I have been wondering that too! I have struggled with dry heels for years, sometimes they bleed. When I started using the lotion with lactic acid, I thought maybe it would help my feet. It does help, but I just don't use it on a regular basis. I really think they are related. Isn't KP where our body produces too much keratin? Maybe it over produces it on our feet causing them to be rough and cracked. "Normal people" have fairly soft feet, my husbands heels are never dry and they are not nearly as thick as mine are. I think you are on to something. I would guess that the same lotions we use on our arms would work on our feet, I know my lotion worked pretty well (when I used it).

I have the worst case of KP I've ever seen (and I've seen many many cases) and my heels are great.... maybe a tiny bit dry, but nowhere even close to what is shown in the photos.. so, it's not an all embracing KP issue...

Not sure I agree though I'm no Dr. If KP is from an excessive growth of keratin, regardless of where it happens, they could be related. In other areas the keratin would block pores but not on heels obviously. I have heels like those photos. Sometimes worse and that really hurts. BUT lately, even tho it's summer and I walk around without socks, my heels are good. hmmmmm.... I hadn't checked in a while. I wonder if it's my diet, the tropical oils and no wheat... anyway, you can also use flaxseed oil on the heels to help them, using it straight helped mine last summer. good luck with that - bd

KP and cracked heels may be related because both may be caused by an inability of the skin to be moisturized. Many on the Cure Zone Oil Pulling Forum have reported an end or great lessening of cracked heels by oil pulling. My husband's cracked heels healed completely shortly after he started OP.

kebod

I have severe KP on my arms and mild-severe KP on my legs. My feet are horrible in the winter, and I often try many lotions (even "moisturizing socks") to try and improve the condition. Lately its been humid here and I've been putting a lot of coconut oil on my body and my feet, and it seems to be helping... but strangely enough while parts of my feet look and feel very moisturized, the heel and the ball of my feet remain a dry, with some dead skin very obvious. From reading other posts here it seems there may be a connection..

yeah, what kebod said. the whole filaggrin gene problem would affect this wouldn't it? - bd

Annuu are you still around? Need your solution!

I've had cracked heel skin, plus callus like bumps under the rest of pressure-receiving foot areas for about 30 years.. worse than your pics! kp or not..

Knowledge is scarce about cures, I have got used to using a (take great care!) knife blade to pare the extra skin off, thats not a cure, just reduces thickness until it grows again. Also equivalent to doing yoga, if you're sat on the bed trying to attend to the soles of your heels !

btw I wear german sandals nowadays, with contoured sole surfaces, even that doesn't really help much.

Also have similar calluses on pressure points on sides of fingers, as I do a bit of DIY

All this started around 30, when I was coincidentally using lime in mortar, it got in the gloves.. but I suspect the body has an unknown trigger for KP, but before that I didn't have probs either on hands or feet.

The keynote of the affliction is that there is no blood capillary core to any of the skin overgrowths, you can see multiple cores on 'mature' onesif you cut away skin, but they are just solid skin cores, that presumably are the sites where the keratin is being overproduced.

Warts I think, bleed if your pare them. Cryogenesis (liquid nitrogen) did not work on me for the skin overgrowths on my fingers.. after the pain of freezing, the excess skin drops off, but it just regrows later. Salicylic acid is irrelevent.. it probably does more harm than good, as it softens the skin but doesn't fix the source problem.

Personally I think its a genetic dysfunction, as I say, mine switched on at around 29 years old.
In my case viwed under a lens they start as transparent slightly raised round areas of skin, say 2 or 3 mm across, which then thickened and went opaque later. After some years they develop to more solid bumps, which can then join together if some are in the same place. Thats the stage the cracking may occur..its more due to the interfaces between the round raised areas joining.. on the heels its not so see-able, because the skin gets so thick.

I've also got eczema now.. last few years.. (i'm now 59) being a hayfever sufferer and fair skinned, it seems I signed on for that as well

Let me know your final solution for kp!

By the way, happened by coincidence to see a good consultant yesterday , he amazingly said my ''eczema'' dry skin isn't allergy based,

also he kindly gave me technical term for my thick skin on hands/feet, its keratodermia punctata, interestingly he thought its genetic, and indeed i had no probs until I was 30.

So its worth scanning your relatives for skin conditions, see if anyone else has things similar. if its genetic then its probably a battle to fix it..

KP and cracked heels, yes, are commonly related. see:
eMedicine - Ichthyosis Vulgaris, Hereditary and Acquired : Article by Robert A Schwartz

"Two common filaggrin (FLG) null mutations cause ichthyosis vulgaris and predispose to eczema and secondary allergic diseases. Comprehensive analysis of the gene encoding filaggrin uncovered prevalent and rare mutations in ichthyosis vulgaris and atopic eczema.2 These common European mutations are ancestral variants carried on conserved haplotypes. Fifteen variants were described, including 7 that are prevalent, all being either nonsense or frameshift mutations that, in representative cases, resulted in loss of filaggrin production in the epidermis."
"

• Hyperkeratosis is often present on the palms and soles, causing them to appear dirty.
• • Skin creases in these areas are more prominent and can lead to painful fissuring, especially during dry weather.
  • Secondary infections at fissure sites are common."

For what it's worth, my cracked heels for both myself and my husband ended when we started oil pulling. Has anyone else who is doing OP had this same experience?

kebod

KP and cracked heels are not related, in fact KP does not affect heels or palms, but every where else on the body it can affect.

Jason,

I don't think anyone is saying that cracked heels are a form of KP or that KP affects the heels. What is being discussed here is that they may be related in that there is a genetic mutation that may cause both, as well as a number of other dry skin disorders.

One of the things I like about this forum is that all possibilities are open for discussion.

kebod

I was referring to this paragraph in general. but if this post is turning into a sci-fi genetic mutations discussion, nevermind.

I suppose the eMedicine Article may be scifi, though the Author: Robert A Schwartz, MD, MPH, Professor and Head of Dermatology, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Pathology, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School might be a little offended by that characterization. (Of course I know how you feel that the medical community is full of it and that their medicines are worthless so I'm not surprised you say that...) I had to rush off so I didn't actually finish that post. The page that covers ichthyosis and the fissures in palms and heels also covers keratosis pilaris as part of the physical manifestation. It doesn't seem to me to be much more than another classification of skin issues that may relate to or happen along with eczema and allergies also but it specifically links the heels with the KP. But I can't force you to go and read it so unless you go and actually read it, you wouldn't see that. So I'll go ahead and quote it in my long-winded way - from the same link I provided a couple posts ago:

"Keratosis pilaris (follicular hyperkeratosis) occurs on the side of the cheek and neck, dorsum of the upper arms, buttocks, and thighs.

• • It consists of spiny parafollicular papules that when palpated resemble a cheese grater.
  • Dried skin in the central portion is often white and mistaken for pus.
  • Inflammation may or may not be present.
  • Keratosis pilaris, which can be present without scaling, may be the only finding in family members with hereditary ichthyosis vulgaris."

Nothing new there regarding KP, So to be even more specific, The above quote is from eMedicine's Ichthyosis Vulgaris page. The hyperkeratosis in the palms and heels often resulting in fissures (cracked heels) and KP are outward physical symptoms of the same genetic mutation, so yes, they are related.
"Ichthyosis vulgaris is classified as a retention hyperkeratosis. ... Normal cycles of skin hydration and dehydration [usually] contribute to normal desquamation. These cycles are disrupted in ichthyosis vulgaris."

or as soylent green said, "our bodies produce too much keratin" and yes, that can manifest as KP or cracked heels or scaly patches and symptoms often lessen in the summer and there is difficulty in determining family history because " of the varying degrees of penetrance and the general improvement of symptoms over time" and it can itch a lot without there being anything obviously wrong with the skin (till after it's been scratched.)

baronster gave me a goood tip, use flaxseed oil directly on the heels. works great for me. also, eating coconut oil kept my heels in good shape all summer, I'm seeing a slight bit more dryness however as our dry bitter winter weather kicks in. - bd