# Corns



## oldwheels (30 Jun 2020)

I have developed a corn on the outside of my right foot which is agony with any footwear apart from slippers. It can even be felt while cycling tho' not quite so bad. This is something I have never had before and I am not exactly young. Apart from corn plasters which seem to have a very limited effect has anybody any idea what to do about this? There are no professionals anywhere near where I live and the NHS does not seem to do much in this field nowadays anyway. In any case under the present circumstances any treatment is unlikely and there is probably now a massive waiting list.


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## classic33 (30 Jun 2020)

Cut back the corn using a scalpel, not a scraper. A number 12 blade(curved blade) with a number 10(short diagonal) to tidy the area up after.

Model shops tend to be a good place to try, along with art shops.


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## oldwheels (2 Jul 2020)

classic33 said:


> Cut back the corn using a scalpel, not a scraper. A number 12 blade(curved blade) with a number 10(short diagonal) to tidy the area up after.
> 
> Model shops tend to be a good place to try, along with art shops.


Thanks for that but I am a bit nervous using a scalpel having no experience in that field. I do have some scalpels lying around somewhere but there is no model shop or art shop near me and I am supposed to be shielding. There is now not even a chiropodist around. Pumice seems to be recommended and my daughter in law has sent me some fancy plasters.


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## Darius_Jedburgh (2 Jul 2020)

Google Swann Morton. 
Get a 3a handle and blades of your choice. Will cost peanuts and last a lifetime. 
Useful for all sorts of jobs.


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## classic33 (2 Jul 2020)

If taken slowly, it should be easy enough. You don't remove the entire corn, just enough to ease any painful rubbing.

Mentioning the two blades probably makes it sound more complicated than it is. The curved blade is less likely to slide, making it safer to use, and will do the job a lot easier. You could finish up(smooth your work) with the pumice stone.


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## PaulSB (2 Jul 2020)

My mother used to shave her corn with a safety razor....my father's. She would then smooth with a pumice stone and put on corn plasters. A strange round padded plaster with a hole in the centre.


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## wafter (3 Jul 2020)

Many words but a worthwhile alternative to repeatedly shaving.

I had maybe four corns that I spent years attempting to deal with by shaving.. watching them slowly grow in this time (by the end the centres of some were maybe 4-5mm in diameter).

As we're all probably aware the anatomy of a corn is a ring of hard / calloused skin surrounding another small central "grain" of hard skin which sits on top of the sensitive part and is responsible for the discomfort when pressure is applied.

After years of the shaving I discovered a different approach; using the very tip of the famous 10A blade to remove the centre part of the corn. If done right no cutting or pain is necessary; the very tip of the blade can be used to gently work the centre of the corn inward away from its border with the surrounding callous, to the point where it can be attacked from the side / underside; pierced with the blade (pointing outward from the rest of the foot so minimal chance of injury) and peeled away from the skin beneth.

I found the parts separate quite easily / naturally; leaving the sensitive centre portion recessed and protected from pressure by the surrounding callous to an extent, although this can be shaved back further to give instant, total relief. The best part is that while the hard centre section grows back over time (maybe a couple of weeks) it gets smaller after each successive removal until in my case the corns completely disappeared 

I think the surrounding largely callouses shrank and disappeared on their own; although I might have given them a bit of a hand with the blade or some abrasives.

This was maybe 10yrs ago and I've had no discomfort from corns since. I've picked out the tiny (sub-1mm) centres of a few in the same locations but this was before I'd felt they were there. As it happens following this thread I've just checked and done another; the centre being restricted to the harder outer layer of skin and coming away with no pain or other issues after a minute of digging about.

Interestingly at the time I'd not seen this method mentioned elsewhere but have just had a look on youtube and it's covered nicely in this (clickbait if perversely satisfying) video:



Proper job


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## screenman (3 Jul 2020)

Where are you that there are no foot care practitioners near, there are 3 in our village alone? My wife being one of them.


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## oldwheels (3 Jul 2020)

screenman said:


> Where are you that there are no foot care practitioners near, there are 3 in our village alone? My wife being one of them.


Isle of Mull. We had one until a couple of years ago but she moved away. The nearest is probably Oban which is off limits to me currently unless summoned by the hospital.The way the ferries are just now I would need to plan for an overnight stay anyway which again is off limits as I should be shielding until the end of this month. The tourists are taking up all the bookings so same day return is uncertain at best.


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