# Feet hurt



## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

I dug holes all day. I've been digging holes the last few days. When the weather is cool, I try to dig as much as I can in anticipation of fall bareroot plant orders coming in. Just makes sense to take advantage of a day when the temps are only in the upper 70's to dig 5 gallon holes for woodies as opposed to having to dig holes in the eleventh hour after the plants come in when the air temps could be back up in the 80's or 90's.

I dug so many holes today that the heels of my feet cracked and were bleeding. First time that's ever happened. I dropped and fell asleep at around 8pm only to wake up in the middle of the night. I've been soaking my feet while I've been online. They do feel better in the warm water.

This is the first year I've pretty much been wearing flip flops to do everything. They are so easy to hose off while you are working. I guess from what I've just now read online, flip flops weren't such a good idea. I'll start wearing the gym shoes I was wearing to work outside in subsequent years but this still leaves me with horrible callouses on my heels that are cracked and I need to dig about 30 more holes plus the big hole for that 30 gallon preform deal that I plan to plant my acaule in. I'm sort of in pain here. Has anyone had to deal with cracked feet and if so is there a home fix or over the counter product I could pick up that somebody here who gardens has used that really works or should I just schedule an appointment with a podiatrist? Forgot to mention I'm not a diabetic or overweight. 

http://herbalmedicine.tribe.net/thread/296aefa0-fc9a-46b1-946b-2280c724669d


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## Grandma M (Aug 17, 2007)

Talk with Lance. He will possibly recommend Dragon's Blood. It should help. I would give it a try.


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## goldenrose (Aug 17, 2007)

Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!!! Body & Bath Works carries different extra moisturizing lotions. Two I have tried are Hand Repair + with shea butter and C.O.Bigelow quince hand lotion. Mary Kay Cosmetics night cream is another choice, use it straight on/in the cracks. (Normally one would use a small amount mixed with water, the water being your wet hands). 
Get rid of the flip flops - absolutely no support for the feet!


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## CLMoss (Aug 17, 2007)

Maybe you can hire a couple of teenagers to finish the job. It will save your feet.


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## NYEric (Aug 17, 2007)

There is a product that removes dry calloused skin - Pretty Hands & Feet.


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

You're probably all going to cringe but... when in doubt, resort to duct tape. I didn't quite know what to do so I grabbed a tube of triple anti-biotic ointment and smeared it on my heels then I duct taped them to try to close the cracks. That, combined with soaking, sure did help. Not that I can walk around indefinitely with duct taped feet but it was a quick fix.

The flip flops go bye bye. They've done enough damage. Never thought of them providing no support so it's a good thing they didn't screw up my back in addition to creating the cracks in my heels I'm now sporting. I had no idea flip flops were such a problem until I started reading online in the middle of the night. 

I've got a Bath & Body Works a few towns over. I can pick up the Hand Repair + with shea butter when I go out today and there's a Walgreens Pharmacy in the same strip mall that probably has that Pretty Hands & Feet product. With what I've done, I'll need both. The Dragon's Blood I'll have to go online to figure out what it is. I've never heard of that before but I'll try anything right about now. 

No teens around to work. Neighbors' kids aren't interested in making money. I have hired landscapers in the past but many don't speak English so it's really difficult communicating productively with them for anything other than a basic lawn haircut and edging of sidewalks and such. 

Thanks, I was really not happy when I found the blood all over the floor. I thought something really bad had happened to one of my pets and it was me. I knew my feet hurt but I didn't realize it was me bleeding all over the place.


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## bwester (Aug 17, 2007)

bleach :evil:


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## L I Jane (Aug 17, 2007)

Hi I've got very callosed feet & every so often they crack so I feel like I have paper cuts on my heels & they are tender when I walk as I guess they open up (never had the bleeding tho').I've used Flexitol Heel Balm & that helps me a lot as it's for rough,dry & cracked feet.Try it!I tried all sorts of moisturizing but that didn't help one iota.


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## Candace (Aug 17, 2007)

Home Depot sells a ground borer that looks like a huge drill bit. It's safer to operate with two people. I think it's a couple hundred $, though. My inlaws have one and it's the world's greatest hole digger. When I built my pergola out front and needed 4 or 5 post holes dug, they brought it and we whipped those suckers out in 30 mins. I don't think most Home Depots carry them in store, but they can be ordered in.


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## likespaphs (Aug 17, 2007)

i've smeared my heels with vasoline and put on socks. usually, i'd only do that overnight, but sometimes i had no choice...
the bleeding part, though... hmmmm...


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

I've been going at some areas with a pick axe to pave the way. I've got a big bulb auger I could try but I've ended up on my ass a few times using that. The drill it is attached to has some torque to be able to get down into this wonderful rocky and clay soil we have on some areas of the property. Never thought of trying that auger to help me pre-drill some of a hole. 

I can look for the Flexitol Heel Balm. 

Gosh, I've got to get off this computer and get productive!


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## goldenrose (Aug 17, 2007)

You could RENT a post hole digger rather than buy one!


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

Aren't those things like jack hammers and they vibrate your eyeballs out of your head when you use one? I think we have one here already. Don't know if I'd use it or not though. That's pretty heavy. 

Break over, out to dig holes!


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## Candace (Aug 17, 2007)

They're not like jack hammers at all. They're just huge augers. From what I remember the bit was probably about 8 inches wide. Renting one for that many holes would be worth it.


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

I was thinking about the 2-man ones. I looked at photos online of a lot of post hole diggers and found the ones I think you are talking about and they're not that much bigger than the bulb auger I have at 3.5" that goes on the end of my drill. I also found some that go on the front of tractors. There are a lot of augers out there. Didn't realize there were so many.


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## Candace (Aug 17, 2007)

Yes, like I said earlier, it's best to use these with two people.


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

The 2-man post hole digger we have. I have no idea why my husband bought it at that auction but he did. Price was right and maybe he had visions of putting a fence around my vegetable garden??? We've never used it and it was borrowed by a neighbor a long time ago and I think they used it for a weekend and are currently storing it in their garage which is fine by me. 

I did use my bulb auger to break up some of the areas where I was digging holes. It was a help in all the areas in reach of the 100' extension cord. Only about 20 more holes to go. 

I have all my foot products! Stuck some of that Hand Repair on earlier and put socks on and my gym shoes. Tonight I'll try the Pretty Hands & Feet. Picked up some sort of a file that you're supposed to use to reduce the callouses. We'll see how that works too. Hopefully this won't happen again.


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## bwester (Aug 17, 2007)

why not rent a gas auger??


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## Candace (Aug 17, 2007)

Yeah, the one I'm talking about is gas powered. 

I'm jealous that your hubby bought one at auction. I will buy one when we buy acreage. It's a necessity for fence posts etc.


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

He's bought a lot of weird tools and car parts at auctions. I haven't a clue what he is going to do with some of the tools and equipment he has purchased but the car parts I understand... they're just in case he needs a new something or other for one of his toys. We also have several old Cub Cadet riding lawn mowers around here (music to dualing banjos playing softly in back of thread). He claimed he needed them for parts because our lawn mower is old and parts are getting hard to find. They are under tarps behind the storage garage out back. That 2-man post hole digger defies logic. I'm still scratching my head over that one but then I scratch my head over a lot of the gardening gadgets I buy so I guess all's fair in love and ridiculous purchases. 

At this point, I'm going to try to dig as many holes as I can so I can pack me and the kids up and head north on Monday. I may finish my holes, maybe not. If I don't, I suppose I could put out surveying flags to mark the spots and add hole digging to the honey-do list. From there it would be hope for the best since he's so darn busy. We won't be back until after Labor Day and my bare roots come in shortly after that.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Aug 17, 2007)

Your feet are too soft! Go barefoot all the time........when I'm out on Long Island, I only wear shoes when I have to go into town. I sometimes go days without ever wearing anything on my feet. Even in the city, no shoes are worn within the vicinity of my home. Nothing bothers my feet...(but for digging a deep hole in hard dirt, I'd recommend boots.....actually, I've been known to hack a hole using a trowel rather than have to put something on my feet.....) Take care, Eric


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## SlipperFan (Aug 17, 2007)

I agree with Eric. Even tennis shoes are not enough support for feet digging holes.


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## TheLorax (Aug 18, 2007)

I'm definitely done with flip flops until we go on vacation somewhere warm. They're fine for a beach and knocking around but I should have never been wearing them to work on the yard. They were kinda hard pushing down on the shovel and jumping down anyway. The benefits of having cool toes and being able to hose down my feet just aren't there for me any more. I do have some steel toed work boots that I use when I go work at the forest preserve and those are considerably easier to use when digging anything. The gym shoes I have should be fine for around here with what I've got left to do. I lost count of how many holes I dug today. If it was still light out, I'd run back out and count but I think I've got less than 15 to go plus that water garden thingie. 

Barefoot is not an option. I had to get hard soled flip flops because of the debris from several Hawthorn trees around here. Those things have horrible thorns that were going straight through the soles of the soft flip flops. It was a real pain in the rear having to stop what I was doing to extract those thorns on a regular basis. Darn things were going right through the old flip flops and partially into my feet.


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## rdlsreno (Aug 18, 2007)

For your dry cracked skin on your feet try Bert's Bees Hand Salve,

Ramon


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## TheLorax (Aug 18, 2007)

Thank you Ramon. I'll add that to the Dragon's Blood if the two products I picked up don't work for me. Hopefully ditching the flip flops will solve most of my problems and the creams and salves will take over until my feet heal.


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## dave b (Aug 18, 2007)

Ah yes...the ancient, wiseman Confucius once wrote about this...

Man who wear flip-flop to dig holes in dirt all day, then spend evening on Google figuring out why that not good idea, need to Google how to safely dig hole in backyard first.

Yes, even Confucius was aware of the divine power of Google.


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## Candace (Aug 18, 2007)

See how everyone's all worried about your poor tootsies?


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## TheLorax (Aug 18, 2007)

I feeeeeel the love! :smitten:


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Aug 18, 2007)

Hawthorne trees? No problem...I still step on the debris from an enormous Pyracantha (1-1.5" thorns...) I had removed years ago...still have another one I despise and want removed (but the berries are great food for birds in the winter), at my Queens home. The thorns never stopped me...I pull one out every now and then, no damage though...feet can get really tough! Take care, Eric


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## TheLorax (Aug 19, 2007)

Hawthorn trees may not be a problem for you but they're a problem for me. I'm not into masochism. The Hawthorns here are indigenous and are a great source of food for migrating birds in the fall. They stay. I'm not wearing flip flops any more though so it's moot at this point. 

If you are at all interested in removing your remaining Pyracantha, I would be able to give you a list of thornless native trees to consider. You might find them equally attractive and they'd all be capable of providing berries for your birds that were high in lipids. End result would probably be more species of birds visiting your property once the replacement trees began fruiting. I may know zip nadda nothing about orchids but I've worked with eastern woodies for a while now.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Aug 19, 2007)

Thanks...I'm pretty familiar with native trees...the Pyracantha came with my property. Would never have planted it myself, that's for sure. The birds have plenty to eat...lots of wild cherries growing everywhere in my neighborhood...an the hideous hackberries that grow in my neighbor's property, covered by non-native Asian bittersweet...Take care, Eric


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## TheLorax (Aug 19, 2007)

I inherited some extremely undesirable plants when we bought our property too. Slowly but surely I remove them and replace them but as you know, it doesn't happen overnight.


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## Marco (Aug 19, 2007)

Eric Muehlbauer said:


> Your feet are too soft! Go barefoot all the time........when I'm out on Long Island



Eric turns into a hobbit when he goes into long island.


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## TheLorax (Aug 19, 2007)

Should have mentioned the feet situation. I think the triple antibiotic helped take away a lot of the pain that first night. There was this little cheese grater looking file I bought that really helped reduce the callouses after I used goldenrose's goop for the day. That night I used Eric's goop. I repeated the process starting with soaking them again the next day and using all the goops then used the file again. I also bought this product called Bag Balm. Never did use it on my feet but it worked great on my hands. I also got a reprieve from digging. I got help with all of my holes. Our oldest came home for the weekend with his friend and the two young men finished up all of my holes plus another ten or so that I added to my list and they also finished off that biggie for the acaule. They even tossed a layer of gravel under that form for me and then leveled it backfilling with sand. They did in several hours what it would have taken me three days to do. And it rained all day on and off so they had to have been cold and damp. I'm in good shape now (duct tape free) and am not walking around on the balls of my feet like a cripple. Thank you all, everything worked.


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## goldenrose (Aug 20, 2007)

Hip HIP HOORAY!


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## Grandma M (Aug 20, 2007)

Sounds like you son and his friends were a godsend, :viking: and worked like vikings.

I'm happy for you and glad that your feet are healing. Sore feet.....a bummer.

Marilyn


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## TheLorax (Aug 20, 2007)

Yes, I'm very happy. Either one or both of them stop in pretty much every weekend but I don't expect them to work when they've got jobs and their own apartment to keep up. I'm still pleased I was bailed out. I didn't even have to whine or guilt them into digging


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Aug 20, 2007)

Marco- how did you know I have hair on my feet? Eric


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## TheLorax (Sep 9, 2007)

Ahh, flip flop free and doing great. goldenrose even inspected the damage. I don't think I will ever wear flip flops again to do any outside work. The difference in just a few weeks of not wearing them is remarkable. Wearing flip flops the whole summer wasn't one of my brightest moves. When one is dumb, one pays. 

Hey Eric, I know a great way to get rid of the hair on your feet


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## goldenrose (Sep 10, 2007)

The flip flops might be find for casual, lounging around, just not for the excavating you were doing!


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## TheLorax (Sep 10, 2007)

I'm beginning to think they aren't even great for casual lounging around any longer. I dunno. I've got a ton of them because I loved them but no more. I'm not into pain. I'll just wear those cushiony orthopedic things I had on my feet when I saw you and call it a day until all of those cracks are gone on my heels. Maybe then I can wear flip flops on vacation or something. I won't even wear my crocs right about now because of what I did wearing flip flops all season.


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