A - Z Encyclopedia
Understanding Corns and Calluses: Information, Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention
The Basics | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention
The Basics
What Is A Corn? What Is a Callus?
Corns and calluses can be annoying, but your body actually forms them to protect sensitive skin. They affect about 5% of the population. Corns and calluses are often confused with one another.
Corns generally occur on parts of the feet that don't bear weight, such as on the tops and sides of the toes. A hard corn is a small patch of thickened, dead skin with a packed center. A soft corn has a much thinner surface and usually occurs between the 4th and 5th toes. A seed corn is a tiny, discrete callous that can be very tender if it's on a weight-bearing part of the foot. Seed corns tend to occur on the bottom of the feet, and some doctors believe this condition is caused by plugged sweat ducts.
Calluses can develop on hands, feet, or anywhere there is repeated friction -- even on a violinist's chin. Like corns, calluses have several variants. The common callus usually occurs when there's been a lot of rubbing against the hands or feet. A plantar callus is found on the bottom of the foot. Calluses are larger than corns -- up to an inch in diameter -- and lack the corn's telltale center. There is moisture between the toes, so a callus on the foot is more hydrated and softer than a corn.
What Causes Corns and Calluses?
Some corns and calluses on the feet develop from an improper walking motion, but most are caused by ill-fitting shoes. High-heeled shoes are the worst offenders. They put pressure on the toes and make women four times as likely as men to have foot problems. Other risk factors for developing a corn or callus include foot deformities and wearing shoes or sandals without socks, which leads to friction on the feet.
Rubbing or pressure can cause either soft corns and plantar calluses. If you or your child develop a callus that has no clear source of pressure, have it looked at by a doctor, since it could be a wart or caused by a foreign body, like a splinter, trapped under the skin. Feet spend most of their time in a closed, moist environment -- ideal for breeding bacteria. Staph infections can start when bacteria enter corns through breaks in the skin and cause the infected corn to give off fluid or pus.
The Basics | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention
