If you are plagued with cracked, painful heel calluses, know that there are remedies that almost always return heel skin to normal usually within three months by treating the root cause.
For adults with heavy heel calluses it's safe to use 60,000 IU daily of Vitamin A (not beta-carotene) until the skin returns to normal, and then cut back to a 25,000 1U daily "maintenance" dose. The best absorbed type of vitamin A is a water soluble "micellized" form. Micellization is a technique that turns the molecules of vitamin A into microscopic particles that are much easier for your body to absorb. Micel-A, available at most health food stores, is a good water soluble source of vitamin A.
If you have bleeding as well, add 30 milligrams of zinc picolinate and 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil twice a day. Of course, whenever you supplement with essential fatty acids, like flaxseed oil, you should always accompany it with natural vitamin E. The vitamin E helps prevent the oil from oxidizing too quickly in your body.
The best available source of natural vitamin E is Cataplex E2 from Standard Process Labs. (Be sure to check out my article, "How to tell the difference between Natural and Synthetic Vitamin E" before buying vitamin E from a drug store.
Once your heel skin returns to normal you can cut back to "maintenance" dosages of zinc, flaxseed oil, and vitamin E, taking them each just once a day rather than twice for as long as needed.
Meanwhile, there are excellent salves out there that I used and found to work overnight to significantly improve my heel skin. One is Refresh Aromatherapy Foot Balm, another is Gardener's Salve. I have Lemon Verbena but there are many others and they are not expensive. They're not a permanent cure but it certainly can work miracles in a very short period of time. I found my heel skin to be completely smooth in one week.
