Corns & Warts:

Corns vs. Warts

Corns are developed where there is friction or pressure at a particular point on your foot. On the other hand, plantar warts are caused by a viral infection of the skin. Much like foot and nail fungus we discussed earlier, plantar warts must enter through a break in the skin, so dry or cracked feet are especially susceptible to developing a plantar wart. Also, the viral nature of plantar warts makes them contagious, whereas corns are not.

Corns are actually a buildup of dead skin; they grow inward in a cone shape at a pressure point on your foot. Typically they’re found between and on top of the toes because of the pressure caused by the toe bones. In addition, corns can develop on the bottom pads of your feet which tend to be more painful because you’re always walking on them. The inward cone at the pressure point creates a core which can penetrate deep to hit a nerve in the foot (which is very painful). Since the corns do not have their own nerve or blood supply, when you remove the core, you remove the pain.

Think of the last time you wore a tight pair of shoes with narrow toes for a couple of hours. That pressure in between and on top of the toes is the key ingredient for developing a corn.

It won’t happen overnight, but persistent pressure will cause the buildup of skin at the pressure point, leading to the painful inward cone.

Plantar warts on the other hand are a viral infection of the skin, and can only enter through a break in the skin. Public washrooms or pools are a common source for picking up the plantar wart infection. If your feet are compromised, you will almost certainly absorb the virus upon contact, so the best thing to do is wear footwear or begin the process to nurture your feet back to health.

Plantar warts have a cauliflower-like appearance, with small black dots representing the nerve and blood supply. As such, attempting to cut away the wart will result in bleeding and pain.

A non-invasive, pain free and very inexpensive way to remove a wart is using Duct Tape. First clean the area surrounding the wart and make sure it’s nice and dry. Cut a small piece of Duct tape to cover the wart. Apply the Duct Tape and replace it once the tape starts to come off. The point of this technique is to suffocate the Wart, so if you are not consistent it will not kill the wart.

For corns, If your shoes are not fitting you correctly and they are causing pressure because they are too narrow, to short in the length, or there is a flaw in the shoe you simply need to replace them.

Some people will get corns on the bottom ‘pads’ of their feet. This can be associated with fallen arches, so a pair of quality orthotics can help with this problem.

I am well trained at removing corns and the associated pain, but if your footwear does not change it will come back.

Having a routine Pedicure will remove excess callusing that surrounds a corn or wart and will decrease the pain that can be associated with having either. In many cases, people forget to take their feet in for “routine maintenance” like they would their car to keep on top of any problems before they get out of hand.