Pointed or tight shoes with high heels are the most common cause of corns. They gradually rub the skin and press on it, until a necrotic sore forms, which is unpleasantly painful and pressing. Once you put on comfortable shoes, you can easily remove corns after a warm bath using a pumice stone, or with the help of some grandmotherly advice, which you will read below. You can also apply propolis to corns. And we will also advise you on how to distinguish a corn from warts and calluses.
Corns occur in places exposed to pressure
A painful formation of yellow colour, popularly called a corn, is professionally referred to by physicians as clavus. It is a "sore" up to 12mm in size that is caused by a build-up of dead skin that rubs against shoes. Corns traditionally appear in places that are exposed to pressure. So, you will most often find them on the knuckles, thumbs, and heels as a result of wearing inappropriate shoes. In people with orthopaedic foot defects, they can also occur in other places, but most often again on the feet, around the toes or between the toes.
Permanent wearing unsuitable shoes causes the skin to become keratinised and thickened. A structure with a rougher surface is then created from the hardened skin. If you just lightly scratch it with your fingernails, it will start to crumble and turn slightly white. Women's corns are most often "made" by pumps, while men's by walking shoes. Also, women who prefer high heels suffer from corns – with them, there is frequent and intense friction between the shoe and the sole of the foot.
How to recognize a corn?
You can recognize a corn by a clearly defined thickening of the skin, which usually has a conical shape. It is centralized around a knot growing inwards. It is the knot of skin or the core of the corn that can press on the bone or on the nerves and vessels in its envelope and thus causes unpleasant pain.
The longer and stronger the place is subjected to pressure, the deeper the corn core grows. Therefore, it is good to act against it as soon as possible.
The colour of the roughened skin is different from the normal colour of your skin; it is white to yellowish in colour. The central knot may in some cases take the form of a black dot.
Basic prevention is comfortable footwear
To prevent corns, wear comfortable shoes. If you do not feel like trying the barefoot ones, at least avoid narrow shoes, pointed shoes and above all shoes with high heels. Try on new shoes carefully and buy only those that fit you and you feel comfortable in them. You should also pay attention to preventive care for the skin of your feet. Regularly remove corneous skin with a pumice stone and lubricate your feet. You will achieve the greatest effect with prolonged and proper lubrication, which is suitable to apply overnight. In the evening, you lubricate your feet thoroughly and put on thick cotton socks. In the morning, your little feet will literally feel like of cotton.
Ointment for each sore
For proper lubrication, we recommend the Balm for chapped skin. It is effective in the care for rougher, chapped skin that needs long-term softening and moisturising. The active substances of the balm also support the healing of small cracks. With regular care, you will be rewarded with healthy, supple, and soft skin.
Gradual treatment applies to corns
The basic step to treat corns is to stop wearing the shoes that caused the corns and choose more suitable and comfortable shoes. To reduce pain while walking, you can support the foot or affected area with special foam or gel pads. They will certainly relieve and help you for some time. Regular foot care is a prevention as well as an aid during treatment. Even though a corn appears to be a superficial issue, it extends surprisingly deep into the skin, so you shouldn't forcefully remove it on your own. Instead of rough force, bet on gradual steps to improve:
- Pumice - after a bath or shower, regularly abrade the softened skin on the corns with a pumice stone. It will relieve your pain and the corns will begin to disappear in front of your eyes.
- Foam and gel patches - Even with a sore corn, you have to go to work or, for children to school and kindergarten, this is why special plasters, which you can usually buy in pharmacies, can help you in the first few days.
- Salicylic acid patches - the special patches are available in drugstores and pharmacies, which not only relieve corns, but help reduce them. However, great accuracy of sticking is required while wearing them. Even if you stick the patch to the right place, you should check it several times a day to make sure it has not moved, and its active ingredient is not affecting healthy skin. Salicylic acid softens corns. After wearing the patch all day, it is therefore advisable to give the affected area a warm bath and then gently remove the skin of the corn with a pumice stone.
How to remove a corn? Grandmotherly advice and home treatment
Of course, there are many tips on how to get rid of corns. And as with herbs and other types of natural treatment, the effect does not appear overnight, but with regular and patient application.
Herbal treatment for corns
Even herbs can cope with corns - although they require time and daily application, the results are permanent, and the skin will be "like new".
Common yarrow
Thanks to yarrow, you can combine the treatment of corns with evening relaxation and indulge in a pleasant foot bath.
Place a handful of yarrow in 3 litres of boiling water, add 1 teaspoon of salt, cover the container, and let it infuse. When the decoction is pleasantly warm, strain it and soak your feet in it for about 20 minutes. You should repeat the bath every day.
Greater celandine
You certainly associate celandine with the treatment of warts. However, it has also proven itself very well in the treatment of corns. Just like warts, rub its juice onto corns. You can easily get this by breaking the stalk of celandine and you can recognize it by its yellow to orange colour. Here too, you should apply celandine every day.
Goldmoss stonecrop
Thanks to yarrow, you can combine the treatment of corns with evening relaxation and indulge in a pleasant foot bath.
Goldmoss stonecrop will help you soften the rough skin which is the basis of the corns. Its fresh leaves just need to be crushed and applied to the affected area. This treatment is therefore only suitable during its flowering period - in July. However, be very careful when handling the stonecrop; it is a poisonous plant that you cannot take internally, and you should be careful not to get it in your eyes.
What to recommend out of bee products?
Similar to celandine, you can apply raw propolis or propolis drops to warts and corns. Propolis Tincture is used for a number of external problems, especially for fungus and various skin conditions. Propolis Tincture contains effective antimicrobial substances from propolis, and propolis is also known for its healing effects. We cannot provide more information here for legislative reasons, but if you have any questions, please contact us and we will be happy to advise you!
If you have ever come across the term propolis drops and wonder how it differs from a tincture, you should know that it is the same product. The term tincture could not have been used for several years, so this product had to be renamed propolis drops.
Grandmotherly advice
- Essential oil of evening eastern teaberry or castor oil will help to soften and then remove corns. Drop the oil on a cotton pad and attach it to the corn using a plaster. Repeat daily; the corn will soften and disappear after some time.
- To improve the quality and soften the skin, a salt bath is recommended, after which it is best to apply honey. Such a bath should bring relief from pain, and with frequent application, the corn should fall out by itself.
- The removal of corns should be aided by turpentine - a liquid obtained by distilling pine natural resin, or resin of other trees. Our ancestors used it to treat superficial wounds, and we can apply it to corns just as successfully. Just soak a cotton swab in turpentine and apply it to the affected area overnight. Repeat until the corn is gone.
- You can rub corns before bed with a mixture of lemon juice, pressed garlic, and vinegar. You can also help yourself with a slice of lemon, which you put on the corn at night. Repeat until the corn can be taken out.
- Night treatment is also recommended with a halved raisin. You should apply this to the corn and secure it with a plaster. Every night you replace the raisin with a fresh one, and after about a week you can gently remove the corn with tweezers.
- A scented recipe is bread soaked in apple cider vinegar. You apply thoroughly soaked bread to the affected area, wrap it in polythene and leave it on overnight. Repeat again until the corn is removed.
- Well-rested onions with vinegar guarantee an aromatic dressing. Soak onion slices in vinegar the day before and attach them to the affected area overnight. You should repeat the application regularly every night until the corns come off. Wash the treated area well in the morning; the aroma is strong and not exactly pleasant.
Dry or wet pedicure
If the corn is very extensive or you have such cornified skin that natural treatment would be too long and difficult for you, you can seek the help of a pedicurist.
Every pedicurist should be able to remove corns, both using a dry procedure and with a combined wet technique. Dry pedicure is intended for everyone who does not have a lot of cornified skin or does not need a big intervention.
The wet combined option with a ten-minute soaking of the feet in a water bath is intended for all those who need to remove hardened skin with a scalpel and then clean it with a grinder. Even the gradual removal of corns with a scalpel can take a very different amount of time - sometimes one pedicure is enough, other times a corn requires several visits.
Corns in children
Even if children do not walk on high heels, corns can occur naturally in them too. The cause is the same as in adults – inappropriate footwear. Above all, smaller children are not yet able to express that the shoe is pressing them, or correctly point to the site where it hurts, therefore, it is better to check their feet regularly and choose high-quality and comfortable shoes that give children's feet enough space.
How to distinguish corns from warts and calluses
Corns can be confused with calluses – however, these are formed by larger pressure damages and are more voluminous circles than small protrusions. Corns tend to be smaller and have a more distinct border. In addition, calluses are less painful compared to corns. Warts are protruded skin growths, while corns form inwards the body and often have a small hole in the middle. The big exception is warts on the soles of the feet, which tend to have a flat form. In addition, the wart has roots - after gentle cutting the softened skin from its surface, you should see dark dots. If you do not see any, it is probably a corn. You can learn how to cope with warts in the article Warts: What to Do with Them?
As a rule, the type of problem is also indicated by its location. Usually, only calluses and warts are found on the hands, formation of corns is unlikely in this area. Corns most often appear on the soles of the feet, in the area of the knuckles, thumbs and heels, and are also common between the toes.
Remember, it is best to prevent the development of corns. Bet on fitting, comfortable shoes and regular foot care.
