Corn is one of the most painful problems of the feet. It hampers persons walking style. Worst thing is no matter you use corn caps, ointments or even surgically get it removed it reoccurs. The reason of reoccurrence is in most of the cases the root cause of problem is not addressed.
How the corns develop?
Whenever we stand & walk we exert pressure on our sole, so we have pressure areas. If person has any weakness in foot arches then it affects this pressure areas so on certain area there will be more pressure & certain areas there will be less or no pressure at all. Secondly when we walk there will be always some friction between our feet & footwear. Using bigger sizes shoes increases this friction. Because of these two factors that is pressure & friction person develops initially calluses (thick skin) which letter can converts into corn.
Once corn develops because of walking it goes deeper inside foot & becomes very painful.
Wrong way of treatment:
Unfortunately the routine treatment of corns are salicylic acid, corn caps which are not good as salicylic acid damages surrounding healthy tissues, can even lead to infection.
Podiatry treatment:
Podiatry addresses this issue by treating root cause. After proper Biomechanical evaluation Podiatrist can prescribe you corrective insoles which offload corn area. So patient can stand & walk but there will not be pressure on corn. This starts natural healing process & corn starts coming out like seed. Following is one of the case studies of one patient consulted with me in V-Care clinic. It shows how podiatry offloading technique can heal corns without surgery.
Case study:
25 year male working in five star restaurant working as a floor manager came with complaints three corn in his left foot since 3 years. Occupation includes standing for 8-10 hours of standing. Used many corn caps, consulted with many doctors but no improvement. One doctor even advised for surgery.
His foot examination reveals very high medial arch (Pes Cavus foot type) with weak transverse arches resulting excessive forefoot pressure. His foot size was US 8 Extra wide width, was using US 9 shoes (Bigger).
Treatment started with offloading three corns together by prescribing corrective orthotics in his formal shoes. After three follow ups in interval of 15 days, corns started healing. In third follow up removed corns (Non surgical way). It has been more than a year & corns has not reoccurred.