Some experts blame it on walking shoes. The website of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says corns are calluses that form on the toes because the bones push up against the shoe and put pressure on the skin. The layer of the skin thickens and builds up, irritating the tissues underneath. Hard corns are usually located on the top of the toe or on the side. Soft corns resemble open sores and develop between the toes as they rub against each other. They can also occur on the sole of the foot. Corns may become entwined with the nerves of the skin and become painful. Often corns develop a core, which is often referred to as the “root”. They can be very painful if there is inflammation and swelling around the corn.
Corns can be caused by tight fitting shoes that squeeze the foot and increase pressure. Loose shoes cause corns when the toe slides and rub against the shoe creating friction. The condition is more prevalent in females because they wear tight fitting shoes, socks that do not fit well, feet rubbing against a seam or stitch inside the shoe and an abnormality of gait. These cause toe deformities - sometimes known as a hammer toe and claw toe.
An affected person should consult a physician. A doctor may trim a corn by shaving the dead layers of skin with a scalpel. It is advisable to seek professional help, especially if one suffers from poor blood circulation, poor eyesight or lack of feeling in the feet. Toe deformity is mostly corrected by outpatient surgery. Soaking the feet regularly and using a pumice stone or callus file softens and reduces the size of corns and calluses. Non-medicated corn pads are recommended to relieve the pressure. Medicated pads may increase irritation and result in infection. The use of lamb wool (not cotton) between toes helps cushion soft corns. Corn plasters can lead to destruction of healthy skin and should not be used by diabetics or patients suffering from poor circulation as it may cause ulcers. Normally corns do not require emergency attention. But e-Medicine Health state that the following conditions may lead to an emergency attention: a spread of redness around the sore, puss-like drainage from or around the sore, increasing pain and swelling, fever, change in colour of fingers or toes or signs of gangrene (tissue decay).
“Corns can be extremely painful,” a young man told Monitor. He said he developed one on the left foot after his father bought him shoes for school. “I was just in Form Two at the time and the left shoe was tight which resulted in a corn. Sometimes the pain is so excruciating you wake up in the middle of the night with a yell after brushing it against something,” he said. He used to cut out the hard layer until he started putting sulphuric acid on it. “That stopped it on its track!” he said.
A Gaborone man said when he was young, he used to see his father cutting his corns with a razor blade. He wished to have the corns. “I even imitated him and ended up with a cut on my smallest toe,” he said.
