Thread: Cracking under toes and thick calluses

Greetings,

My daughter and I both belly dance. My daughter is having foot problems and I don't even know what to call it. She has really heavy thick calluses on the soles of her feet, that part is genetic, both her father and paternal grandmother(deceased) have that issue.

What is most troubling is my daughter gets deep cracks under her toes periodically. They are in the creases right under her toes usually the last 3 toes get cracks so deep they sometimes bleed. This puts quite a crimp in both her belly dance and ballet. My daughter dances about 6.5 hours a week between the two styles. She often goes barefoot, and doesn't seem to have any fungal issues like athlete's foot. She is tall, large framed and hight weight proportionate.

She soaks her feet, pumices, and moisturises regularly to try to keep the calluses from getting too thick, but that only helps a little.

Does anyone have similar problems or know about this issue? I am at wits end over how to help her, so any advice will be most welcome.

I get my worst cracking in summer, not winter. I think it's because wearing sandals and going barefoot lets the skin get dry. Maybe she could try wearing footie socks and moisturizer at night to rehydrate her skin? I like the Heeltastic foot balm, too - you can get it everywhere now, and I use it all over my feet.

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It could be athlete's foot. A lot of times it presents as cracking and you don't have the burning/itiching associated with it. It's also easy to pick up from a dance floor used by other people.

My humble opinion because it happens to me in the summer with my little toes : (

It is possible that her aggressive treatment is actually aggravating the condition? Has she seen a dermatologist about this?

Off the top of my head I would suggest seeing a podiatrist for a basic evaluation. Preferably one who has a back ground in holistic Med. And go from there.

{{{HUGS}}}

Hi Moyrah! I get cracks under my toes also sometimes; more often in summer when I am going barefoot all the time. I do try to keep my feet moisturized with Rocky Mountain Soap Company's Foot Butter, Foot Butter - Hand / Foot - Rocky Mountain Soap, I usually slather it on before bed and wear cotton booties/socks. But still, when those painful cracks appear under my toes I find that Planet Bee's Propolis Ointment Planet Bee, Vernon British Columbia Honey Farm and Shop -works really well to heal them fast. But if your daughter is allergic to bee stings, check with your Dr. first, I don't know if propolis would cause a reaction or not.

if its not a fungus or other medical condition, i recommend she try:
1: remove as much callous as possible with a revlon pedi-expert scraper thing. really nothing better on the market imo.

2: every night, slather feet in raw, unprocessed virgin coconut oil. cover feet with spa socks lined in paraffin (helps feet absorb oils, prevents sock from absorbing the oils)

3: change her soap to something totally natural. no detergents, fragrances etc. these can be very drying to skin. try health food stores . dr bronners, desert essence, etc.

4: cover existing cracks in neosporin and bandaids when ever possible, especially at night
hope this helps. foot cracks are terrible for dancers.

I get cracks in my callouses on my feet too. The best product I have found is Nexcare Skin Crack Care. It heeled a big crack on the ball of my foot in two days. However, prevention is best...I'm slowly coming to the realization that I should probably always dance in shoes.

I get pedicures here in North Dakota about every two weeks in the summer as I am always barefoot and I get callouses on my heels. My pedicure lady uses a special blade which takes a lot of callouses off. In between pedies I use cream and socks at night. I've tried pumicing, lotions but the professional foot scraping works the best with that razor blade in a special holder. I would not try to cut the callouses off myself ever.

Wow, Thank you all for the suggestions. This has given me a lot of things to think about and try.

Right now, we are trying a different crack cream for her feet and plan to get the revlon pedi scraper thingy and give it a try.

I am hesitant to go to the podiatrist or dermatologist right now, because our health insurance won't cover either without a lot of expensive visits to other doctors to get authorized to see a specialist. Also her grandmother was a nurse and saw a lot of doctors about the same issues on her feet, and all the doctors would say is, it's genetic, use some pumice.

If the home methods don't work then I think I'll look for someone to do the professional pedicure scraping first, because a peidcure will be cheaper than a medical specialist. All this info may help my husband too, his calluses are far worse.

Thank you all for your time and help.

Could she wear something like footundeez or dancepaws when dancing? The little cushion from moleskin/suede under the ball of her foot could give her some much needed protection from the bare floor w/out giving her too much of a shoe.
Buffing & pumice after a good foot soak followed by a heavy moisturizer made for cracked feet for the callouses are essential, if they get too thick they will crack.
I agree to try treating the crack with a fungicide--a tube of athlete's foot cream in under $10 and doesn't require a trip to the doc.

Your general practitioner can diagnose a fungus, if thats what it is. I used to get cracks like that and never thought it could be a fungus because I never had any other symptoms. I went to the doc for something else foot related and he pointed it out. I tried an OTC topical which did nothing, a prescription topical that did nothing, and finally an oral medication that wiped it out for good (after 10+ years of cracks).

My Bf occasionally gets this as well, and it clears up readily with Lotramin spray (OTC).

Note that if you are moisturizing and it IS a fungus, you could actually be making a better environment for it to grow.

Originally Posted by NazirahDances

Note that if you are moisturizing and it IS a fungus, you could actually be making a better environment for it to grow.

Ohhh... excellent point. Plus, I was just reading that the cracks can get easily infected with other stuff as well if they spilt all the way down to raw tissue.

My sports med doctor is always reminding me that as a dancer, my feet are one of my most valued resources and I can't ignore foot problems. My mechanic says the cause of major problems is not fixing minor ones. Moyrah, it sounds like if your daughter is this serious about dance, you may need to see the doctor even if you don't have insurance.

Originally Posted by nayastrance

Could she wear something like footundeez or dancepaws when dancing? The little cushion from moleskin/suede under the ball of her foot could give her some much needed protection from the bare floor w/out giving her too much of a shoe.

Better would be something with a full sole like a ballet slipper, Hermes sandals or Pendini's. Because the calluses go under her toes, that area has to be protected as well.

Oh, and if she can walk barefoot on the beach on a regular basis, this will help with the pedicure.

{{{HUGS}}}

I occasionally get those toe cracks if I've been doing a lot of barefoot turning and spinning-I patch them up with liquid bandage and they're generally healed within a day or two, even with additional dancing. Wearing some kind of protection for the ball of the foot definitely helps.

I had this same problem for a long time. I danced almost exclusively barefoot (unless it was outdoors or an unsafe surface). By the end of the weekend after 5-6 shows, I'd have bleeding cracks at the bases of my outer 2 or 3 toes. They would heal just in time for me to do it all over again the next weekend

I put up with it for years as an "occupational hazard" till I stepped on an ashed over hookah coal (OUCH!) and switched to shoes for most every show. I haven't had a cracking (or callous) problem since.

You say she dances 6+ hours a week.... it may be as simple as wearing some foot protection.

Mahin

I don't know anything about the cracking...

But I can suggest one possibility to explore. There is a very specific pattern of callouses associated with a condition called Morton's Foot (not the same thing as Morton's Toe). It has to do with a variation in the length of the bones within the foot (not the length of the toe, as some people think).

I have it, and recognized it instantly from the callous pattern (they could have been drawing my foot). It could easily be hereditary. I don't really have any pain with it, although I've read that it can cause pain. But my callouses are INTENSE when I dance barefoot.(no cracking, knock wood, but I've never had dry skin, either)

Here is the callous pattern associated with Morton's Foot (it's a fairly common variation, I don't even know if it could be called a 'condition.'


(wow that's huge, don't know how to fix it!)

If this is part of her issue, she will find that just adding a tiny bit of support/elevation (I've used the felt circles they sell to stick under table legs) inside a pair of ballet slippers or dance paws to support the bone in question will work wonders for her feet & callouses.

Here's the page with the full explanation & description of where the support goes:
Self-Treatment for Morton’s Foot, a cause of Achilles tendinitis, chronic foot pain.

If you do have a congenital abnormality in the bones of the feet, then a trip to a podiatrist for an evaluation may be your best long-term option. You could have a situation where a little moleskin under the first metatarsal relieves the misalignment, or you might need the fuller support of an arch. (I'm in the latter group.) It depends on the severity of the misalignment and whether there are other related issues like bunions, hammertoes, and substantial ankle pronation going on.

I get this ALL the time... summer and winter... its not very much fun. I normally (if cracked and bleeding) will use a triple anti-biotic/ aquaphor mix in the cracks and wear socks to bed and do that for about 3 nights.... then just the aquaphor for 2 more nights around the whole foot.

It helps me!

But seeing someone about it is a good plan anyways

Beeswax is also good!

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

If you do have a congenital abnormality in the bones of the feet, then a trip to a podiatrist for an evaluation may be your best long-term option. You could have a situation where a little moleskin under the first metatarsal relieves the misalignment, or you might need the fuller support of an arch. (I'm in the latter group.) It depends on the severity of the misalignment and whether there are other related issues like bunions, hammertoes, and substantial ankle pronation going on.

Nope, no issues at all, no discomfort, no pain, no deformities or pronation. Just callouses.

Sorry I wasn't clearer. I meant the generic "you," not you specifically, Lauren. My problems got so bad that I had to have a major surgical reconstruction of my left foot, but everybody gets their own unique pair of feet. My surgeon said they don't really understand why some malformations develop into problems requiring surgery and others don't, but they do know if you're having chronic foot pain, the sooner you identify the cause and make appropriate lifestyle changes (wearing a different kind of shoe, corrective inserts, whatever), the better chance you have of minimizing long-term damage and avoiding surgery. Without knowing who else is reading the thread, I'm just sayin'...

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Sorry I wasn't clearer. I meant the generic "you," not you specifically, Lauren. My problems got so bad that I had to have a major surgical reconstruction of my left foot, but everybody gets their own unique pair of feet. My surgeon said they don't really understand why some malformations develop into problems requiring surgery and others don't, but they do know if you're having chronic foot pain, the sooner you identify the cause and make appropriate lifestyle changes (wearing a different kind of shoe, corrective inserts, whatever), the better chance you have of minimizing long-term damage and avoiding surgery. Without knowing who else is reading the thread, I'm just sayin'...

Oh, gotcha. That makes sense. Sorry you had to go through that.