I started running barefoot as much as possible 2 years ago. Before that, I ran some with bare feet, but more with minimalist shoes. Around the same time, I began to try to just be barefooted most of the time. I tested colder temperatures and hotter temperatures and learned a few things. I have all the while been developing a smooth leathery sheen on the bottom of my feet.
Last summer, I got my usual summertime cracks in my feet. This happened regularly when I wore shoes, too. Idaho is a dry climate. This year, the cracks were deeper than I remember having before. They were very painful to walk on. Possibly it is because the outer layer is thicker, so there is just more to crack. But the result was that my usual bandaid with vaseline method was taking longer to work. My skin was getting highly irritated by the bandaid glue. When I didn’t have the bandaids on, there was still a layer of glue in places that stuck to the floor and collected fuzz and dirt. This was unacceptable.
Figuring I was probably not the first person to have this trouble, I asked around on my Barefoot Runner’s Society forum. (see the link in the sidebar) The idea of lotion on my feet seemed anti-thetical to toughening them up. Besides that, it would be slippery to walk around on my wood, cement, and tile floors at home! However, I found that is what others were doing on a regular basis.
I have a long history of severe skin reactions to things like lotion and plant oils, but there were 2 suggestions that I thought I’d try. One was Tiger Balm. When it arrived, it smelled too strong for me to think about breathing all the time. I did rub some on my husband’s recently-operated-on-shoulder, since it is supposed to have pain relieving properties, too. I found that it left my hands stinging slightly. It took a few hours for both the sensation and the aroma to go away. My husband is not sure whether it was just the massage that helped or if the balm gave any pain relief.
The lotion that I tried for the longest is ProFoot Heel Rescue Foot Cream. One of my barefoot friends says he uses it regularly to keep such cracking at bay. He lives in Utah. Even though my cracks were nearly 1/4 inch deep and showing some pink, I could only barely notice when the cream went into them. I didn’t try to “push” it in, but some just went in when I applied the lotion to my feet. I also had some lighter cracking developing on the outer sides of my feet, all in a row, and it didn’t hurt there either.
I decided the best time to apply the foot cream was right before bed and first thing in the morning. I always clean my feet before bed, so they would be clean both of those times. In the morning, I had to be a little careful right at first on my cement bedroom floor, but after a few minutes I couldn’t tell I had recently slathered my feet.
Unfortunately, about a week into that therapy, I began to develop a rash on my toes. I hadn’t been wearing any bandaids for several days at this point, so the lotion seemed the most likely source of trouble. I decided I would have to go back to my old stand-by of olive oil. For the years that I had eczema on my hands, olive oil had been the only moisturizer that I could safely use.
Olive oil is less convenient to use than lotion. It is drippy. It tends to leak out of my fingers no matter how tightly I hold them together. It is definitely slippery for a long time. But the cracks in my feet still needed treatment. I got a towel to have under my feet, and made sure I had a pathway of towel and rugs over the cement on the way to my bed. About 1 teaspoon of oil was all it took to cover all of a foot, including between the toes and part way up the ankle.
In the morning before I had put more oil on, I could walk without any slipping, but I thought I had better get some socks to wear for a short while after the morning application. (maybe an hour?) I mostly wear wool socks made by Smartwool as these are the only kind I have found that let my skin breath enough to avoid other skin problems. These socks worked great for this, too, keeping the oil in but not making my feet sweat. Within a day the rash was nearly gone. My hands were already benefitting from the regular contact with the oil, too.
I kept running and going generally barefoot all of this time. I also went swimming and biking. Some of the cracks have disappeared. The deeper ones have changed into tough outer skin and are no longer painful. I may consider trying the lotion again, but without rubbing it as much or getting it on the top, more sensitive skin. At least I know that I can always fall back on olive oil for moisturizing foot therapy. And I have beauty treatments in common with ancient queens.