Foot corns can cause a lot of pain that can often times be debilitating. It is important to decipher which type of corn you have first as a lot of corns cannot be removed by simply scraping them away, this can often worsen the pain.
You can get many types of corns such as hard corns, soft corns and seed corns. This article will focus on Heloma milliare, aka ‘seed corns’.
Seeds corns are very, very painful. They look small, diamond-shaped and are more painful than a large hard corn. The reason for the extra pain is not due to the hard skin of the corn, it is what is causing it underneath.
Seed corns are not caused by pressure, they are caused by an overactive nerve ending. So, just like you can have freckles on your arms, it is the same thing but not with melanin, it is with keratin. The overactive nerve ending that is under the skin creates an overgrowth of keratin. The seed corns look like a bunch of little diamonds but it is actually the overactive nerves underneath that create this pain.
If a doctor misdiagnoses seed corns as a ‘hard corn’ and tried to shave off the hard skin to make it better this would worsen the pain. So by literally drilling out these tiny little corns it is not going to make the pain go away and in fact it actually can make it worse.
Our solutions for a hard corn and seed corn are different. For a hard corn, what we recommend to prevent a this from forming is to wear a custom insole that lifts the arch of your foot and takes the pressure away from the area which is the root of the cause.
However, for seed corns, we recommend seeing the dermatologist because they may be able to give you a cream that is a keratolytic that actually thins your skin and makes it more supple and baby-like and helps to reset the nerves underneath.
Also, they might be able to give you a vitamin A retinol cream, steroid cream or urea-based cream.
I highly recommend using vitamin A retinol cream onto the pad of your foot – bear in mind 1 skin cycle is 28 days, so you will need to apply this cream for 3 skin cycles (3 months) before you notice an improvement. It is going to be a slightly long process.
Additionally, I recommend wearing very thick and fluffy socks that will soften the pressure on your feet instead of thin socks or no socks at all. Even if you wear soft shoes it will still be an issue. Fluffy , thick socks will greatly ease the pain, such as Thorlos tennis or golf socks as they have thick padding.
Most importantly, the nerve endings creating the seed corns need to calm down. This is genetic so someone else in the family mostly likely has it and it normally also is created by having high foot arches. So, with high arches the nerve endings are very, very hyperactive and it can lead to these seed corns.
To conclude, scratching, scraping, or filing the seed corns it will not do anything, in fact you are just going to irritate the nerves more. I recommend consulting with a dermatologist for their professional opinion and diagnosis. The goal is to make the skin soft and baby-like using a retinol or a vitamin A high strength cream on your feet every night for 3 months and wear very soft, fluffy socks by brands such as Thorlos which you can purchase from Amazon (linked below). These 2 steps will really, really help.
Amazon Link for Thorlos
For more information or to book an appointment please call our clinic +971 4 3435390 or WhatsApp +971 50 3553024