The term “foot corns” when associated with the foot refers to areas of thickening of the skin on a toe or toes. The thickening or “keratosis” is usually found on the top of the toe, over one of the two “knuckles” of the toe. If the corn is found just behind the toenail it is located on the distal knuckle, or “distal interphalangeal joint’; if it is on the knuckle farther back toward the area where the toe meets the rest of the foot, it is over the proximal knuckle or the “proximal interphalangeal joint”. The corns found in these areas are hard corns, as the tissue is thickened, hard, and many times yellowish in color.
“Corns” are formed by the body as a protective response of skin thickening secondary to irritation to normal bony areas. Temporary corns, usually starting as a blister, are formed by the body when irritation occurs to a toe from a tight shoe or excess walking. These disappear after the cause of irritation is removed. Usually, foot corns are chronic painful lesions (keratosis) formed by the body secondary to bony deformities of the toe, such as a “hammertoe”. Relief is obtained by removing the thickening of the skin with conservative treatment, or straightening out the hammertoe with surgery.
Corns can also be found in-between the toes where they are referred to as soft corns, since the moisture between the toes keep the corn soft. As with hard corns, they can be temporary secondary to a one time irritation, or chronic due to bony deformity of the toe. Treatment is the same as with “hard corns”; conservative or surgical. Conservative treatments range from padding to removal if the hard skin, whereas surgical treatment refers to straightening of the toe with some bone removal.
