Corns & Calluses
What are Corns And Calluses?
Corns and calluses are hard, thick layers of skin your body develops as protection against friction or pressure. Although corns and calluses are quite unnoticeable, they are often rough to feel and sometimes irritable.
What causes Corns and Calluses?
It is common to play sport for a long time and suddenly notice that you have developed hard skin or corns and calluses. This is due to the constant pressure and friction on the feet (for example in football, basketball) or hands (for example badminton).
Corns and Calluses are also quite commonly found in body builders. The gripping of heavy weights can cause friction and pressure on the hands, especially with metal handled dumbbells or barbells, so as a natural defense your skin develops harder, thicker skin to prevent damage from the grip. The best way to avoid Corns and Calluses in body building is to buy a pair of weight lifting gloves.
Treatment for Corns and Calluses
Soak the hand or foot in warm soapy water for 15 minutes. With the hand or foot still in the water, where there is thick hard skin, remove as much as possible without causing soreness. Special callus boards and callus shavers can be bought from the pharmacy for this purpose. Apply hand or foot cream and massage in. Small doughnut pads can be helpful in relieving pain for corns that are between the toes, and other pads of varying sizes can be bought for corns and calluses for different regions of the foot.
Prevention
Avoid wearing shoes or socks that fit incorrectly, and if possible alternate between two pairs, which can mean you need two favorite pairs of sports shoes! Wear protective sports or gym gloves.
Also ensure you gently remove hard skin regularly but be careful not to make your skin sore.