Preventing and Treating Corns and Calluses.
Home and Folk Remedies for Corns. Diabetes and Corns. Preventing Complications from Corns with Diet.

What Are Corns and Calluses and What Causes Them?

A corn typically manifests as a painful, tender-to-touch thickening of skin any place where an ill-fitting shoe rubs against the foot -- usually on top of the toe joints, at the sides of the big toes, and on the soles of the feet.

Other contributing causes of corns include flat feet and hammer toes. A blocked sweat gland on the bottom of the foot can create a condition resembling a corn. Other conditions that resemble corns include warts and moles. In rare cases, corn-like growths may be cancerous.

Corns that show up between the toes are called "soft corns" because the moisture that often occurs between the toes causes the thickened skin to become soft and mushy. Soft corns can be very painful, and if not treated properly, run the risk of ulcerating and becoming infected. This is particularly dangerous if the individual is diabetic or otherwise has problems with circulation in the feet, and professional help should be sought at once

What are Calluses?

Calluses are also caused by pressure over time, and are similar to corns, except they aren't as painful and usually involve a larger area of the skin on the soles and or heels of the feet and on the palms of the hands.

How to Help Corns and Calluses Heal

One of the obvious ways to help corns and calluses heal is to stop doing whatever has been causing them, such as wearing shoes that rub or are too tight. Sometimes stretching a pair of shoes that are too tight will remedy the problem. Switching to a larger size shoe or specially padded soft shoes are recommended.

Keeping your feet dry and clean is important. Daily foot baths are recommended. The addition of epsom salts and/or baking soda to the foot bath can be both healing and soothing. A dusting of talcum powder or corn starch can help. Wearing clean white socks is helpful.

Some Recommended Reading About Corns and Calluses

"Soft Corns that Stink" 'Foot Doc's' answer to a forum question.

ePodiatry.com's "Foot Corns and Callus (Hyperkeratosis) " Contains an excellent overiew of causes and preventions, including important cautions about use of corn plasters, and other treatments, particularly dangerous if individual is diabetic (many people have undiagnosed diabetes, so this advice should be heeded whether you have diagnosed diabetes or not.

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Some Historic Home or Folk Remedy Treatments for Corns and Calluses

• Epsom Salts Foot Bath. Prepare a bath of Epsom salts and warm water and soak your feet for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Chamomile Tea Foot Bath. Chamomile is both soothing and a softening agent. Soak your feet in a dilute solution of chamomile tea several times a day to relieve the pain and soften the hard skin.
• Castor Oil.   Applying castor oil on the corn. This is an effective treatment for corn and calluses.
• Lemon Juice and Aspirin. Prepare a paste with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon water and 6 crushed aspirin tablets. Put paste on hardened areas of skin. Cover with a plastic bag and wrap in a warm towel. After 10 or 15 minutes, unwrap and use a pumice stone to remove the softened thick skin.
• Lanolin Massage. Massaging the thickened skin with lanolin will help soften the corn. This in turn helps make the area less vulnerable to pressure. Adding a non-medicated corn pad to the area will also help relieve the pressure, giving the corn a chance to heal.
• Vinegar Poultice. Soak a piece of soft cloth or cotton in cider or white distilled vinegar and apply and bind to the affected area with tape. Reapply a fresh vinegar poultice daily until the corn is ready to come out by the root.
• Lemon Slice Poultice. After soaking feet in warm water for 15 minutes (with or without Epsom salts and/or baking soda), tape a piece of lemon peel to the corn with the inside of the peel next to the skin. Leave overnight.
• Indian Squill (Urginea indica) Herb Poultice. Roast a bulb and bind to corn with bandage overnight to help soften and remove corn.
• Licorice Rub. Grind 3 or 4 sticks of licorice and blend with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil or mustard oil. Rub the resulting paste into the hardened skin of the corn at bedtime. Continue treatment nightly. This will gradually soften the skin and diminish the size of the corn.            
• Papaya Juice or Green Fig Juice Rub. Rub 1/2 teaspoon of raw papaya juice or raw green fig juice into the hardened skin of the corn. Do this three times a day. The enzymes from the papaya or green figs will soften the skin and gradually diminish the corn's size. Rubbing the skin with a rough towel will help remove any dead skin.  
  

Improving Your Overall Health Through Proper Diet and Exercise Can Help Prevent Complications from Corns and Callouses... including the Complications from Diabetes, Impaired Circulation, and Reduced Ability to Heal from Skin Ulcers

Diet can be an extremely important factor in your overall health, including how wounds heal, how skin repairs itself, how good your circulation is, and even whether you get diabetes or not.

Eating a diet which contains a high percentage of vegetables and low glycemic fruits provides an alkalizing buffer and antidote to the acid-based plaques which harden arteries and cause impaired circulation.

Incorporating "good fats" into your diet in the form of avocados, walnuts, almonds, flax seeds, etc., into your diet contributes crucial EFA's (Essential Fatty Acids) which in turn contribute energy and healing.

Eliminating all sugars and refined carbohydrates from your diet have a positive effect on preventing and even reversing diabetic conditions and their complications.