All about Corns and Calluses

What are corns and calluses? Corns and calluses like warts are excessive growths of skin, but differ from warts because they are caused by pressure or friction on the foot, rather than by a virus. This also means that corns and calluses are not contagious.

Also like verrucas, when corns and calluses appear on weight bearing areas such as the ball of the foot, the pressure on the underlying skin layers caused by the thickened area of skin can make them particularly uncomfortable and quite painful to walk on.

What causes corns and calluses? The most common cause of corns and calluses are poorly-fitting shoes. Once again, young children are the most vulnerable due to the rapid growth of their feet.

Things to know about corns and calluses Corns and calluses may go away by themselves eventually if the pressure or friction on the foot is removed, but this can take a considerable length of time. A corn or callus will almost certainly come back after it has been removed if the pressure or friction on the foot is not removed too.