Do You Get Recurring Corns?

Written by Dr.Snehal Nijapkar Do you have sensitive, painful and/or uncomfortable hardened skin on your feet? Are you used to wearing very tight fitting shoes? If your answer is YES then you are definitely suffering from a ‘CORN’.

What is a Corn? Foot corns are yellow or white hardened layers of skin that develop from your skin’s response to friction and pressure. You may feel symptoms like hardened toe skin, discoloration, sensitive skin and pain when wearing shoes. Where do foot Corns develop? Corns can form in a variety of places on your feet, such as: ·        below your toenail bed ·        between or on the sides of your toes ·        on the bottom or sides of your feet What exactly causes these painful Corns? ·        Wearing tight-fitting or wrong size footwear ·        Not wearing socks especially in sports shoes ·        Foot deformities such as bunions or hammertoes (Which causes more friction at the bony prominences) ·        Spending long periods of time on your feet, especially walking and running ·        Getting older causes the skin of the feet to become thinner which lessens the fat tissues and causes development of corns. What are the types of Corns?  Different types of corns ·        Hard corns: These are the most common and appear as a small area of concentrated hard skin up to the size of a small pea usually within a wider area of thickened skin or callus. This may be a symptom of the feet or toes not functioning properly. ·        Soft corns: These develop in a similar way to hard corns but they are whitish and rubbery in texture and appear between toes where the skin is moist from sweat or from inadequate drying. ·        Seed corns: These are tiny corns that tend to occur either singly or in clusters on the bottom of the foot and are usually very tender and painful. How to differentiate Corns and Calluses?    Many people get confused between corns and  calluses because they look very similar.

Callus is a thick build-up of dead  skin cells, often found on the feet. Calluses are usually painless or may hurt only  slightly, whereas corns are very painful, even excruciating. ·          Appearance:  Corns  compared to calluses tend to be small and round hard core with inflamed red  skin around it, whereas calluses are usually larger, wider and flatter. ·          Location:  Corns  are often found on the toes, whereas calluses are most commonly found on the  heels, balls of feet or sides of feet. How to differentiate Corns and Warts?     Corns and plantar warts can look very similar and  can appear on the same parts of the feet. ·          Appearance: Plantar warts are identified by a dry, crusty  surface of the skin with small black dots deep below and usually grow in  clusters on the feet. The surface of a corn is thick and hard without  black dots beneath the surface and forms as a single problem however you may  develop corns in multiple places on one foot. ·          Location: Corns most often appear between toes, on top of toes, pinkie  toes, ball of the feet and heels. Plantar  warts most often appear on heels, ball of your feet, under your big  toe.

To know more about corns, callus and warts, please call 1800 22 1674 or email us at doctor@orthofit.in or click link https://orthofit.in/corns-callus/