Foot corns and calluses do not require treatment unless they cause pain. However, if you have diabetes, peripheral neuropathy or another condition that may cause numbness in your feet, it is important to check your feet daily for any skin breakdown (such as wounds) and to consult your doctor or podiatrist before you try to self-treat foot corn or callus.
What treatments are available?
If you experience pain, you may reduce the size of the corn or callus yourself by soaking your foot in warm water for 20 minutes and then using a pumice stone or foot file to rub the thick skin away. A moisturising cream used regularly on a filed corn or callus will help keep the skin soft and make it easier to rub down the thick skin in future.
If the skin is very thick or causing a lot of pain, it may require help from a specialist, such as a podiatrist, who can pare down the thickened skin using a scalpel blade. The paring down eases the pressure on the underlying tissue, hence the pain reduction.
Removing the foot corn or callus is often straightforward. However, the ultimate goal is to prevent the lesions due to pressure and friction from returning, which can prove a little more difficult. A number of treatments may be required to achieve this long-term goal, but the cause for the high pressure and friction must first be identified.
