How To Remove Dry Skin From The Feet: 7 Ways And Prevention

How to Prevent and Remove Dry and Flaky Skin From the Feet

Dry skin on your feet is easy enough to come by. We don’t always take good enough care of our feet, even though they carry us around all day. When the skin on your feet doesn't get enough moisture dry skin can build up. The same thing can happen when you don’t scrub or exfoliate your skin regularly. If you’ve ever had dry or cracked skin on your feet, you know it can be uncomfortable. So what can you do about it?

Medical Conditions

Dry, flaking, or even hanging skin on the feet can be caused or exaggerated by pregnancy, obesity, aging, or hypothyroidism. It can also be caused by fungal infections, eczema, athlete’s foot, fungal infections, atopic dermatitis, juvenile plantar dermatosis, psoriasis, or palmoplantar keratoderma (skin thickening on soles of feet, or palms).

Prevent Dry and Flaky Skin on Your Feet

Hot water dries out the skin, also on the feet, so try to avoid hot baths and showers. It’s also important to moisturize regularly with baby oil or petroleum jelly. Check the ingredients on your moisturizer to make sure it doesn’t contain any alcohol, since this will dry out your skin more.

How to Remove Dry, Flaky Skin from Your Feet:

Use an over-the-counter foot scrub from the pharmacy. You can also make your own by mixing sea salt and olive oil. The salt granules will gently scrub away the dead skin, while the olive oil moisturizes, leaving your feet baby soft.
Use a foot file like our Foot File and Callus Remover With Built-In Vacuum It gives you soft and smooth skin on your feet without leaving behind the mess that other foot files do.
Soak your feet in an Epsom salt (Magnesium sulfate) bath. Simply mix ½ cup of epsom salts into warm water to make a foot bath. You can soak your feet for 20 minutes and then use a foot brush to scrub the dead skin off.
Soak your feet in warm water and use a foot brush or pumice stone to exfoliate your dry skin away. Pumice stones are made from lava rock and are great for gently removing dry skin at home. Gently scrub the skin in a side to side or circular motion. Only use for the top layer of skin, and remember, it’s not supposed to hurt!
You can use at-home paraffin wax treatments. Simply heat the wax in a saucepan to about 125°F and pour into a bowl. Dip your feet in the wac repeatedly and then wrap your feet in plastic. When the wax is hard you can remove it, and any dead skin will come off with the wax. Don’t use this method if you have limited feeling in your feet, poor blood circulation, or open sores.
You can use honey to help heal and moisturize cracked heels and dry skin. Use honey as a foot mask overnight, though make sure to wear socks so you don’t get honey on your sheets. You can also simply use it as a foot scrub after soaking your feet in warm water.
Use coconut oil after a foot soak to moisturize and heal dry skin, psoriasis, or eczema. In addition to being an excellent moisturizer, coconut oil also has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Q&As

How often should I moisturize my feet?

Your feet need as much moisture as the skin on any other part of the body. If you can, use a good foot cream and moisturize your feet daily.

Can dry skin and cracked heels be caused by a vitamin deficiency?

Yes, vitamin deficiencies are one of the things that can lead to dry and flaky skin on your feet.

Does soaking my feet in lemon water work for dry skin?

You can soak your feet for 15 minutes in warm water with the juice of one lemon to gently exfoliate dry skin. Just avoid this treatment if you have any cuts or sores on your feet.

Wrapping Up

Dry and flaky skin on feet can be uncomfortable and embarrassing. Thankfully there are lots of things you can do to prevent it, and also several remedies to take care of this problem right at home. Always see a doctor if your dry, flaky skin is painful or you think you might have a medical condition like athlete’s foot.