When thinking about fall I usually think about candy corn but today I am thinking of corns and calluses on your feet.
In my mind, corns were something that my Mother had. I didn’t think about them. I did know that I had calluses on the bottom of my feet. It seems that there is not a huge difference between corns and calluses. They are both your body’s reaction to excess pressure. When your body senses that there is too much pressure, it responds by having the skin thicken like armor.
Calluses are on the bottom of your feet. Corns are located on the top of your toes or between your toes.
Calluses
Calluses are formed when there is excess pressure on the bottom of your foot. This can be caused by your shoe choices, a misalignment of the bones, or walking around in your bare feet. The formation of calluses because of your shoe choices come from various types of shoe issues. If the sole it too thin, your foot can form a callus. If the shoe is tight, your foot could not balance your weight as it should and a callus will form on the bottom of your foot. Also it f the shoe is too loose, the foot can move in the shoe and the rubbing form the movement can cause a callus.
Corns
Corns can be divided into two categories. There are soft corns and hard corns. Soft corns are usually found between the 4thand 5th toes. Hard corns are found on the top and sides of the toes and foot. Like calluses, corns are formed from pressure and that pressure can come from shoes or from misaligned bone structure.
Soft corns are soft because of their location. Since they are between toes, foot perspiration keeps the skin from hardening. Soft corns are formed due to an abnormality in the bone structure of the foot.
Hard corns are found on the toes or the side of the foot. Like calluses, they are hard skin that has formed in response to external rubbing or an internal misalignment. For example, if you have a hammertoe, the top of your hammertoe may rub against your shoes and a corn would form in that spot.
Treatment for corns and calluses
If you are diabetic, have poor circulation or numbness in your feet, please go to your friendly local podiatrist about your corns and calluses. It is the best way to have them safely treated.
There are over the counter treatments that you can try for corns and calluses. For corns, there are pads that you can put on the toes to try and relieve the problem area. With both corns and calluses, you can soak the area in warm soapy water and then use a pumice stone to rub away at the corn or callus. There are also liquid treatments that are made with acid to break up the dense thickened skin. Do not use those liquid treatments on soft corns. For soft corns that you wish to treat yourself, you should try the pads with some antibiotic ointment and see if it helps.
Also there is a school of thought that you should “cut away” at the corns or calluses. (The thought of this makes me shiver!) Please do not do that. By cutting at them, you are opening your foot up infection.
The effectiveness of the treatment will depend on the reason for the corn or callus. If the reason is that the bones in your feet are misaligned, the corn or callus will not be removed. If you know that the reason is a misalignment of the bones and you are in pain, your solution will be found with your friendly local podiatrist.
Even if the cause of your corn or callus is from your shoes or walking barefoot and you are in pain, you might want to go to the doctor to get quicker relief.
Have a wonderful week!
Your Pal,
The Foot Blogger Chick
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