Spring summer autumn and winter. And again – spring, summer … along with the change of seasons, our outfits and footwear change. And it plays a significant role in everyday functioning. With the change of shoes, they also appear – the curse of our feet and the cause of painful discomfort. Foot corns – the modern curse of all people. In the following text you can find out where they come from and how to fight them.
where are your feet taking you?
Feet are a part of the body that probably does the hardest work of every day. In addition to traveling hundreds of kilometers a week, we load them with the weight of our body and what we additionally carry – shopping, children, objects lifted at work and at home, and also a lot of intense and incorrectly selected physical exercises. To all of these we can add uneven ground we walk on (especially crooked pavements), incorrectly selected footwear or feet care … oh yes, feet have a really hard and busy life. If chronic point pressure (not necessarily continuous!) works on the skin of your feet, you can be sure that in this spot you will soon discover a very unpleasant surprise.
Usually the scenario is very similar. You just finished a busy and intense day. Along the way, some shopping, maybe a quick meeting with colleagues or training at the gym. You come home, and finally get a moment of rest – you sit down, take off your shoes, socks and see it. A small yellowish spot, sometimes slightly bulging, sometimes red around. You touch it – you feel the pain and you already know – it’s feet corn!
In search of the causes …
Where do the feet corns come from? This is a variety of so-called hyperkeratosis – when skin cells abnormally multiply and accumulate in the basal layer of the epidermis under the influence of irritants, which can be very different. These can be deformations of the foot bones causing intense pressure (so-called bunions, hammer toes or transverse flat feet) or injuries such as cuts, frostbite or burns of the skin of the feet. A large group of people seeking help goes to our expert because of improper foot care. A typical example is excessive and too frequent skin abrasion done mechanically (e.g. pumice stone, milling machine or grater) or with the help of incorrectly concentrated chemicals (e.g. urea, lactic acid or salicylic acid). Unfortunately, in most cases, customers do not have knowledge and insights about feet corns removal and they hurt themselves …
Another group of people seeking the help of a Healthy Beauty expert are people with postural defects or wearing incorrectly selected footwear, as well as chronically ill people. Rarely do we associate corns with the appearance of diabetes, kidney or liver disorders, RA, mycosis, allergies, as well as in the course of obesity, in cardiovascular diseases or hormonal disorders. Other factors are deficiencies of vitamins A and D, excessive sweating and dry skin also predispose us to the formation of corns.
It’ll just disappear.. or will it?
Feet corns can be divided into soft and hard ones. The former are usually located between the toes of the feet, e.g. in the dorsal area of the toes or on their lateral and medial surface. You can find hard corns on the sole of the foot or the lateral-dorsal surface of the toe. Usually these are slightly bulging, round spots with a characteristic yellowish color, sized from 1 mm to even 20 mm. A characteristic feature of the feet corn is its mandrel, which reaches deep into the skin and muscles, and can even reach the periosteal area – thus the feet corns are often accompanied by severe pain, which impairs everyday functioning. And this is not an exaggerated symptom – irritation of nerve endings located deep in the foot causes severe and paralyzing pain. Corns are not just a matter of aesthetics and the attitude of “it’ll just disappear” in this case will not work in your favor.
Step by step towards the professional help
As a rule, after finding “this thing on your feet”, many people try to cure it on their own using homemade remedies or medicine bought at the pharmacy. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine on your own whether this is a feet corn or something else. Most often, corns are confused with a viral wart, but there are several differences between them. The corn has a smooth, even surface and you feel the pain when you press it. When removing it, there is no bleeding, it mainly appears in the place of support of the foot. There’s no so-called Koebner’s symptom. The viral wart has a rough surface on which black spots can often be seen. It appears anywhere on the foot and bleeds when being removed. As with the feet corns, you feel pain when you press it. Very often they occur in case of children while they do not cure their feet corns. If you are not sure how to distinguish whether it is a viral wart or corn, slightly squeeze the cuticle of the changed epidermis – the viral wart will have punctual bleeding inside and the corn will have a visible core inside.
Few simple steps to beautiful healthy feet
In determining the type of hyperkeratosis you can often be mistaken, so you should seriously re-consider treating the changes on your own. Many people who visit our Healthy Beauty salon for example, treat viral warts on their own using popular over-the-counter liquids available at the pharmacy, or, worse, peel them intensively using mechanical graters. Hyperkeratoses can take many forms – in addition to feet corns those could also be calluses, fungal or bacterial infections, and even cracked heels. Each of them requires a separate diagnosis and preparation of a therapeutic action plan, only then you can be sure that the treatment is effective. Also remember that your skin has individual needs – things recommended by your neighbor won’t necessarily work for you. Therefore, if you aren’t sure what is this skin change that makes your life difficult, we invite you to visit us. Our expert will not only assess the condition of your feet but will prepare for you an individual therapeutic action plan, thanks to which the condition of your feet will improve permanently. And in the process you can also relax and unwind – there is nothing better than a spa pedicure with foot massage and a soothing mask!