Why do I get callosities and corns?
When excessive pressure or abrasion on the foot is repeated at the same place, our body’s self-defense mechanism responds by keratinization and thickening of the skin for protecting it from developing of callosities and corns.
Causes
- Poor footwear: Shoes with high heels, narrow toe boxes or insufficient depth.
- Foot deformities: High arch or over-pronated feet that put excessive pressure or friction on the feet in localized positions.
- Toe deformities: Including Morton’s toe (i.e. shortened first metatarsal bone) or claw toe / hammer toe.
Symptoms
- Pain in the area of calluses or corns.
- Pain aggravated when wearing narrower footwear or having pressure on the calluses or corns.
- Calluses worsened when wearing high heels
Solutions
- Prescribed foot orthoses / sandals: Prescribed and custom-made foot orthoses are designed to correct the foot posture when walking and distribute the pressure of deformed forefoot evenly. With feet walking on the foot orthoses, the friction between the toes and the shoe reduces.
- Well-fitted shoes: Choose shoes with wide shoes head and enough room in the toe box to avoid crushing calluses or corns at the toe.
- Toe spacers: Use toe spacers to reduce friction between the toes and promote healing.
- Toe tube: Place toe tubes over toes with calluses to reduce pressure and friction.
- Metatarsal pads: Use metatarsal pads to reduce pressure on forefoot if calluses are at the forefoot metatarsal joint.
- Pain relief patch: Apply pain relief patch directly to the callus or corns to reduce pressure and friction.
- Toe crest: Use toe crest to reduce the pressure on the toe end by placing the toe crest underneath the sulcus.
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