I suffer from very bad itching in my heels. It starts with small pin pricks and soon the itching gets worse and worse. It’s like there’s something in my heels, it feels like there are ‘bugs’ in them. Normal scratching doesn’t help, I grab a rock hard brush or sand over a mat. I suffer from it every day. During the day I still have some distractions, but when I’m in bed it drives me crazy. Does anyone have the same problem, or does anyone know a solution to this problem?
Frank
Itching in the feet/heels can have many different causes. It is therefore very important to first have a doctor find out what could be the cause of this. For this you must first have this examined by your doctor.
However, there are a few tips that you can try to improve the itching symptoms:
- Make sure your skin is not too dry: use a moisturizing cream and also make sure that your bedroom is not too dry. Also make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
- Apply a cool or cold compress to your skin, or soothe your skin in a foot bath with lukewarm water before going to sleep.
- Also make sure that by scratching, you don’t hurt your skin because this makes you more vulnerable to infections on your skin. Also try to avoid scratching, scratching often makes the itching worse.
- Choose mild and hypoallergenic soap: this is better for sensitive skin.
- Avoid vasodilators such as coffee and alcohol, which can increase itching.
However, these are only tips to possibly reduce the itching, as mentioned above, it is of course important to determine the cause. So it is best to make an appointment with your doctor.
Do you also have a question? Then ask one of our experts. Always go to your doctor with urgent questions, the experts are not the right person for that. They also do not diagnose. You can find the other conditions here.
Sepp Mortelmans is a podiatrist. He is a specialist in the field of ultrasound and foot complaints as a result of rheumatism. You can ask him questions about foot problems in general and his field in particular.
