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Calluses on the toes are not uncommon, they appear very often, since the lower limbs are subjected to constant stress. This happens when the foot is deformed when wearing uncomfortable shoes, during sports, that is, with any mechanical effect on the skin of the toes.
Corn– this is the protective function of the skin during prolonged and intense friction. Oddly enough, but in some cases, corn is even useful. It is impossible to imagine what the fingertips of a professional guitarist or the palms of a gymnast would look like if there were no corns. Wounds alone, of course, would not have done. Very often, corns appear from wearing poor-quality and uncomfortable shoes. Unfortunately, we cannot completely refuse to wear such shoes, but you can just walk barefoot for several hours a day, this is in our power. At this time, our legs will rest, this will help to avoid calluses.
A corn is not always a harmless accumulation of epidermal cells. Sometimes such skin growths can significantly impair a person’s quality of life, they make you feel pain, can disrupt gait, become inflamed and fester. To prevent unwanted complications of corns, you need to take appropriate measures immediately after detecting the first signs of its appearance.
In order to prevent the appearance of corns, it is very important to choose your shoes carefully. Even if it seems to you that this pair of shoes really suits you, you need to consider how comfortable they are: are the shoes soft, do they fit the size and shape of the foot? What toe of the shoe, is it comfortable? If you take into account all the nuances, this will help you avoid various inconveniences with your fingertips or with already earned calluses. It is very important not to forget that the leg must “breathe”.
Causes of calluses on the legs
Calluses on the feet are the result of improperly selected shoes. Calluses formed on the soles, in the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe fingers or in the interdigital folds of the feet cause a lot of inconvenience due to pain. Microbes enter the resulting cracks, which can lead to erysipelas or other diseases.
Some types of corns are characterized by deeply growing “roots”. It is not so easy to get rid of corns, it takes a lot of time and effort. Therefore, the formation of corns is better to avoid.
Dry callus is a reaction of increased cell proliferation called keratinocytes. The skin in the area of damage becomes rigid, loses its elasticity and normal sensitivity to external influences.
Wet callus is a protective reaction of the body, which leads to stratification of the epidermis and accumulation of inflammatory exudate in the resulting space. The main pathological factor that will lead to the formation of both dry and wet calluses is constantly repetitive pressure or friction on a certain area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe finger.
There are many indirect reasons that can provoke the appearance of corns on the legs, among them:
Mechanical or external causes:
Wearing tight shoes that rub your toes.
Wearing shoes with heels, when the main load falls on the front of the foot.
Wearing shoes with bare feet.
Wearing socks and stockings made of hard synthetic materials.
Engaging in sports that lead to increased friction of the foot and increased stress on it. This includes ballet, gymnastics, running.
Connective tissue diseases: atrophy of adipose tissue, consequences of bruises, cicatricial atrophy.
Diabetes. With this disease, serious disorders occur in the body, which negatively affect the condition of the skin of the legs. As a result, corns appear in places of excessive pressure, although such an effect would not cause any pathological changes in a healthy person. Corns in people with diabetes heal for a long time, can become infected and fester.
Age-related changes in the skin. The older the person, the less moisture remains in the skin, it becomes thinner and drier. The loss of former elasticity leads to the fact that a person often has corns.
Skin diseases: psoriasis, eczema, fungal infections of the feet, the presence of plantar warts, dermatosis, etc.
Systemic diseases: rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis.
Skeletal disorders: Morton’s foot, flat feet, dislocation of the joints of the toes, post-traumatic bone deformities. Significance of violations of posture.
neurological pathologies. With the pathology of peripheral nerves, the sensitivity of the skin decreases, so a person may simply not notice that there is excessive friction on a certain finger. As a result, he will often have calluses. In addition, weak innervation of the feet leads to hyperkeratosis. Such skin has insufficient elasticity, which is an additional risk factor for the appearance of corns.
Deficiency in the body of vitamins.
Increased sweating of the legs.
Overweight, in which there is excessive pressure on the foot as a whole. In addition, it is more difficult for obese people to choose shoes for themselves.
Postponed surgery.
Calluses on the toes are common both among healthy young people who play sports and among older people with chronic diseases.
Dry calluses on toes
Dry calluses of the feet are limited foci of thickening of the stratum corneum of the epidermis. Such corns have clear boundaries and approximately the same thickness over the entire surface. Most often, these corns are yellow. They can be located on any toes, but are predominantly found on the little fingers. Depending on the location of the dry callus and the friction exerted on it, it can respond with pain.
Dry corns are divided into hard and core. A hard callus is a closed growth that most often does not cause pain. Slight discomfort may occur when pressing on the affected area of the skin. A favorite place for the localization of such calluses are the lateral surfaces of the fingers. About core corns will be discussed below.
Symptoms of dry corn:
The color of the callus is yellow, or yellowish-white, or gray.
The surface of the corn can be either smooth or rough.
The corn has a rounded or oval shape.
During pressure on the corn or while walking, a person may experience pain. This is especially true for calluses with a stem.
The surface of a dry callus does not have sufficient sensitivity compared to the rest of the skin
Sometimes cracks are visible in the thickness of the callus, and sometimes the skin pattern is barely visible.
Some corns, when exposed to external influences, may respond with itching.
Water calluses on the legs
Water or soft calluses are most often localized on the skin between the toes, although they can form anywhere. In the area of their concentration, conditions of high humidity are always created, the skin is macerated, it becomes soft.
Water callus is a bubble that contains a transparent intercellular fluid.
Water callus symptoms:
At an early stage in the development of water callus, a patch of swelling and redness appears on the skin. He hurts a little.
If the source of friction is not removed, a bubble will appear on the skin, which will be filled with liquid. This bubble will be a water callus.
It hurts a lot, even a slight touch to its surface responds with pain. The skin in this area is very tense.
If the corn is subjected to injury, it will burst. The liquid contained in the bubble will begin to leak out.
If the walls of the bladder are completely torn off, then a weeping wound will remain on the skin. She will get sick.
The rupture of the water callus opens up access for the pathogenic flora, therefore, the likelihood of infection and suppuration is greatly increased. If bacteria enter the wound, the skin around the corn turns red. The pain will be throbbing, it occurs even when no external pressure is exerted on the corn. If liquid remains in the bubble, it becomes cloudy. Yellow crusts may appear around the perimeter of the corn. Possible rise in body temperature.
Improper treatment of water callus can cause it to become dry and even pivotal.
Corns on the feet
Callus is an area of hyperkeratosis of the skin, which has clear boundaries. The sizes of corns are most often small. It has a rounded shape and smooth edges. If we consider the frequency of localization of calluses on the toes, then they are found mainly on the lateral surfaces of fingers 2-5.
It is necessary to distinguish between a callus and a plantar wart, as they have a number of similar features. In addition to the focus of hyperkeratosis, the callus has a hard translucent root. It is located in the center of the corn. Its basis is dense horny masses.
If you press on the callus, the person will feel a sharp pain, as this will compress the nerve endings penetrating the dermis. They are located between the rod and the bone process of the fingers or foot. By the way, if you press on a plantar wart, it will also respond with pain. However, the wart hurts when you press it both from the side and in the center. The callus hurts only when vertical pressure is applied. Warts do not change the skin pattern, they have brown blotches, which are clotted blood, appearing from small blood vessels.
Thus, the main symptoms of callus include:
Yellow skin color.
Sharp pain on vertical pressure.
The presence of a root in the center of the corn.
A callus is a type of dry callus.
First aid for the appearance of corns
Emergency measures should be taken only when a person has water calluses. If you ignore their symptoms, then the likelihood of a bladder breakthrough and infection increases.
First aid for the appearance of water callus is reduced to the following activities:
It is necessary to eliminate the factor of pressure or friction that led to the formation of corns. If this is not done, the bubble will get bigger and eventually burst.
The corn must be disinfected.
If necessary, the corn is pierced.
The affected area is covered with a clean cloth.
Such measures can reduce the likelihood of a breakthrough of the bubble and the entry of pathogenic flora into the wound.
Corn Complications
If you run a corn and do not start treatment on time, this can lead to serious complications. So, core corns can cause pain when walking. Because of this, a person begins to incorrectly redistribute the load on the foot, which leads to lameness, impaired gait, and in severe cases, to deformation of the bone tissue.
Water corns carry a threat of infection. If the bubble bursts, then bacteria can get into the open wound, the most dangerous of which are staphylococci and streptococci. Ignoring the purulent process, edema and inflammation will lead to the spread of infection through the bloodstream, first to nearby tissues, and then throughout the body as a whole. A person’s body temperature rises, which requires emergency medical care. Fortunately, such situations rarely happen.
People with diabetes should be especially wary of calluses. The disease affects the state of blood vessels in the body. The legs are the first to suffer. Deterioration in the nutrition of the foot and the appearance of purulent calluses on the toes can even lead to amputation.
Dry corns without a core become covered with cracks, which can cause discomfort while walking. In addition, violation of the integrity of the skin often contributes to the addition of fungal flora.
How to avoid complications?
The following recommendations will help prevent the development of complications:
If it was decided to pierce the water callus, then this must be done with a sterile needle.
As far as possible, you need to maintain the integrity of the skin that covers the wet callus.
The corn must be protected from friction and dirt getting into it. The bursting corn should be covered with a sterile bandage.
The bandage must be changed regularly.
It is important to carry out hygiene of the feet in a timely manner, to keep them clean.
Moisture and sweat are ideal conditions for the reproduction of bacterial flora, so you need to monitor the dryness of the lower extremities. Lubrication of corns with antiseptic and antibacterial agents will prevent the development of infection.
Callus treatment
The treatments that can be used to speed up the healing of calluses will differ depending on which type of callus a person is diagnosed with.
A dermatologist may suggest the following methods for removing corns:
Removal of corns with a laser. This procedure is used to treat advanced cases when the skin growth is large and has a deep root. The coarsened layers of the skin and the rod itself are burned out with a laser. The undoubted advantage of the procedure is its absolute bloodlessness. There is no possibility of infection, since the corn is treated with high temperatures, which destroy the entire bacterial flora. After processing the corn, a crust will form on it, which will fall off in a few days and expose new, young and healthy skin.
Cryodestruction. In this case, the skin growth is treated with liquid nitrogen. The procedure is painless and therefore does not require anesthesia. After nitrogen is applied to the skin, its cells are frozen and destroyed. A blister appears in place of the former callus. When it bursts, it will be necessary to treat it with antiseptic compounds. Healing occurs in 7-15 days. This method is not suitable for removing very large growths, since the rehabilitation period in this case increases significantly in time.
Radio wave method removal of corn involves its treatment with an electrode that emits radio waves. The procedure is contactless, the corn, during its implementation, is simply evaporated. The wound heals very quickly, and there are no scars and scars at the site of exposure.
Electrocoagulation involves the treatment of corns with high-frequency currents. Under their influence, the corn heats up and collapses. A crust forms at the treatment site, which will fall off on its own in 7-14 days.
Surgical removal. There is another way to get rid of a callus is to cut it out with a scalpel and scissors. The operation is carried out on an outpatient basis. The method is painful, requires local injection anesthesia, and is also associated with the risk of bleeding and infection. It is used only if the patient has contraindications for other procedures.
Cosmetic procedures at the cosmetologist
People with calluses or dry calluses can consult a cosmetologist. On a paid basis, with the help of special tools and apparatus for performing a medical pedicure, the specialist will remove the corn. He performs its layer-by-layer cutting using burs and cutters with various nozzles. The procedure is painless for the patient, but it is important that it is performed by a podiatrist or a dermatologist with medical pedicure skills. When the doctor gets to the rod, he just cuts it out. At this point, the person may feel a slight prick.
In cosmetology centers, individual insoles, correctors or prostheses can be selected if the patient has orthopedic problems. This will prevent the formation of corns in the future.
Prevention of corns
The appearance of corns on the feet can be prevented by wearing comfortable, high-quality shoes, and socks should also be clean and wearable. Most often, corns form on wet skin, so that this does not happen, choose special or sports socks, in a hot period of time, shoes should ventilate the feet.
When walking for a long time – for example, when hiking – shoes should be of the right size, if you still feel that you are rubbing your foot (burning sensation), it is best to seal this place with adhesive tape to reduce friction.
You can avoid calluses on your hands if you use protective gloves when working with a shovel, ax or saw. Also use protective gloves if you are doing heavy physical work (stretching ropes or moving loads). In order to minimize friction, you can use special tools, such as talc.
If your working day is spent mainly on your feet, then at the end of work, prepare a hot bath for your feet, you need to lower your feet into it for about 10 minutes, then pour cold water on your feet, wipe them dry, put on other socks and comfortable shoes. A kerosene bath can replace a hot bath: in the evening, you should lower your feet into kerosene for 10 minutes. This will get rid of fresh calluses, besides, such a bath is only good and no harm. Most often, calluses occur on the feet, for this reason, pay special attention to the shoes you wear. This will avoid various inconveniences, including pain.
What shoes should be worn?
Oddly enough, but in order to avoid corns, doctors advise to trample on shoes. If there is a hard callus, in order to reduce pressure on the sore spot, the shoes in this place need to be stretched. A specialist can stretch shoes, as, indeed, you yourself. To do this, it is necessary to lubricate it with a special tool for stretching shoes. This procedure must be repeated several times. Walk in shoes while the skin is still damp and until you feel comfortable in them.
Make your shoes comfortable. If the callus has formed at the base of the foot, the shoes can be modified. To do this, the shoemaker will add a rubber or leather strip to the sole of the shoe, and there will be tarsals in the middle. It is important to position the pad so that the ball of the foot swings on it, but without pressing on the bones in this area. After the strip loses its function, it must be replaced. This method has its drawbacks: these strips can catch on the carpet or steps, which can lead to a fall. For this reason, this method is not suitable for older people. However, such a strip can be fixed along the entire sole of the shoe, then it is less effective, but safer.
Heels should not be worn very high. It is best if the heel is medium. An important rule to remember: shoes must be made of genuine leather and of the required size to sit exactly on the foot!