The transition from summer to fall often brings skin injuries due to the switch in seasonal footwear. Let’s tackle this issue with some home remedies.
Wet Blisters
Stocking up on medical bandages in September isn’t just for gardeners heading out to dig up potatoes. Wet blisters on the hands can easily be “earned” during gardening tasks due to the friction of delicate palm skin against a shovel handle. A soft “bubble” can even form on a finger from a knife while peeling potatoes. However, the greatest chance of encountering this unpleasant surprise is on your feet.
Fresh abrasions on the skin of the soles, toes, and heels are often thanks to tight or uncomfortable (new) shoes. In summer, your feet have enjoyed a break from “shackles” and now must readjust to wearing closed models. This painful process can become bloody: painful blisters filled with cloudy fluid bleed when they burst. If an infection enters the wound, the consequences can be even worse. To avoid inflammation and the risk of blood poisoning, wet blisters should not be ignored.
Raw Potato
Grate a raw potato and apply the paste to a gauze pad, then place it on the affected area of skin and secure it with a bandage or adhesive tape. Change the dressing after a day. At least three treatments are needed for the wet blister to dissolve.
Wild Sorrel, Calendula, Plantain
Gather horse sorrel, plantain leaves, and calendula flowers, wash them, and chop them into a paste (it’s best to finely chop them with a knife). You can use these components separately or together to treat wet blisters. Apply them on a pad, as in the previous case.
Dry Calluses
These skin imperfections don’t hurt and don’t hinder movement, but they can detract from the beauty of your feet, which can be more important to women than the pain itself. Home remedies can help eliminate this aesthetic flaw and allow you to keep wearing sandals.
Tomato
At night, bind a compress made from crushed ripe tomato flesh to the dry callus. After each removal of the compress (daily), gently scrape off the hardened skin with a nail file or pumice stone: the callus will peel away layer by layer.
Onion
Bake an onion, cut it in half, and place the cut side against the callus. At night, the onion compress should be secured to the foot and covered with socks. After five days, there will be no trace left of your “favorite callus.” And any lingering onion smell after the treatments can be eliminated with soapy water and foot deodorant.
Lemon
Grind a whole citrus fruit in a meat grinder and apply the resulting mixture of pulp and zest to the dry callus overnight. Wrap your foot and go to sleep. In the morning, take a few extra minutes for hygiene: remove the softened, peeling skin with a nail file.
Hard Calluses
The longest and most challenging battle is against old calluses, known as hard calluses.
Prunes
A paste made from prunes soaked in boiling water and blended should be applied warm to the hard callus and secured with a bandage. Fix the compress by wearing socks and leave it on overnight. In the morning, scrape off the peeling epidermis and apply olive or flaxseed oil to the area of the hard callus. Repeat the procedure until the defect disappears.
Onion and Vinegar
To prepare a compress, pour half a cup of vinegar over 150 grams of onion peels in a glass container, seal it tightly, and let it sit in a dark place for two weeks. Apply the compress to the hard calluses at night.
Skin Care
To prevent dry calluses and hard calluses, it’s essential to remove hardened skin from your feet once a week, preferably after soaking them in a warm salt or baking soda bath.
For treating painful blisters, dissolve salt in warm water at a ratio of 1 teaspoon of salt per 1 liter of water. Soak your feet in this solution for 15-20 minutes, then remove them without rinsing or drying: let your feet dry naturally. The pain from the blister will subside immediately.
For a nighttime baking soda soak, mix 1 tablespoon of grated household soap and 2 teaspoons of baking soda in 1 liter of warm water. Soak your feet in the solution for half an hour, and after the procedure, scrape off the softened areas of the epidermis and apply foot cream to the dry skin.
To protect your feet from new blisters, place fresh leaves of alder, coltsfoot, or dandelion in your shoes.
For the delicate skin on the pads of your toes and heels, nourish your body with vitamins A and E. You can find these beneficial micronutrients in citrus fruits, green onions, spinach, sorrel, cabbage, carrots, liver, butter, or milk.
Cracks in Heels
The soles of the feet are particularly prone to injury. Cracks often form there, appearing on overly dry skin or due to inflammatory infiltration. Deep cracks can serve as “gateways” for infection. Besides the risk of infection, cracks pose cosmetic issues: after healing, scars may remain. Deep cracks can cause discomfort due to their pain and bleeding.
Causes of Cracks:
- ill-fitting shoes;
- insufficient foot care;
- excessively frequent skin care procedures (unnecessary peeling should be avoided, as the skin needs recovery afterward);
- metabolic disorders;
- diabetes;
- thyroid pathologies;
- gastritis;
- vitamin deficiencies.
If you’re prone to cracks, include foods rich in vitamins A, B, and C in your diet: greens, carrots, egg yolks, fish roe, liver, and butter. Your diet should include retinol and carotene, as their deficiency leads to dry skin—especially on the feet.
Regularly nourish the skin on your heels and toes. Additionally, treat any damaged skin on the soles with antifungal and antibacterial agents.
Home Spa Treatments
- Starch baths can help with deep cracks: 1 tablespoon of potato starch per 1 liter of water. Soak your feet in these baths for 30 minutes daily before bed (you should complete ten treatments). After the bath, dry your feet with a towel and apply a thick cream or glycerin to the cracks.
- Boil potato peels and soak your feet in the broth for 20 minutes. After the procedure, rinse your feet with warm water and apply castor oil to the skin.
- Pour 0.5 liters of water over 2 tablespoons of flaxseed and chopped potato peels. Cook until thick like sour cream. Cool the paste to 40°C and soak your feet in it. Keep your feet in this mixture for 15-20 minutes, then rinse with warm water. Remove the hardened skin around the cracks. Apply iodine tincture to these areas and then cream.
- Dissolve 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 3 drops of ammonia, and 1 liter of herbal broth or infusion in 3 liters of water. Soak your feet in this baking soda bath for a week. After the foot bath, treat the cracks in your heels with salicylic ointment, thick cream, or oil.
- Boil 1 tablespoon of chamomile in 1 liter of water for 10 minutes. Cool and use the infusion for foot baths to heal cracks.
- Dissolve 2 tablespoons of boric acid in 1 liter of warm water. Soak your feet in this bath for 15 minutes before bed. Dry your feet with a towel and apply petroleum jelly to the cracks. Place a bandage over it and do not remove it for a day. The treatment course lasts a week.
- In 1 liter of boiling water, steep 2 tablespoons of nettle, cool to a comfortable temperature, and soak your feet before bed. This healing infusion is effective against cracks in the heels.
- Boil 1 tablespoon of St. John’s wort in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and strain. Treat the cracks daily for a week. Soak your feet for 20 minutes at night. Before putting on cotton socks, treat your feet with flaxseed oil or nourishing cream.
Medicinal Compresses
- Mix equal parts onion juice, aloe juice, and fish oil. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to make a paste and apply it to the crack in your heel. Secure it and leave it on overnight. In the morning, remove the paste, wipe your feet with calendula or oak bark infusion, and let them dry without wiping. Apply nourishing cream to the crack.
- At night, apply a paste of crushed green onions to the cracks. Secure the compress with a bandage or adhesive tape.
- You can prepare a homemade ointment for heel cracks with essential oils using 1 tablespoon of petroleum jelly and 2 drops each of lavender and chamomile essential oils. Rub the mixed ingredients into the cracks in your heels twice a day: in the morning and evening. The crack will heal within a week.
- After a foot bath, treat the cracks with a mixture of one egg yolk, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of starch. After it dries, rinse the nourishing mask for your feet with warm water. Follow up with peeling and treating the cracks with cream.
- Pour half a glass of water over 1 tablespoon of calendula flowers and boil for 5 minutes over low heat. Mash a small onion into a paste and chop 1 tablespoon of kalanchoe. Mix the ingredients and apply to the cracks. Keep the compress on the skin for 2-3 hours. The treatment course lasts two weeks.
- For the next healing compress, slightly bruise a cabbage leaf, spread honey on it, and dust it with flour. Wait for the flour to soak up the honey, then apply the compress to the cracked heel. Bandage the crack and keep the compress on your foot overnight. In the morning, remove the medicinal dressing, rub your heels with a pumice stone, and apply cream. Apply the compress daily for a week.
- A highly effective treatment for cracks is to treat the skin with a comfrey tincture: boil 1 liter of water with 2 tablespoons of chopped comfrey root and steep in a thermos for an hour.
Healing Oils
The most effective remedies for healing cracks in folk medicine are oils from rose hips, aloe, sea buckthorn, and ointments made from arnica, St. John’s wort, and calendula.
St. John’s Wort Oil
In a half-liter jar, place St. John’s wort and cover it with unrefined oil, ensuring the medicinal raw material is soaked and covered with a layer about an inch thick. Cover the jar with double cheesecloth secured with a rubber band.
Place the jar in a water bath in a pot of cold water. Adjust the heat to low and sterilize the oil for half an hour after the water begins to boil.
Cool the jar and seal it with a plastic lid over the cheesecloth. The oil should steep in a dark place for at least a month and can be stored for several years.
Soak a bandage in St. John’s wort oil and apply it to the cracks. On top of the oil compress, place wax paper and wrap your foot in a plastic bag to avoid any mess.
Aloe Oil
Chop the leaves of a houseplant (starting from the fifth leaf from the root) and prepare the oil in the same way as in the previous recipe.
Rose Hip Oil
Prepare oil from chopped rose hips in a similar manner.
Propolis Infusion
Take 1 tablespoon of grated propolis for every 100 grams of any vegetable oil. Sterilize the medicinal preparation using the same method as for St. John’s wort oil.
Remember, the health of your feet affects your overall vitality and the grace of your walk. Don’t skimp on hygiene products, quality footwear, and proper socks: the expenses for these purchases are usually justified.