How to Get Rid of Heel Pain

How to Get Rid of Heel Pain
Heel pain is generally pertained to the result of defective or broken biomechanics or movements such as walking gait abnormalities. This condition place too much stress on the heel bone and the soft tissues that are directly attached to it. Pain may also be associated to injury or trauma that is caused by stress, over exhaustion while doing strenuous activities. Your footwear can also be one factor to be considered.

Pain is always the top priority when caring for patients. This is because pain can hinder us from doing anything else thus limiting our maximum capabilities. When someone is in pain, he or she may not function well and all others can be affected as well. So, if you seem to have this kind of condition, you should be able to do something about it right away.

Cold compress
Putting ice on the affected area can very much reduce the inflammation that is brought about by the pain. By constricting you veins, it also halts the pain receptors as well. Simply put an ice pack on your heel for approximately 10 minutes every hour or two. To avoid frost bites, put a thin cloth on the skin before putting on the ice pack.

Medicate
Pain is something that is very subjective and unique for everyone. One may rate the pain as 4 (in a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest) while others who have the same condition feels as if the pain is 7.   If you feel that the pain is not tolerable anymore, medicating it through pain killers is the best option. For heel pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or what we call the NSAIDs like ibuprofen can help you relieve the pain.

Footwear modification
Supportive shoes are most likely to be prescribed for you condition. This kind of shoes gives the best arch support with a slightly raised heel that reduces the stress on the plantar fascia. This also gives a comfortable feeling to your feet.

Also, it is advised that you use shoes that fit your feet very well in every side. You must comfortable and if it is possible, choose the one with shock-absorbent soles with rigid shanks and supportive heel areas. If you can, try to wear the correct shoes for a certain event.

Night splints
This particular splint will be able to maintain an extended stretch on your plantar fascia while you are sleeping where you are unconscious of your movements.

Professional help
If you’re trying all sorts of remedies at home and you’re just finding that nothing is working, you may want to resort to meeting with a doctor.  He/she may find that there could be an internal injury or you may even need some sort of physical therapy.  Whatever the case may be, you’re going to find that this should be one step to take in order to ensure that there is no damage that has been done.

Limit yourself
If you’re overweight or you do a lot of strenuous activity with your heels, it may be time to lay back on this sort of thing.  If you’re finding that you’re overweight, it may be ideal to lose some weight or even go on a diet so that you’re not putting a lot of pressure on your feet.

How to Get Rid of Heel Cracks

How to Get Rid of Heel Cracks
Like the term says, cracked heels are simply formation of cracks on the heel of your foot. This is characterized and cause by excessive dry skin of your heel. You may also notice that your heel looks scaly, dry and somewhat rough. It usually starts with a few minor symptoms like dryness. Then after a while, when most of the symptoms become excessive, it cracks. There are times that it cracks to hard that it can be very painful to walk.

One of the many contributors to cracked heels is your footwear. If you are fond of wearing footwear with an open back (exposing your heel), you are very prone to having cracked heels. The temperature is also one factor. Excessive cold weathers or cold temperature in some places like in the office can lead to cracked heels. The more sever the condition, the harder it is to be treated. So as soon as you see simple dryness or small cracks, do practice one of the following remedies:

Petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly is a well-known cream that is used to smoothen out any hardened areas of your skin. Just apply this to the heels of your feet—pay more attention to the cracks and add a little more on those areas. It is best that you do this before going to sleep. Also, put on your most comfortable socks to avoid the petroleum jelly to go to your bed sheets.

Pumice stone
This is often used when you have foot spa. So if you don’t want to spend more, just purchase a pumice stone in any health and beauty stores.  If you can spare a little more money, buy a foot scrub cream as well. So the first thing that you have to do is to soak your feet in a basin with warm water. You can also add any liquid soap to smoothen the heel skin more. Let it stay that way for about 10 to 15 minutes. After that, scrub your heels with the pumice stone. This will easily remove all the accumulated dead skin cells that have dried out. Apply the foot scrub cream then scrub a little more. If you feel that your heels are soft and smooth already, dry your feet thoroughly. Apply a moisturizer, foot cream or any lotion on your feet especially on your heels. You can actually do this twice a week for better results.

Banana pulp
Just simply collect the pulp of two ripe bananas then blend it in a mixer until it becomes into a thick paste. Wash your feet with warm water the pat dry. Apply a thin layer of the paste on the cracked areas of your heels. Leave the paste for about 10 to 15 minutes then rinse the area with lukewarm water.

Protect your feet
Always make sure that you’re protecting your feet from dirty and dusty places.  It’s best to wear shoes and protective shoes to ensure that your heels are staying clear of this type of debris.  Also, when wearing these shoes, make sure that you’re wearing softer socks that don’t cause a lot of friction on your heels.  If possible, also make sure that your socks aren’t too tight.

How to Get Rid of Heel Bruises

How to Get Rid of Heel Bruises
Our heel bone is scientifically known as the calcaneus. Like any other parts in our body, when this part gets into trauma or gets injured, it results to bruising. When talking particularly about how it easily happens to your heel, it is primarily when certain parts of the fat pad that protects the calcaneus gets pushed to the side of the heel bone. This can affect the heel by weakening its protective layer thus causing it to swell and leave you with painful sensation on that part.

Although dancers and athletes are mostly to be affected by this condition, anybody that gets injured on that part can experience this. For athletes that require a lot of direction changes such as badminton, soccer and basketball or for some who just love to dance can easily get heel bruises. Here are some of the easy and simple steps on how to get rid of those bruises.

The RICE method

• Rest. This is needed immediately. Stop moving and let the affected heel to stay at one position. Crutches may be needed afterwards to keep the affected heel to carry wait temporarily. If there is additional help, a splint may be used for support


• Ice. Cold compress the area immediately as this limits the swelling and stop blood clotting which causes the bruise. To avoid further injury such as frostbite, put a thin cloth over the part then put the ice bag. Apply the ice for 10 to 20 minutes and can be repeated every 2 to 4 hours. If you feel numbness, remove the ice and wait for it to go away.


• Compression. The next thing that you have to consider is to compress it to completely halt the swelling process. Use an elastic bandage and wrap it over the ice pack. Make sure that you wrap it firmly and evenly but make sure that you are still comfortable and that it’s not too tight.


• Elevate. By elevating the affected leg, blood circulation is encouraged thus clotting will stop. Continuous blood clotting can cause big bruises. Just elevate it by putting pillows under your ankle.

Warm compress
After doing the first aid method (48 hours after), heat is needed to relieve the muscles and dilate the veins. By doing this, the present blood clot formation (bruising) will start to break down. Also, this increases blood flow that helps the clots to break even faster.

Tape the heel
Find a medical tape that you can safely wrap around your heel.  What you’re going to want to do is tape the fat part of your heel.  Try not to wrap it too thick as you may find that it’s going to be harder to put your shoes on.  On top of wrapping, consider placing a cold compress inside of the wrap to keep the heel cool as well.  This wrap is going to help prevent the heel from rubbing as well as any type of pressure.

Exercises
If you’re finding that this heel pain keeps coming back, consider doing some sort of stretching exercises to prevent it from happening in the future again.

Natural Homemade Lip Balm (only 2 ingredients)

Natural Homemade Lip Balm (only 2 ingredients) Do you have dry lips, or just like your lips to look nice and moisturized? I always like to use some sort of moisturizer on my lips daily, especially in the colder months when we have very dry air. I love using coconut oil but just plain coconut oil doesn’t lock in the moisture too well. I often have to keep reapplying the coconut oil to my lips several times throughout the day so, because I needed something a little more hydrating and long lasting I made my own natural homemade lip balm.

I created the natural homemade lip balm recipe below using organic beeswax with coconut oil. For this recipe, you can use any type of oil. I use jojoba oil or coconut oil, generally, but pretty much any oil would work.

I love this homemade lip balm and it’s easy to make so I thought I would share this simple useful recipe from my DIY Makeup e-book with you!

Why You Should Be Careful of Lip Balms

I used to put Vasoline on my lips every day in the winter when my lips were dry..yuck! Back then, I had no idea what ingredients were in Vasoline, how it was made or how toxic it was to my body. Now, I cringe when I think about how I used to apply it every day.

Petroleum jelly, just like the name “says”, originates from petroleum or crude oil. There are two reasons petroleum jelly can be harmful to your health. One is that it seals in the body’s toxins and doesn’t let them leave. This is how it traps moisture and although you may feel your skin is softer, you are not adding moisture but merely trapping moisture and not letting new moisture in.
The other issue is that petroleum jelly, which is basically comprised of hydrocarbons, can be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and these in addition to some of the other ingredients in petroleum jelly have been linked to cancer. This is why I would rather be on the safe side and stay away from any petroleum jelly.

Lip sticks, lip balms, and lip glosses are also bad culprits when it comes to toxic ingredients. Many are harmful and when the body absorbs all of these chemicals, the parabens never leave the body!

This is especially a concern because so many women and men use exorbitant amounts of these toxic moisturizing products during the winter months when the air is dry. But, it is even worse for those that apply it every single day as they get the most exposure. This toxic load builds up on the body and it is a great concern!

This recipe is quick, easy, and all you need is 2 ingredients! Plus you save $!

This homemade lip balm recipe is pretty quick to make and you only need is 2 ingredients, just the type of oil you prefer and beeswax! All you need to do is mix them together, but before you can, you just need to melt the beeswax before you combine them. It is very easy and takes no time at all!

This lip balm only takes me less than 10 minutes to make and one stick lasts me 6 months to 1 year!

Also, if you would like to make more at one time for yourself or to give some to your family or friends, you can easily double or triple the recipe!

Adding Essential Oil to the Recipe

A lot of lip balms you see in the stores have added essential oils. This is a great option not only to add more variety and a subtle and appealing scent, but also to help preserve the homemade lip balm.

Adding essential oils such as tea tree or lemon or peppermint can help the lip balm to last longer because they have antibacterial and antimicrobial properties.
You don’t need to add much essential oil, at all, to get the added benefit! It’s wonderful to have the added scent and by making your own, you can pick out whatever scent you would like.

Also, adding a few drops of healing essential oils, such as lavender, is a great option because of the added healing properties. I like to do this especially in the winter when my lips are dry or chapped and need a soothing lotion that promotes healing.

If you would like to learn more about using essential oils, be sure to sign up for my FREE 14-Day Essential Oils E-course!

What to store your homemade lip balm in after you make it:

When you make this recipe, while the 2 mixed ingredients are hot you can pour them in to any type of container or jar to store the balm. As it cools in the container it hardens and forms to the shape of the container. You can use either a small flat jar which you will dip your finger in when you apply the lip balm or you can pour it in to a lip balm tube so you can apply it just like a lip stick! Using a lip balm tube is my favorite because then I don’t have to use my finger every time I apply it and less germs have an opportunity to get in to the lip balm.

How to Make Natural Homemade Lip Balm

What you need:

• 3 tablespoons jojoba oil or coconut oil or any kind of oil


• 1 tablespoon beeswax pellets


• optional: add 2-3 drops of an essential oil to naturally preserve the lip balm (see how I buy essential oils)
  or vitamin E also works great


• a cup to mix them in (I use a coffee cup)


• a container to store it in ( I use this cute lip balm jar or this lip balm stick)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients, the beeswax, oil, and essential oil in a dish and set aside.
2. Heat a pot of water, bring to a boil and then remove from heat.
3. Place the dish (of jojoba oil, beeswax, and essential oil) in the pot with hot water. Let the bowl sit in the pot with hot water until the beeswax is melted, occasionally stirring.
4. Pour into a lip balm tin or a lip balm stick while warm (it will harden quickly and take the shape of the container as it cools).

If you would like to learn more about making your own makeup and natural beauty products, be sure to check out my e-book, Make Your Own Makeup From Organic Foods and Minerals with over 100+ easy recipes!