Calluses and Corns
A callus, or tyloma, on the foot is caused from repeated pressure and friction, leading to the build up of thickened skin. The callus, which maybe hard, dry or cracked, acts to protect the area underneath it. A corn is a built up of callous at a very particular area, mostly at the outside of the little toe or under the metatarsal area (middle part of the foot). The part of the corn that is visible is much bigger than the inside part. Pressure that get at the corn will accumulate to the bottom of the corn and presses on the bone’s skin (periost) .This nerve packed bone skin gets inflamed and that’s what we feel as the pain of a corn.
Diagnosis
A callus or corn is typically diagnosed upon examination.
Treatment
Your podiatrist can recommend simple over-the-counter treatments such as pads or pumice to decrease the calluses or corn. In severe cases calluses may require regular shaving to keep them from becoming too large.
Again, another wrong way to treat corn. We at Chiropody Center are still shocked, that those over the counter products are still allowed to be sold. They might help the pharmacist or the pharmaceutical industry but never ever patients suffering from those little monsters. First of all we have to understand that those corns are nothing else but accumulated dry skin, that builds up like a small volcano in our skin. Shaving them with razor blades or scalpels is only removing the 10% top layer of the entire corn. Surgical treatments are the worst. They will cause a scar tissue which will always leads to more corns and even our specialists can’t undo such nonsense. All our foot care specialists are using a very small ,hollow grinder to carefully remove as much as possible from that volcano crater shaped corn and a week later , once the remaining callous popped to the surface , the remains will be removed ( FREE OF CHARGE ). Regular foot care, like moisturizing and proper footwear and the corn will never ever come back.
Without Treatment
Larger calluses can cause significant pain. In some patients, especially when they become cracked, calluses can lead to wounds that can lead to serious problems, especially in people with diabetes.
