Thursday, May 29, 2008

Corns

Corns are basically calluses on your feet. Nothing more, nothing less. They result from pressure on your toes and feet from day to day activity, and are therefore treatable but not permanently curable. Or, at least no more curable than calluses on the palms of your hands.

Invasive or surgical treatment is rarely needed.

Home treatment is effective, but takes weeks to resolve a corn.

First, keep pressure off it by wearing a doughnut-shaped corn pad around it. It should be soft, but high enough so that when you walk you don't feel your other toes or the shoe against the corn. You may need to stack several pads to do this. You don't need to wear one at night, but you should wear one every day until the corn goes away.

Also, you can buff them off slowly. After every bath or shower, while the corn is still a little softer you can painlessly take a little off with a pumice stone, nail file or emery board.

Feel free to see me if you have one so large that you feel it needs to be pared down a bit. This is painless and does not bleed, since corns are dead skin and have no blood vessels or nerve endings!

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