Taking a closer look at our feet can be depressing. Statistically, eight out of every ten adults have calluses, bunions, and corns to deal with. Blisters are a common occurrence as the latest shoe fashions are broken in. Athletically inclined adults (or adults with athletically inclined family members) run a high risk of struggling with athlete’s foot. Depending on how careful you are with pedicures, you can also be subject to painful ingrown nails that can become infected and swollen! There are ways to prevent these problems from occurring and there are solutions to most of these foot infirmities, but some are going to be hard to adopt and adapt to your lifestyle. Try to stick with it though, because soft, smooth feet, without squished toes and lumps and bumps, are definitely the way to go!
There is nothing glamorous about corns and calluses but they are abundant and occur more often than just about any other foot malady. Corns are thickened lumps formed on the outer layer of skin and occur over bony areas, such as toe joints, especially on the tops or sides of toes. Corns are most recognizable by a small, tender, and painful raised bump that has a noticeably hard-textured center. Corns can be tender and painful, depending on how large they are and how much pressure shoes put on them.
Calluses are larger, and almost always are a painless thickening of skin caused by repeated pressure or irritation on the heels or balls of the feet. Calluses can become painful when they become so dry and cracked that the area becomes sore and tender to the touch.
In essence, corns and calluses are the body’s way of protecting the feet from injury. For women, the most typical source of injury is from the shoes they wear. The pressure exerted on the foot, especially the toes, when it is forced into high heels or narrow shoe widths is nothing less than torture for the toes, heels, and arches of the feet. Your feet respond to this burden by growing skin cells at a faster rate to form a protective covering as a way to cushion the bones of the foot. It’s this overgrowth of skin cells that forms calluses and corns.
Our feet would almost be picture perfect if women wore better shoes. High heels, narrow toe boxes, tight fits, and strange shapes (that don’t match the proportions of the foot) are all disasters waiting to happen. If stopping the growth of calluses and corns isn’t enough of an incentive, it also turns out that wearing high heels can cause back, hip, knee, and ankle pain brought about by a change in one’s gait due to severe discomfort; it can also cause degenerative changes in the joint (Source: Lancet, May 1998, pages 1399-1401).
A study reported in Health News (June 1998, page 5) established that regular walking in high heels may also cause arthritic knees and hips, conditions that affect twice as many women as men. High heels prevent the ankles from functioning as they should, causing added strain to the hips and knees. For those of you who are saying “I don’t have severe discomfort wearing heels; heels are just part of my life and I’m used to them,” you are only fooling yourselves. Consider Chinese women at the turn of the century who had their feet bound. For some of them, the inevitable, daily pain was just part of their life, too.
As you may have guessed, it is really useless to try and treat corns and calluses until you remove the source of the problem. Once you do that, you can use good old-fashioned corn and callus pads to reduce pressure on irritated areas in your new, comfortable, wellfitting shoes. Many women try to peel or rub the thickened area with a pumice stone, but irritation and pressure will only make things look slightly better temporarily, and probably only exacerbate the problem in the long run. It is also a big no-no to try and slice away the offending areas with a razor or to use scissors or clippers to cut them off. That’s a sure way to cause injury or infection. A better fix is to exfoliate with a high-concentration beta hydroxy acid product designed for warts. First soak your feet in warm water and then apply a 5% or 10% salicylic acid cream (which may need to be specially compounded by your pharmacist). In general, if you see any signs of infection developing around a corn or callus, such as redness, swelling, pain, heat, or tenderness, see your doctor immediately.
Bunions are another story altogether, except that wearing ill-fitting shoes can also be (and often are) the cause. The technical name for a bunion is “hallux valgus.” If you have a lump or bump on the inside edge of your foot around the big toe, especially one that’s red, swollen, or hurting, you probably have a bunion. Another telltale sign is the direction your big toe points. If your big toe is angling inward and the joint is jutting outward, you’re probably looking at a bunion.
There’s no way around this one—you’ve got to change your shoes or you will never get rid of the bunion. The toes of any shoes you wear should be round or square, not pointy. And think flat! Heels are just asking for trouble. If you’re experiencing pain, it is best to see your doctor, but you can try icing the area or taking aspirin or ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation. Really severe bunions, however, may require surgery.