What Others Are Saying:
"Modeling with broken bones was painful,
until I met Dr. Jenson
I had to have surgery on my right foot due to multiple broken bones and was initially scared of the procedure. But after meeting Dr. Jenson, all my worries were gone. Not only did he do an incredible job in my surgery, he had me up and running in no time. My work requires me to be standing for long periods of time and involves a lot of traveling. Without Dr. Jenson and his wonderful staff, I wouldn’t have been able to feel as great as I do in this short time."
- Taylor Hannah
Corns and Calluses
Accumulation of dead skin that results in areas of thickening, mostly a result from excessive pressure or friction over a boney prominence. When these areas develop on top of the toes, they’re called corns. When they develop on the bottom of the foot, the heel or the inside of the big toe, they’re called calluses.
The thickening of skin is a normal body response. The process serves as a body’s defense mechanism to protect the foot against excessive pressure and friction.
Symptoms
- Areas of rough skin
- May feel pain upon walking
- Possible blistering and bleeding
Common Causes
- Excessive pressure and rubbing to area of foot
- Shoes
- High Heels
- Smaller or narrower shoes
- Hammertoe deformity
- Toes are bent inwards and rub against the top of shoes to cause corn formation
- Bone Spurs
- Bone protrudes and puts pressure on skin, which sticks out and causes increase rubbing when wearing shoes
- Misalignment of bones
- Long bones behind toes on the bottom of the feet that are misaligned cause excessive pressure when weight bearing to cause calluses
- Obesity
- Flat Feet
- Loss of fat pad at the bottom of foot
- High arched feet
Treatment: Prevention is sometimes easier than actual treatment
- Home treatment to reduce friction and rubbing of area
- To reduce pressure between the toes and foot with cotton or a foam cushion
- Antibiotic ointment to reduce risk of infection
- Removing of dead skin and the wart’s root
- Orthotics
- To distribute weight of foot equally when walking to reduce pressure in specific areas
- Hammertoe surgery
- To fix issues and prevent future corns
- Bone spur removal
- To remove increase tension on skin to prevent rubbing and friction
- Alignment procedures
- To reduce pressure in certain areas
People with diabetes face special skin challenges. Because diabetes affects capillaries, small blood vessels that feed the skin, thickening of skin increases difficulty of supplying nutrients to the skin. The roughened area adjoined with the pressure and friction that caused it may end up tearing the capillaries or adjoining tissue. This may cause the corn or callus to bleed.
Bleeding within a corn or callus is an early sign of diabetes, sometimes before elevated blood sugar levels. The blood itself can become an irritant that makes the area burn or itch. If the blood pools and is exposed to the outside, infection may follow. This may lead to ulceration. Some infections may become severe with amputations as possibilities. Prevention is key when dealing with diabetes.
