Thick And Orangey Skin On Top Sides Of Toes And Feet

[cjmorin]

The skin on my toes, especially the top of my big toes and second toes, seems to be especially thick . It's been this way for years, and awhile ago I thought that it was due to rubbing while walking but I've noticed that that doesn't seem to be happening.

Any theories as to why foot skin may thicken around the toes? My feet in general are drier than the rest of my skin, and I was having a strange phenomenon this past summer where the bottom of my big toes were starting to peel back a bit in very small strips and I would have to use nail clippers to trim off the excess skin before it peeled back enough to hurt. It almost looked like how very old paint will chip in small rectangles, but much smaller.

I just realized that the title of this post may be a bit misleading... It's not super orangey like I've eaten too many carrots or something, but it just looks like the epidermis is much thicker in some places. I feel like this may be hormonal, and through my life I have had dry patches on my scalp and mild dandruff but nothing that ever caused serious problems.

to add a bit more context, lately I have been having some hives on my hands, and although I don't think it's directly related to the toe skin, as that has been there for much longer, I wonder if there is some underlying hormonal issue that has been affecting my skin in general.

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[alephx]

When I left hypothyroidism behind, my calluses on feet and hands somehow blended in and aren't as hard. I've noticed also that iodine was correlated with this. Though I do quite a bit of sports involving hands and feet (weights, golf, tennis) the calluses on my hand seem to be less prominent even if they still have a different color than the rest of my palm. I think it is normal for some peeling to occur, as it is just skin being turned over

 

[yerrag]

I noticed since I've been wearing sandals, the skin has been thicker. It used to be dry as well but something I did just got the skin to restore its moisture and it doesn't seem as thick anymore. Could it be just the loss of moisture protection and having a dry skin could make the skin thicker, perhaps as added protection? What if you apply some urea and see if it helps? Or something to moisturize it.

 

[yerrag]

Saw this post and it confirms what I was saying:

Post Your Urea Success Stories

 

[DrJ]

I had a similar problem on the sides of my big toes and bottom of the balls of my feet. I always thought it was from playing soccer until my late 20s but it seems like it should eventually go away. I also had bouts of dry skin and dandruff.

Once I started taking a regular dose of vitamin A it went away within a few weeks. It was kind of gross as it all had to peel away, but afterwards I had great smooth skin on my feet and toes. Of course you can take too much vitamin A and end up with similar symptoms so don't overdo it. Slow and steady wins the race for that vitamin.

 

[Recoen]

I had a similar problem on the sides of my big toes and bottom of the balls of my feet. I always thought it was from playing soccer until my late 20s but it seems like it should eventually go away. I also had bouts of dry skin and dandruff.

Once I started taking a regular dose of vitamin A it went away within a few weeks. It was kind of gross as it all had to peel away, but afterwards I had great smooth skin on my feet and toes. Of course you can take too much vitamin A and end up with similar symptoms so don't overdo it. Slow and steady wins the race for that vitamin.

Will you share how much worked for you? Did you take vit D with it too?

 

[DrJ]

Will you share how much worked for you? Did you take vit D with it too?

I was taking 25,000IU/day, but I wouldn't recommend starting there. Perhaps try 5,000 or 10,000 and see how it goes. I had been put on isotretinoin in my teens and my reading leaves me to believe that history causes one to need more Vitamin A for equal effect. But now I take just 10,000IU/day and skip a day on the weekend.

I was taking vitamin D and vitamin K2 as well. The fat soluble vitamins need to be in balance. You can read different things regarding this on the forum, but I try for a 5:1 A ratio, but some say 7:1. K2 I don't really know the ratio - perhaps someone can chime in - but I've steadily taken 1.2-3mg/day which is quite a bit.

 

[cjmorin]

Thanks for all this info. I love how the forum turned your A to D ratio into A with a grin face lol.

I am very interested in trying urea topically and will be looking into making a shampoo type product I can also apply to my feet, per the thread that was referenced.

If anybody knows of the way to create that type of product it would be helpful, as I don't really know where to start. A good source of USP urea would also be very helpful.

I typically don't wash my hair everyday and it's always been fine but grows well and my family has zero history of male pattern baldness. Some folks mentioned it helping with hair growth and I think that would be great but more of a fun side effect than anything. I'm more interested in eliminating occasional dry scalp, which seems related somehow to my feet as well.

 

[cjmorin]

By the way, here are some pics of the skin on my toes. Hard to really see in the bright light and as the seasons change it seems to be getting way less pronounced by itself. You can see a slight horizontal section of thicker skin by the phalangeal joint of the big toes and also on the distal side of the second toe.

The pads on the bottom of my big toes are also soft and dewey now while only a few months ago they were as thick as they have ever been. Not a ton has changed with diet since then and I still wear the same shoes as before.

 

[yerrag]

Thanks for all this info. I love how the forum turned your A to D ratio into A with a grin face lol.

I am very interested in trying urea topically and will be looking into making a shampoo type product I can also apply to my feet, per the thread that was referenced.

If anybody knows of the way to create that type of product it would be helpful, as I don't really know where to start. A good source of USP urea would also be very helpful.

I typically don't wash my hair everyday and it's always been fine but grows well and my family has zero history of male pattern baldness. Some folks mentioned it helping with hair growth and I think that would be great but more of a fun side effect than anything. I'm more interested in eliminating occasional dry scalp, which seems related somehow to my feet as well.

If you're using topically occasionally, a urea USP grade with no COA (to ensure very low heavy metals) would work. You can buy it from www.loudwolf.com

If you'll be using often topically or you need it for oral intake, www.healthnatura.com has it with COA.

If you want even lower heavy metals, soaking your feet in your own pee may work, as urine has urea.

 

[mipp]

the bottom of my big toes were starting to peel back a bit in very small strips and I would have to use nail clippers to trim off the excess skin before it peeled back enough to hurt. It almost looked like how very old paint will chip in small rectangles, but much smaller.

I had the exact same problem plus rough cracking skin on ball of the foot and heels a couple years ago. This was while being on a "pufa depletion" diet with only some sat fats from coconut oil mostly. I tried many things, daily foot soaks, scrubs, peelings, urea creams etc. which didn't help at all. I think making changes to my diet fixed it, skin on feet is soft and smooth now.

 

[cjmorin]

Interesting. Through this time period I was drinking at least a quart of raw milk daily plus lots of coconut oil, butter, etc. Not really sure what was going on.

 

[dabdabdab]

I had the exact same problem plus rough cracking skin on ball of the foot and heels a couple years ago. This was while being on a "pufa depletion" diet with only some sat fats from coconut oil mostly. I tried many things, daily foot soaks, scrubs, peelings, urea creams etc. which didn't help at all. I think making changes to my diet fixed it, skin on feet is soft and smooth now.

Can you please tell which changes did you make in your diet?