Corns and Calluses – Causes, Treatments and Prevention | Read

Are you in love with those killer stilettos that keeps rubbing against your toes and hurting your feet or do you always walk with the wrong shoes? Well if your answer is yes, then your toes and feet are just going to respond by growing corns and  calluses.

Corns and calluses are hard, thickened areas of skin that form as a consequence of rubbing, friction or pressure on the skin.

Corns generally occur on the tops and sides of the toes.

They come in different forms and could be hard – a small patch of thickened, dead skin with a small plug of skin in the centre or soft – has a much thinner surface, appears whitish and rubbery, and usually occurs between the toes.

While calluses are hard and rough-feeling areas of skin that can develop on hands, feet or anywhere there is repeated friction – even on a violinist’s chin.

Like corns, calluses have several variants. The common callus usually occurs when there has been a lot of contacts against the hands or feet. In majority of the cases, they appear on the feet.

In the following paragraphs, we will discover the causes, treatments and prevention.

What causes corns and calluses?

Some corns and calluses on the feet develop from an improper walking motion, but most are caused by ill-fitting shoes. High-heeled shoes are the worst offenders. They put pressure on the toes and make women four times as likely as men to have foot problems. Other risk factors for developing a corn or callus include foot deformities and wearing shoes or sandals without socks, which leads to friction on the feet.

Treatment

Pad your toes

Traditionally, adhesive-backed felt, called moleskin, was used as a doughnut-type pad around corns and calluses to take pressure off them. Today, there are new synthetic materials such as crest pads, tube bandages and gel sleeves; available at most drugstores. The material is thin, soft, resilient, and rubbery. It doesn’t flatten out and holds up well and prevent your toes from rubbing on hard surfaces.

Use a Pumice stone

To soften corns or calluses, soak your feet in plain lukewarm water for 5 or 10 minutes and then use a pumice stone or a synthetic abrasive pad, available at drugstores, to rub off dead skin a little at a time. Some recommend the new synthetic sponge like pumice pads, which contain abrasive material and can be wetted with water and liquid soap and used in the bath or shower regularly.

Note: If you have diabetes, decreased sensitivity, or decreased circulation, check with a podiatrist before you attempt this.

Oil your toes and feet

After using the pumice stone, use a moisturizing cream like castor oil to help keep your feet soft, vitamin E cream or vitamin E oil is recommended as it has a way of penetrating the skin very nicely.

White Vinegar

White vinegar is another excellent tried and tested remedy for corns on the feet. The high acidity level of white vinegar helps soften the hard skin. Plus, its antifungal and antibacterial properties reduces the risk of infection.

Before going to bed, mix one part white vinegar with three parts water. Dab this diluted vinegar onto the corn and cover the area with an adhesive bandage and leave it on overnight. The next morning, exfoliate the thickened skin with a pumice stone or emery board and apply some olive oil or coconut oil to keep the area moisturized. Use this remedy once daily until the corn comes out.

Prevention

• To avoid corns and calluses on the feet, always have both feet professionally measured when buying shoes, and only wear properly fitting shoes. Allow up to 1.3cm (half an inch) between your longest toe and the front of the shoe. If you can’t wiggle your toes in your shoes, they are too tight.

• Avoid shoes with sharply pointed toes and high heels. Women who prefer such shoes, or who are expected to wear them at work, can take some of the pressure off their feet by walking to their destination in well-fitted flat shoes, and then changing them. Try to decrease heel height as much as possible.

• Have your shoes repaired regularly – or replace them. Worn soles give little protection from the shock of walking on hard surfaces, and worn linings can chafe your skin and harbour bacteria.

• Worn heels increase any uneven pressure on your heel bone. If the soles or heels of your shoes tend to wear unevenly, talk to you doctor about corrective shoes or insoles.

• To lessen pain from soft corns between your toes, work a tuft of lamb’s wool between your toes. Lamb’s wool is available at drugstores.

• Lace your sports shoes so that one lace goes from one bottom eyelet to the top eyelet on the opposite side. The other lace is alternated through the lace holes. Then, by pulling on the single lace, you can lift the toe box and give your toes more room. This also helps if you have a long second toe.