Cracks on the Heels - a Quick Fix

IVAN · Sep 4th, 2006, 16:26

Once upon a time, a bad crack developped on my heel. Bad luck, it was on a trek!

The crack was painful, and was close to tear the living flesh too, which would have left me almost incapacitated for the trek.

So, what did came to my desperate mind, as the life saving solution?

Instant glue!

I put a few drops of my faithful magic glue in the crack, pressed the sides, and rested for about fifteen-twenty minutes to be safe that the glue took.

I walked the next six hours of the trek, heel like new, with no pain at all...

This instant fix was realy what saved the day, but I wouldn't recommend using this trick on a crack that already teared the living layers of the skin, just on dead skin.
Info on the internet says that cyanoacrylates are virtually non toxic though, just mild irritants to the skin, so I guess that it would had burned a little if the wound was open.
Better to clean and desinfect the crack first too.

Remember that all instant glues are not made equal.
Some cheap chinese glues' adhesive power is more imaginary than real...

Also, instant glues come in two forms: liquid and gel.

I cannot recommend enough the gel form, and if you had problems with overspill of liquid instant glue from tricky little tubes, and had to quickly search for something to whipe the surplus, ending with glue on your fingers or worse, you know what I mean.

It is infinitely easier to put just the right quantity with the gel form, and it works better if you have non perfectly matching surfaces. Besides, no more spill on the applicator itself, making it easier to cleanly close (and reopen) the tube.
Personally I always carry a little tube of Loctite Super Attak Gel glue, and that thing works.

IVAN · Sep 4th, 2006, 18:29

Seems that I am not the first to have thought of that (I din't really expect it). I just heard that there is special instant glue for wounds that is antiseptic too, and that instant glue was in fact developped for the Vietnam war as a quicker way to patch wounds!

What amazed me was that the glue actually lived trough a six hours tough trek, and in fact survived indefinitely, until I filed away the last remains of the incriminated dead skin from my heel, long after that.

Nick-H · Sep 4th, 2006, 18:41

Well, people have been known to need hospital treatment to separate instant-glue-ed fingers, eyelids, etc, so I guess....

sirensongs · Sep 4th, 2006, 19:43

(wags finger scolding) you should never, ever leave for a trek without a couple of things -

1- Tiger Balm (headache cure, congestion cure, for sore muscles, mosquito bites and that general refreshing and wakey-uppy feeling)

2-a great Indian product called CRACK - ointment in a tube (maybe it's spelt Krack?) that works miracles on cracked heels. This stuff is amazing!

Happy trekking.

Sama · Sep 4th, 2006, 20:23

funny, sirensongs! "don't leave home without crack....."

I found the best thing to do was to take care of my feet daily. I brought a foot brush and some exfoliation creme from home, with the "grits" in it for deep cleansing. every night I would scrub my feet with the gritty creme, put Himalaya Herbals foot creme on my heels, and wake up with softer heels than I have here....

PeakXV · Sep 4th, 2006, 21:26

Quickly cease any caffeine addictions, then hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and you will soon be kicking up your healthy heels!

Nick-H · Sep 4th, 2006, 21:47

crack! a

from me too

I don't know what a footbrush might be, but I would say that a small scrubbing brush should be in everyone's pack (you won't find one in a hotel bathroom: take your own) and that scrubbing the feet should be a daily occurance.

Only the other day Mrs N was commenting that Indians don't take good care of their feet. A scrub a day stops the hard, dry skin building up.

Of course, if you want to join the barefoot brigade, I guess a good layer of hard skin is just what you need!

SarahM · Sep 9th, 2006, 03:35

Good to hear about the glue, even without the treking problems i suffer bad from heel craks, i use an australlian brand that is great for heels as i suffer bad at the best of time.... but saying that the glue logic is sensible to a degree as new techniques now include a glue substance (not super glue)being used in A & E to fix facial scars that dont really need sutures but and usually with no scars, so next time i have problems with my heels i will pick up the super glue!!!!!

Sama · Sep 9th, 2006, 04:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-H

crack! a

from me too

I don't know what a footbrush might be, but I would say that a small scrubbing brush should be in everyone's pack

yes, exactly, it is a small scrubbing brush, Nick, sometimes used in pro pedicures. Mine had bristles on one side and pumice stone on the other side.

dzibead · Sep 9th, 2006, 06:02

My mother, who was a nurse, once told me she could usually tell when one of her patients was a shower-taker rather than an bath-taker, because the shower-takers typically had terrible looking feet: dry, dead skin, and calluses, etc., that didn't get softened and easily scrubbed away, unlike the feet of people who typically soaked in a bath. And I guess most of the shower-takers usually didn't bother with the extra scrubbing recommended by Mrs. Nick.

Given how rare it is to be able to soak in a bathtub in India, I guess I'm not surprised that cracked heels are a problem. Add wearing sandals (which always causes me to get cracked heels when I wear them day in and day out) and it seems that cracked heels are hard to avoid, unless you take extra care to scrub off the built-up dry skin and put something on it to keep it flexible.

eater · Sep 19th, 2006, 02:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by dzibead

My mother, who was a nurse, once told me she could usually tell when one of her patients was a shower-taker rather than an bath-taker, because the shower-takers typically had terrible looking feet: dry, dead skin, and calluses, etc.,

Wow!....live and learn, or visit IM and learn!! Txs.

Now I understand why my heels need so much cream to keep supple and soft.....

crvlvr · Sep 19th, 2006, 02:44

Interestingly, one of the first uses for superglue was in medicine:

Quote:

The use of cyanoacrylate glues in medicine was considered fairly early on. Eastman Kodak and Ethicon began studying whether the glues could be used to hold human tissue together after surgery. In 1964, Eastman submitted an application to use cyanoacrylate glues to seal wounds to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Soon afterward Dr. Harry Coover's glue did find use in Vietnam--reportedly in 1966, cyanoacrylates were tested on-site by a specially trained surgical team, with impressive results. In an interview with Dr. Coover by the Kingsport Times-News, Coover said that the compound demonstrated an excellent capacity to stop bleeding, and during the Vietnam War, he developed disposable cyanoacrylate sprays for use in the battlefield.

SitaParityaga · Sep 19th, 2006, 03:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirensongs

(wags finger scolding) you should never, ever leave for a trek without a couple of things -
CRACK - ointment in a tube (maybe it's spelt Krack?) that works miracles on cracked heels. This stuff is amazing!

I have heard over and over about the wonderful CRACK...and I plan to spend some of my time in Chennai looking for this wonder cure.

Look, youngsters, as you age, your skin gets less flexable and is prone to have more of these ouchy heel cracks. Any dirt you get on your feet will dry the skin out, contributing to the crack problem. I have LONG SUFFERED from this problem

, can you tell?

cyberhippie · Sep 19th, 2006, 03:43

I refuse to use any medicine that sounds like my..............

By the way Hansaplast amongst others do spray on plasters which are great for small cuts, especially on the feet if you're at the beach!

Kingfisher · Sep 19th, 2006, 04:11

I've used no more CRACKS™ and can also recommend it highly. When Googling the name to check on the spelling, one of the choices offered was 'Crack no more' which is a product which addresses another common crack problem

http://www.cracknomore.com/pictures.htm

Sep 4th, 2006, 16:26	#1
IVAN status unknown Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Croatia Posts: 685	Cracks on the Heels - a Quick Fix Once upon a time, a bad crack developped on my heel. Bad luck, it was on a trek! The crack was painful, and was close to tear the living flesh too, which would have left me almost incapacitated for the trek. So, what did came to my desperate mind, as the life saving solution? Instant glue! I put a few drops of my faithful magic glue in the crack, pressed the sides, and rested for about fifteen-twenty minutes to be safe that the glue took. I walked the next six hours of the trek, heel like new, with no pain at all... This instant fix was realy what saved the day, but I wouldn't recommend using this trick on a crack that already teared the living layers of the skin, just on dead skin. Info on the internet says that cyanoacrylates are virtually non toxic though, just mild irritants to the skin, so I guess that it would had burned a little if the wound was open. Better to clean and desinfect the crack first too. Remember that all instant glues are not made equal. Some cheap chinese glues' adhesive power is more imaginary than real... Also, instant glues come in two forms: liquid and gel. I cannot recommend enough the gel form, and if you had problems with overspill of liquid instant glue from tricky little tubes, and had to quickly search for something to whipe the surplus, ending with glue on your fingers or worse, you know what I mean. It is infinitely easier to put just the right quantity with the gel form, and it works better if you have non perfectly matching surfaces. Besides, no more spill on the applicator itself, making it easier to cleanly close (and reopen) the tube. Personally I always carry a little tube of Loctite Super Attak Gel glue, and that thing works. __________________ Humor is Freedom Check my Links -> http://www14.brinkster.com/jnana/links.htm cum grano salis

Sep 4th, 2006, 18:41	#3
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,692	Well, people have been known to need hospital treatment to separate instant-glue-ed fingers, eyelids, etc, so I guess.... __________________ . Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Sep 4th, 2006, 19:43	#4
sirensongs Eeny meeny mango Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: All India Permit (somewhere between Delhi & Dharamsala) Posts: 1,213	"Crack" (wags finger scolding) you should never, ever leave for a trek without a couple of things - 1- Tiger Balm (headache cure, congestion cure, for sore muscles, mosquito bites and that general refreshing and wakey-uppy feeling) 2-a great Indian product called CRACK - ointment in a tube (maybe it's spelt Krack?) that works miracles on cracked heels. This stuff is amazing! Happy trekking. __________________ *"Why do people go to India to find themselves? India is where you go to lose* yourself."** Feringhee: The India Diaries

Sep 4th, 2006, 20:23	#5
Sama a pain in the asana Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: the India inside my heart Posts: 5,434	funny, sirensongs! "don't leave home without crack....." I found the best thing to do was to take care of my feet daily. I brought a foot brush and some exfoliation creme from home, with the "grits" in it for deep cleansing. every night I would scrub my feet with the gritty creme, put Himalaya Herbals foot creme on my heels, and wake up with softer heels than I have here.... __________________ *My India, 2005-2008* BE THE REVOLUTION

Sep 4th, 2006, 21:26	#6
PeakXV Naan.tering Nabob Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Abode of Glooscap Posts: 4,333	Quickly cease any caffeine addictions, then hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and you will soon be kicking up your healthy heels! __________________ We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time. T.S. Eliot Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

Sep 4th, 2006, 18:29	#2
IVAN status unknown Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Croatia Posts: 685	Seems that I am not the first to have thought of that (I din't really expect it). I just heard that there is special instant glue for wounds that is antiseptic too, and that instant glue was in fact developped for the Vietnam war as a quicker way to patch wounds! What amazed me was that the glue actually lived trough a six hours tough trek, and in fact survived indefinitely, until I filed away the last remains of the incriminated dead skin from my heel, long after that.

Sep 4th, 2006, 21:47	#7
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,692	crack! a from me too I don't know what a footbrush might be, but I would say that a small scrubbing brush should be in everyone's pack (you won't find one in a hotel bathroom: take your own) and that scrubbing the feet should be a daily occurance. Only the other day Mrs N was commenting that Indians don't take good care of their feet. A scrub a day stops the hard, dry skin building up. Of course, if you want to join the barefoot brigade, I guess a good layer of hard skin is just what you need!

Sep 9th, 2006, 03:35	#8
SarahM Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Budapest (temp), Sydney, UK Posts: 46	Good to hear about the glue, even without the treking problems i suffer bad from heel craks, i use an australlian brand that is great for heels as i suffer bad at the best of time.... but saying that the glue logic is sensible to a degree as new techniques now include a glue substance (not super glue)being used in A & E to fix facial scars that dont really need sutures but and usually with no scars, so next time i have problems with my heels i will pick up the super glue!!!!!

Sep 9th, 2006, 06:02	#10
dzibead Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern California Posts: 2,156	My mother, who was a nurse, once told me she could usually tell when one of her patients was a shower-taker rather than an bath-taker, because the shower-takers typically had terrible looking feet: dry, dead skin, and calluses, etc., that didn't get softened and easily scrubbed away, unlike the feet of people who typically soaked in a bath. And I guess most of the shower-takers usually didn't bother with the extra scrubbing recommended by Mrs. Nick. Given how rare it is to be able to soak in a bathtub in India, I guess I'm not surprised that cracked heels are a problem. Add wearing sandals (which always causes me to get cracked heels when I wear them day in and day out) and it seems that cracked heels are hard to avoid, unless you take extra care to scrub off the built-up dry skin and put something on it to keep it flexible.

Sep 19th, 2006, 03:43	#14
cyberhippie Account Closed by User's Request Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 6,012	I refuse to use any medicine that sounds like my.............. By the way Hansaplast amongst others do spray on plasters which are great for small cuts, especially on the feet if you're at the beach!

Sep 19th, 2006, 04:11	#15
Kingfisher slow typing member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: west coast canada Posts: 118	I've used no more CRACKS™ and can also recommend it highly. When Googling the name to check on the spelling, one of the choices offered was 'Crack no more' which is a product which addresses another common crack problem http://www.cracknomore.com/pictures.htm

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