Plantar Warts, Corns, & Calluses
If you’re anything like me, you’ve got painful foot growths. You’ve seen all the Google images, and they still don’t help you figure out wtf is going on.
I’ve got…something on the bottom-left front corner of my foot. It’s been frustrating me for many years, and has varied in intensity. I used to just drink until I couldn’t feel it, then carry on. It didn’t really get better, but often got worse. Too bad alcohol no longer does anything beside ruin my life.
The area is also heavily callused.
Despite having seen a podiatrist for several months, and having it treated as a plantar wart, I remain skeptical that it could be a wart. It doesn’t feel like a wart, or bleed like one (I like to pick at things).
I can only conclude that this is a corn, but even then it doesn’t quite match the corn pics very well. The callused corn-wart is also pretty hard to even see at a glance. Upon closer inspection there does seem to be a tiny little center. The barely visible abnormality isn’t quite aligned with the pain center. And for how small the whole deal is, the pain it induces is so sharp and severe that it literally interferes with my day-to-day life. To some end I have adapted by walking around like a goddamn retard, but even that is only effective like 1 out of every 5 steps.
Imagine, if you will, a tiny little metal cylinder, maybe smaller in diameter than mechanical pencil lead. Very small, but very solid. Now shove into the ball of your foot. Now walk on it. All day. Everyday.
Alright ladies and gentlemen, let’s have a bit of an educational lesson here. Maybe later I’ll come back and find an appropriate affiliate link. Not some dumb $2 Proof of Hell e-book (note to self, add that link in this sentence), but like…a real product that works.
Okay so, First, Corns. You see the pic, so let’s see what the internet has to offer. I’ve got a half dozen tabs to copy/paste from, let’s rock!
What causes foot corns?
You can develop foot corns from wearing shoes that are too snug on your feet. If you stand or walk for long periods of time, the weight of your body and the constant friction can also cause painful corns on the bottoms of your feet.
How can you treat foot corns?
If you’re sure you have a corn, you can try one of these methods to manage it at home. You should also get rid of any shoes that are too small for your feet and other ill-fitting shoes.
File away the corn
It may be possible to remove the corn. Use these steps:
Soak your feet in a warm bath with Epsom salts.
After the soak, pat your feet dry with a clean towel and moisturize with a hydrating lotion or cocoa butter.
Continue this process daily until your corn has softened.
After it’s softened and not painful, try gently rubbing the corn with a pumice stone.
If the corn is between your toes, use an emery board, also known as a nail file, to rub them.
Repeat these steps until your corn has disappeared, which may take a few weeks.
Alright, cool, but here’s my problem. I had my alleged corn scraped away a dozen times by a podiatrist. But that’s not all, since he called it a wart and applied salicylic acid in the little hole created by removing the growth. It was extremely painful and I wanted to believe it helped, but obviously it didn’t since I had to keep going back.
So what are warts?
What Are Plantar Warts?
Plantar warts are warts that develop on plantar surfaces -- that is, the soles (or bottom) of the feet. Normal standing and walking tends to force them into the skin, and the pressure causes pain to the affected area. Calluses formed by the body’s attempt to prevent spread of warts can also cause pain when walking. Plantar warts are harmless and may go away even without treatment, but in many cases they are too painful to ignore. Plantar warts that grow together in a cluster are known as mosaic wart
See, that’s just not right. I’ve had a recurring wart on a finger that closely resembled this picture. I simply do not believe that what I have is a wart. Unless a wart can be so heavily callused that it can’t grow…but then it should be spreading internally, shouldn’t it? Or dying? No, I don’t believe, based on the information available on Yahoo! Answers that I have a wart.
What about calluses?
Calluses are rarely painful. They usually develop on the soles of your feet, especially under the heels or balls, on your palms, or on your knees. Calluses vary in size and shape and are often larger than corns.
I think we all know the difference between callus and other growth. But just to be safe, here’s a picture of callus.
I have this, too, but I’m not the least bit concerned because it’s not the least bit painful.
I think it’s interesting to note that the cause of all 3 of these things are more or less the same. Warts do require exposure to HPV on your feet, often because of going barefoot in pools or locker rooms.
Corns and calluses develop from repeated friction, rubbing or irritation and pressure on the skin. Corns and calluses typically form on the bony or prominent areas of feet. On the hands, they (more likely calluses) form on the areas where there is ongoing rubbing against the skin.
The hardened layers of skin of corns and calluses are actually your body’s way of protecting the underlying skin from the irritation and pressure.
Plantar warts, like all warts, are caused by a virus that invades the skin through tiny cuts or scrapes. The warts may not appear for weeks or months after the initial exposure. Like other viral infections, plantar warts are contagious, commonly spread in public swimming pools, communal showers, or even your shower at home. Epidemics of plantar warts sometimes break out among people who share gym or athletic facilities or who engage in group activities where bare feet are the rule, such as yoga and martial arts.
Then what’s the best treatment for plantar warts?
Best case scenario, no treatment is necessary. Just leave it alone. Like other warts, most plantar warts eventually go away on their own. It might just take a year or two.
NO. Okay, it’s definitely not a wart. Or at the least, not any kind of wart that the internet is aware of. Leaving it alone is also no longer an option. Painkillers are not an option, as I have a history of substance abuse. Illicitly acquired opiates are not an option, either, as I can’t afford that kind of luxurious and wonderful addiction.
How can you treat foot corns?
If you’re sure you have a corn, you can try one of these methods to manage it at home. You should also get rid of any shoes that are too small for your feet and other ill-fitting shoes.
File away the corn
It may be possible to remove the corn. Use these steps:
Soak your feet in a warm bath with Epsom salts.
After the soak, pat your feet dry with a clean towel and moisturize with a hydrating lotion or cocoa butter.
Continue this process daily until your corn has softened.
After it’s softened and not painful, try gently rubbing the corn with a pumice stone.
If the corn is between your toes, use an emery board, also known as a nail file, to rub them.
Repeat these steps until your corn has disappeared, which may take a few weeks.
Apply castor oil and corn pads
If you’d prefer to not file away your corn, there are other methods. You can soak your feet daily as described above and then follow these steps:
Pat dry your feet and apply castor oil. This is a vegetable-based oil that you can purchase at your local pharmacy.
After moisturizing your corn with castor oil, protect it with a special corn pad that you can find at your pharmacy. Corn pads help relieve the pressure from the area so that the corn can heal.
After applying, make sure to wear socks that are not too tight and ones you don’t care for because the castor oil can stain. It could take several weeks for the corn to heal.
Over-the-counter options
If you’d prefer a quicker method to get rid of your corns, over-the-counter options are available and considered safe and effective as well. You can purchase corn pads containing salicylic acid in the foot care aisle of your pharmacy and apply them on your corns. By following the directions provided, you can see your corns disappear in as quickly as two weeks.
I’m well aware that I copy/pasted part of the same page a second time. I have to admit that I have not tried castor oil, but I have tried corn pads. The pads do help, somewhat. Much the same as walking like I’ve got a disability, they mitigate around 20-25% of overall painful steps taken. If you kept track, we’re still at under 50% of steps taken that are not painful. For reference, the number of steps taken today was 10,605. So 5300 of those steps made me hate my life. ( I wanted to say harm myself and others, but I don’t need Google calling the county Sheriff and doxing me to the popo).
If you were wondering about the OTC options, the article doesn’t bother listing any. Probably because they’re all terrible. Like , more terrible than my inconsistent formatting to try to differentiate between what I wrote and what I copied. This thing has gone off the rails. I’ll leave you with a nasty foot picture and pray that your steps are less painful than mine.
One day it’s just a harmless little corn, the next your feet need to be amputated.
