm
Pine tar might work, if you have hooves.
I also suffer from “zombie hoof”. Last summer I tried some liquid bandage, not the spray type but the drops, it looks like super glue. I would glue the cracks closed and they stopped hurting and healed within a couple of days. I had a similar problem on the tips of my fingers, and gluing took care of those also!
Roman soldiers used to use olive oil to keep their feed in shape marching day in and day out.
Vitamin D.
Your problem will go away forever.
Have you been to a dermatologist or podiatrist to have this diagnosed?
Why does it just occur in the summer?
I have something similar from time to time.
I use that egg callous remover thing to remove the callous, then Heel-tastic (you can get both at Walgreens or CVS) to make them soft.
Do your feet have thick callouses on the heals? Try using Miracle Foot Repair. When you don’t have cracks, soak your feet in cheap apple cider vinegar.
This is the best stuff I ever used. I thought it was a miracle. It used to happen to me in the wintertime. If you use this and it works for you, apply it every couple of days even after the cracks are gone and they won’t come back. Hasn’t happened to me again in four years.
Mayo, or Velveeta (almost room temp). Might have something to do with my weird sexual addictions, but my heels also stopped cracking.
PS- Dry your feet well after a shower / bath. Bleach your shower / bath before using it next time. That’s the likely source of your problem. Any red or black shit growing around the drain or on your curtain? Yep. Bleach it.
The thing is, the thicker the skin of the sole, the more easily it cracks. I used to have this problem but I solved it permanently by using what is known as a callus shaver - once. Remove all the thickened skin, and perform a maintenance ritual of using a sand-paper type foot scraper. Do this every day while you bathe and you’ll never have such problems again. It goes without saying that you should take all precautions and seek medical advice before doing any of this if you have other health concerns such as diabetes.
Put Chap Stick on at night and cover with Band Aids. You should see a big improvement by morning.
1. Keep yourself well hydrated. You may not be drinking enough water in the summer heat. At least 64 oz. of water (not including alcohol or caffeinated soda) per day. More if you spend much time outside.
2. Try Vanicream, available (without prescription) from the pharmacist at Costco. It’s completely fragrance-free, comparable to the neutral base that is used for many pharmaceutical creams. It makes a great moisturizer. Best to use it before the problem happens, of course.
Go to a feed store and buy Udder Cream. Not the crap they sell at wal-mart called “udder cream” but real udder cream for cows. It is almost pure lanolin. Great for diaper rashes too.
Best thing I've found for this is Eucerin cream (not the lotion). First used it in the hospital decades ago. It still works on heel cracks, with fairly quick relief and resolution usually within 2-3 days. Of course, everyone's case is different.
Before bed or having your feet up for a while:
Step one - optional. Soak your affected foot in very warm water with quite a lot of vinegar and salt dissolved in it. (Yes, this may hurt in the open cuts at first. Do what you can tolerate or skip.) Try to do 15-20 minutes of soaking. Dry gently.
Step two - take a fairly large glob of the Eucerin (about a tablespoon to cover a small area, such as affected by one cut) and rub it onto the area. Rub it in some, but leave a nice, thick coating over the entire area over and around the crack.
Step three - put a clean white cotton sock on your foot, being careful not to wipe off the Eucerin.
Step four - put your feet up for at least an hour or go to bed. The Eucerin will soak in and your heel should feel some relief when you get up.
Continue to rub in Eucerin and put on a sock throughout the next day (it's okay to walk on it for these "touch-up" applications), but do another big application before bedtime. (You don't need to do the footbath except the first time, if then.)
A few days in a row and you should have significant relief (I certainly hope so, for your sake). Then you can use the cream regularly to keep your heel healed!
You can get Eucerin at Wal-Mart or Walgreens. It may even be eligible for your HSA (if Obama hasn't taken that from you yet).
Hope this helps.
Chapstick with Eucalyptus.
***********************************
It was the usual hot, dusty, dry day in this old western town.
The bartender watched as a guy rides up to the saloon on his
horse, dismounts, ties the reins to the post, then walks behind
the horse, lifts his tail and plants a great big kiss right on the
horse’s you-know-what.
After serving the weary man a cold beer, he ventured to ask why
he kissed his horse on the you-know-what.
The guy finished the last of his beer, sat back in the seat of his
chair and pushed his hat onto the back of his head. “Well sir”,
he explained, “It’s hot here in the dessert and a fella’s lips can
get mighty dry and chapped.”
Still confused, the barbender said, “yes, but that horse’s you-know-what
is dirty and it’s gotta stink. Why would anyone with an ounce or
common sense kiss a horse’s you-know-what”?
The dusty cowboy replied... “A horse’s you-know-what is without
doubt filthy and foul. But when it’s this dry…
***
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wait for it...
***
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I hope you’re ready...
***
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***
… a kiss on my horse’s you-know-what is sure to keep me
from lickin’ my lips.”
I use a leather preservative from Whites boots, it is beeswax and natural oils and propolis. I noticed when I was greasing my fire boots that my hands got real soft, and the stuff healed up some dermatitis on the backs of my hands. I used it on my feet to soften calluses and heal my heels. It works.
http://www.whitesboots.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29836
My wive is using a product called Heeltastic. From Walgreens also.
Don’t bother with the balms, etc. until you get the skin repaired and closed.
You need a prescription cortisone-based cream. Use that as directed (not too much, or it will be counter-productive), until the skin heals itself. You can use some daily moisturizer on it while using the scrip cream.
I had severely dry fingers a few years back (same thing, cracked and bleeding) and this was the only thing that fixed it.
Also, watch your diet, that you are drinking plenty of water and, if you can, something like olive oil so that you are moisturizing from the inside out.
Remember that those balms really only seal the skin so that the natural moisture of the skin doesn’t dry out too fast. Very few of them actually push a moisturizer into the skin.