What causes corns?
Corns are essentially nature�s way of protecting your feet, or so nature believes. Just as we develop blisters on our hands after a few days of hard manual labour before the skin on our hands begins to toughen, so also, if any particular part of the foot is under pressure either due to friction or due to uncomfortable footwear, that part will start growing extra skin, to pad the area from the friction or discomfort.
When the extra skin is distributed all over the feet, it is called calluses. But when it is limited to one concentrated area, you have what is called a corn.
If corn is just dead skin, why does it hurt?
This is because the dead skin is in a concentrated area, and it is formed in the shape of a cone, with the point of the cone digging into your foot.
What if I just ignore the corn?
First of all, ignoring the corn will not make it go away. In fact, the problem will only worsen. As more skin keeps growing around the corn, the corn keeps getting pushed deeper and deeper into the skin, which makes it more painful. This will also make removal more difficult.
More often than not, you need to take a serious look at your footwear. Invest in the most comfortable footwear you can afford. Cheap footwear is tempting, but they rarely provide adequate support to your feet and are the most common cause for corns.
Remember, your feet bear your entire body weight � so if you weigh 60 kg, each foot is constantly carrying around with it 30 kg of weight. Squeeze them into uncomfortable shoes and heels, and all this weight is instantly redistributed unevenly around your feet, leading to foot problems. Feet are built extremely tough, so the very fact that they are crying out for help means that they have been subjected to far too much abuse!
Any home remedies?
One of the best home remedies is to soak your feet in warm, salted water for around five to ten minutes. Then apply soap and rub your foot, concentrating on the area around the corn, with a pumice stone, for five minutes. Do this every night, and slowly, the dead skin will soften and come out.
It is not recommended that you try and scrape off the skin with a blade, but if you are confident that you would like to try this quick fix, soak your feet in warm water for ten minutes first, to soften the skin. You can then try to scrape off the corn with a blade very gently. If the corn is too deep, you may not be able to get it all out.
Soak a stale piece of bread in vinegar, place it on the corn, and tape it to your foot. Leave it on overnight. This will help soften the corn.
What�s the commercial remedy?
Apply corn caps on your corns, and within a few days the corns will soften and you will be able to peel them off just like you wax hair. However, these caps contain acid to dissolve the tough skin, so the surrounding skin of your feet may get affected, and get sore and a little tender. To avoid this, you could protect the skin around the corn with cotton before pasting on the corn cap. Skin specialists can also remove corns, so if nothing else works, visit your skin or foot specialist.
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