Have you pulled your sandals out yet this season? In Queensland, we have hot summers, and this one is no different. As part of this, many women wear sandals or open-heeled shoes.
This is the time of year when women start noticing their heels again. That hard, dry edge. The little cracks that catch on the sheets. Sometimes one that splits open and stings in the shower. So out comes the heel balm, the socks to bed and the pumice stone. It works for a brief moment. Yet a few days later, they’re back to how they were.
When clients take their shoes off in the clinic, they often apologise for their feet. Honestly, I’m far more interested in their heels than they’d ever guess. Heels tell me quite a bit about what’s going on inside the body.
I once had a client who had cracking heels,she tried all the remedies, and she hated wearing open-heeled shoes because she was embarrassed by her feet.
Her embarrassment came up as a side note in her consult, but it fit in with the other symptoms she presented with. I explained to her that the heel issue reflected what was going on internally, and so external remedies were only a band-aid. We worked with her imbalance, and she found she could throw away the creams and pumice stones as she no longer needed them.
Cracked heels can be about more than dry skin or the wrong shoes.
Some of the reasons heels crack can include:
- Thyroid imbalance
- Hormonal changes, especially through perimenopause and menopause
- Low essential fatty acids intake
- Poor fat digestion
- Blood sugar imbalance
- Low stomach acid and gut issues affecting absorption
- Low zinc
- Stress and poor circulation to the feet
It’s essential to look at the big picture. But today I want to look at the ones I see over and over again in midlife women: the thyroid, hormones and essential fats.
Firstly, let me explain why heels are such a good indicator.
Think about watering the garden with a long hose. The garden beds closest to the tap get a good soaking. By the time the water reaches the far corner of the yard, the pressure has dropped, and there’s less to go around. And when we experience hot, dry weather, the moisture runs low; that far corner is the first place to dry out.
Your heels are that far corner of the garden. They’re as far from your heart as you can get, and they carry your whole body weight all day. On top of that, the skin on the soles of your feet has no oil glands at all. So the moisture and fats your heels need have to be delivered from the inside. When your body is running low, it looks after your vital organs first, and your heels get whatever is left.
Lets look at your thyroid
Your thyroid sets the pace for how quickly your skin renews itself and how much sweat and natural skin fat you make. When the thyroid slows down, the skin on the heels often thickens and cracks.
If your heels are cracking, ask yourself a few questions. Are your hands and feet often cold? Are your bowels slower than they used to be? Is your hair drier, or are your nails breaking more easily? Has the outer edge of your eyebrows thinned out?
Many women I see have been told their thyroid results are in range, yet they have a lot of these signs. That’s when, as a naturopath, I want to look a little deeper.
Now your hormones
Oestrogen helps your skin hold onto collagen and moisture. As oestrogen starts to decline through perimenopause and menopause, skin can lose up to around 30% of its collagen in the first five years after menopause.
When I ask about it, many women realise their heels started cracking around the same time their eyes got drier, their mouth got drier, and their sleep changed. I know I noticed changes in my own skin through this stage of life. It’s the same dryness showing up in different parts of the body.
Your essential fats
Your skin cells are surrounded by a lipid layer made from fats. The omega-3 fats from fish also help keep inflammation in the skin settled.
Good-quality deep-sea fish is hard to find these days, and many people don’t eat it often or at all. Many people have moved to plant sources like flaxseed, chia and walnuts, hoping their body will convert those fats into the forms the skin needs. Well, that conversion is quite slow, and it becomes even less efficient with age, stress, blood sugar swings, alcohol and low zinc or magnesium.
And then there’s digestion. You can eat all the right fats, but if you’re not breaking them down and absorbing them well, they won’t reach your skin. If rich or fatty meals sit heavily with you, that’s something I’d want to know about.
So, do you throw out the heel balm?
I am not saying to throw your heel balm in the bin. Looking after your feet matters. Instead, I am suggesting you look at the whole picture. A balm helps on the outside, but if the reason sits on the inside, the cracks will keep coming back.
Go easy with heavy filing too, as the skin can respond by building up even thicker as a mechanism to protect itself.
Do you recognise yourself here?
Do your heels crack all year round, even in the humid months? Are your hands, lips or eyes dry too? Do you often have cold feet? Did it start or get worse in your 40s or 50s? Do you eat oily fish less than twice a week? Have you used balm faithfully and still had cracks keep coming back?
If you’re nodding along, your heels may be telling you something about what’s happening inside your body.
If you have diabetes, numbness in your feet, or a crack that is deep, bleeding, red or hot, please have it looked at quickly by your healthcare team, as feet can be slow to heal.
Want to know what your heels are telling you? Or want to look at everything that might be contributing, from your thyroid to your hormones to your digestion? I’d love to be able to help.
Teressa,
Naturopath | Clinical Nutritionist | Biochemist
