Corns and calluses on the feet are a common problem and everyone who has this problem are always looking for easy options to fix them. It’s not that easy. Corns and calluses occur on the feet and toes in response to too much pressure on an area. A corn is smaller but deeper and is in response to more localized pressure. A callus is wider and not as deep and is in response to higher pressure over a wider area. These are natural processes in that the skin thickens up to protect itself in response to higher pressure on these areas. The cause of the higher pressure could be any number of things such as a hammer toe, a bunion, a fallen arch or poorly fitted shoes. As there is so much that can go wrong with the feet and we walk around on them in shoes, then that is why there is so much excessive pressure coming from all that.

The only proper way to treat a corn and a callus is to have the thickened skin removed and then get the cause removed. Removing the thicker skin, by whatever method is not the real answer as it will come back from that. This could be a matter of weeks or months or even a year or so, but it will come back eventually. It is important to determine just where that excessive pressure that is causing the corn is coming from and deal with that so that it will stop coming back. This could be as simple as getting better fitting shoes to reduce the pressure or it could be as complicated as having surgery on the bunion to remove the bone that is causing the excessive pressure.

One way that you probably should not be using to treat them is using the medicated corn pads. They are widely advertised to treat corns and they do not do a very good job. The idea behind them is that they contain an acid that is supposed to eat away at the corn. You place the medicated pad over the corn and its supposed to get rid of the corn. However, the acid does not know what is corn and what is not a corn, so its just going to eat away at whatever you put it on. Its going to eat away at the normal skin around and beneath the corn. This can be really dangerous if you have an underlying medical condition such as diabetes as this can significantly affect how you heal up from using the acid. If by luck, the corn pad does eat away enough of the corn to give you some relief, the medicated corn pad does not get rid of the cause of the corn. It will come back again and keep doing so until you do something to deal with the pressure that is causing the corn in the first place. Do yourself a favour and see a podiatrist and get some advice on how to deal with that cause.