What you need to know about skin fissure or crack foot.

 What is skin fissure?

Skin fissures are cracks in the skin or under the foot that forms due to intense dryness and thickened skin. Fissures can be superficial or deep, and they may bleed or be painful.

Reason for fissure or crack foot

There are two reasons you get dry and cracked feet. And, while your local podiatrist can treat both, the treatment options are different. So you need to know what's causing your problem, to get the right solution.

1. Environmental Causes:

     Environmental causes is one of the major reason one will have skin fissure because normally, your feet and skin is supposed to be smooth. But they can dry out because of the environment. Or if you have certain conditions or take medications that cause skin dryness.

Some places in some countries, they have to worry about dry skin for much of the year. In the summer, or whenever it's hot, you're more likely to wear open shoes or sandals. And that's a big problem for your feet. Particularly the skin on the bottom of your feet.

2. Not Moisturizing The Skin Well:

     If one does not make use of cream or oil for their skin very well or at all, then this situation can occur.

3.  Fungal Infection:

     Fungal infection is another major reason that can cause skin fissure or crack foot, this can be really bad if if is not treated on time or very well, it can spread to other part of the skin with time. An example of this case is Athlete's Foot

4.  Nutritional deficiencies:

     The body needs nutrients to maintain healthy skin. Low quality food intake or nutrient levels can lead to skin disorders, including fissures.

Examples of nutrients that the body needs to maintain healthy skin includes the following:

1. proteins.
2. fatty acids, such as omega-3 and omega-6.
3. B vitamins, such as B3, B6, and folate.
4. vitamins A, C, D, E, and K.
5. minerals, such as zinc.

Basic Treatment

1. If dry skin is your problem, moisture is the solution. In fact, we can often treat cracked heels with an excellent moisturizing cream, right here in Nigeria people treat it with this popular locally made cream called Ori and it works really well for dry skin and crack foot.
2. If it is a fungal infection , this can be very uncomfortable, it often causes itching and burning. But when the only symptom is cracked skin, it's easy to misdiagnose the problem. But if your skin is very dry, and you're moisturizing, it possible you have Athlete's foot. Which means moisturizing won't work. So, in that case, we'll combine moisturizing cream with an antifungal medication.

There are some few oral medication that can be taken such as:

• clotrimazole (Canesten)
• econazole.
• miconazole.
• terbinafine (Lamisil)
• fluconazole (Diflucan)
• ketoconazole (Daktarin)
• nystatin (Nystan)
• amphotericin.

You are strictly advised to see your doctor before embarking on medication.