Summer is the time when most of us start wearing sandals and more open shoes, but if you have cracked heels and fissures running across your soles it can feel better to cover them up. Cracked feet are not only painful and unsightly, they can deepen and reach tissue causing bleeding and even infection. Here’s how to heal those painful cracks.

• Before you go to sleep, soak your feet in water or take a bath or shower. Then slather your an intense moisturizing lotion, salve, or body butter onto the feet and wear socks over them.
• Wear socks and shoes that cover your feet to help keep the skin moist. It might not be ideal when it’s hot but it will help the cracks close up and soften.
• Drink lots of water throughout your day to help hydrate your body from the inside out.
• To get rid of dry skin on your heels, try using a pumice stone in the shower. It sloughs off dead skin cells, eventually revealing softer, smoother skin. If you already have small cracks, be careful not to irritate them – be gentle.
• If you already have a big crack, make an appointment with a podiatrist. They can help get rid of the hard, dry skin on your feet, so that your fissure can heal
• If you are a regular runner, stop for a while. Pounding your feet won’t help matters – take a break till fissures heal up.