According to STARTHealthCare, three out of four Americans experience foot problems in a lifetime despite the fact that only a small group of individuals are born with foot problems. Calluses are caused by friction, and because feet tend to slide in sandals, calluses build up more quickly in summer.
Unlike edible fungi or mushrooms that live on dead vegetable matter, the fungi and yeast that infect the feet are specialized dermatophytes, meaning that they only feed on keratinized tissue such as hair, skin and nails. Fungal infection in the foot can be confined to the nails and may then spread to the skin, or the other way round, starting on the skin and then infecting the nails. Other names are tinea unguium, dermatophytic onychia, dermatophytosis of the nail, or ringworm of the nail. In the case of dermatophyte fungi and yeast, small invasions are usually dealt with by your body’s own natural resistance or defence mechanisms, provided you have a healthy immune system at the time. The first sign of fungal infection in the nails is a slight discolouration of the nail plate. Remember that pressure or friction is the cause of callous.
For example, if you have a callus on the bottom of your foot, you need to protect it by not going barefoot, by wearing shoes that are more gentle on your feet or even by picking up some callus cushions The goal here is to make sure that it doesn’t get any worse and to give it a chance to soften. This can be done by using a salicylic acid based callus remover You regularly apply this stuff and it slowly but surely peels away the layers of hardened skin. These are essentially a file that you rub on you callus to remove the excess skin. Bear in mind that the built up layers of skin are dead so this isn’t painful. None of them are going to give you perfect soft skin overnight. Also, spend some time thinking about how you got your calluses in the first place. Once you are free from calluses a few small changes may be all that is required to make sure that they are gone for good. Corns and calluses are rarely serious.
Metatarsal pads, soft insole inserts, and modifying standing areas with a soft surface (e.g., a rubber floor mat) may relieve the discomfort of tender calluses. Custom-moldedarch supports (called orthotics ) or over-the-counter arch supports may help if flatfeet contribute to the problem. If one of the metatarsals is too low, an orthotic cutout can equalize pressure on the ball of the foot. Because the thickness of the callus causes pressure, reducing the overgrown tissue by soaking the feet in warm water and filing down the callus with a pumice stone to smooth down the thick tissue may be helpful. In severe cases, podiatrists may use a device called a sterile surgical blade to remove the outer layers of thickened skin. In some cases, one of the metatarsals may be too low or too poorly positioned for orthotics to work.
A callus is actually a bone problem and a foot mechanics problem, not a skin problem. A foot deformity will cause excess pressure to that area from the shoe or the ground. The body’s natural defense mechanism will kick in and start building up the top layer of skin in response to the excess pressure. This is a protective response from the body in an attempt to prevent the pressure from wearing down the skin layers and resulting in an open sore. The problem is that as long as there is pressure, the body will continue to build up the skin. In runners, the most common places for callus buildup are at the inside of the heel, the area around the big toe and the ball of the foot. Calluses can appear on top of the toes or in between the toes. In these cases, the callus tissue is called a corn. The calluses can be thickened, dry, scaly, yellow, red, tender and even flakey. Once the problem is identified, the first step is to treat the cause. Metatarsal pain is a common foot problem.
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