Heel Fissures happen when the skin on the bottom of your heel becomes hard and dry, resulting from a lack of moisture. When the heels get this dry they then cause the skin to crack. You can get mild symptoms such as discoloration of the skin which indicates the presence of callus. Thickening of the skin around the cracks on the heeland visible splitting, cracking of the skin. If you leave untreated then these mild symptoms can become more severe, leading to bleeding from the cracks in the heels, open wounds or pain when putting pressure on the heels and if leftthey can cause deep ulcers that can become infected.
What can we do?
- We can use a technique called debridement, where we use tools to remove the dead skin.
- We can help with intensive emollient therapy (moisturisation).
- Advise on use of heel protectors.
How to ease them
- Soak in warm water and pat dry.
- Use a pumice stone/ loofah gently.
- Moisturise.
- Don’t wear open heeled shoes.
- Wear protective heel cups in shoes.