COLUMN: STAY HEALTHY with FAITH NDINDA

 Ways to restore confidence in walking by treating cracked heels

 Welcome to this first episode of the STAY HEALTHY COLUMN which will be running every Wednesday on the MWINGI TIMES online publication as part of keeping our readers abreast with health matters.

This week, as I kick off my articles on health-related topics, I will want to discuss with you a matter that probably has been disturbing you – trying to look for a lasting solution. Have you ever wondered or been worried by seeing crack on your heels?

I am certain that that a sight of cracks on the bottom of your feet has often left you a worried lot pondering where they hailed from and/ or what you could do to get rid of the nagging ridges on your skin.

Why is it cardinal to shed off the foot breaks? Cracks on the heels are a one hell of discomfort. When they become deep, they may cause a lot of pain. They may have forced you to ensure you have put on a pair of closed shoes to at least hide the unpleasant and nasty-looking heels, right?

But now you should have very little to worry about. Or to give you more hope, you should worry no more. Apparently, I will share with you some important hygiene tips and health procedures that can restore your once rugged skin to a normalcy – a soft, smooth and attractive legs. This will hopefully restore your dwindling confidence and give you the urge to don the open pair of shoes of your choice. 

A simple Google search of keying the words, “How to get rid of cracks on your heels” brings forth tens of suggested sources to get this answer with several of the sources I logged into giving similar tips to the answer to this question. The search also indicates that this is a common question by people who visit the search engine giant – Google. Certainly, as the research shows, foot cracks are a common foot problem to not only first world countries but also to the developing ones such as ours.

Ugly cracks

To start off the journey of burying the ugly cracks on your feet, always ensure your feet all always clean. This according to multiple pro-hygiene source is the gate path to preventing infections that may inhabit on you heals.  

Another important step that you need to take to keep off cracks is to make sure you soak your feet in warm soapy water for between 10-20 minutes to soften the skin around the heel.

A website called Healthline also encourages use of heel balm. This comes in handy when the cracked heels turn out to be painful or even cracked too way much. There are different types of balms in the market. To be safe ensure you take your time to visit an authorized dealer so that you get the right product for your type of skin.

Moreover, hygiene specialists encourage use of a petroleum jelly. A good example of a readily available jelly is Vaseline. For one reason or another, we all have a jelly around our households.  As a precursor to applying the jelly soak your feet as earlier explained. Then apply the jelly around the cracked area. Thereafter, put on a pair of socks to keep the jelly together in the affected area.

Use of honey is another advised home- made remedy for foot crack problem. As we all know, honey has been a great home remedy for all of us, in a number if not most of our health issues. It still got us covered here. Once you soak your feet, you can use honey as a foot mask, for preferably overnight for better results. Make sure to wash in the morning so as to see if the heel is getting any better.

Lastly but not the least, we are advised make use of coconut oil. Coconut oil has been used for different purposes.  But this time around, we are using it on our heels. Coconut oil will protect your heels form bleeding and other infections. To achieve this just like the other applicants soak you heels, wipe them using a clean towel, then apply the coconut oil.

I am optimistic that these tips will help you a great deal in bringing the much-desired spark on your heels and bring back the walk of confidence devoid of any iota of shame.

The writer, FAITH NDINDA is a budding Journalist with passion on Health and Lifestyle matters.