Corns and cracked heels often occur due to friction and an increase in pressure in specific areas. A good example of this is by rubbing your hands together and feeling them generate heat. Cracked heels generally occur while wearing sandals during summer, as the friction of your heels rubbing along the back  of the shoe produces heat. Due to this, the body produces more skin to protect itself and the skin gets thicker and thicker. As the skin gets thicker it loses the moisture which keeps it stuck together resulting in cracks and deep painful fissures. When we are young, we have a new set of skin every three weeks but this process slows as we grow older.

How can Healthy Steps Podiatry help you?

1. We can remove hard skin along your heels and dress any deep fissures.
2. We can assess your shoes
3. Provide advice on an appropriate moisturiser to help reduce the problem from occurring or slow down its process. We have a selection of podiatry only Gewhol creams that are designed specifically for this purpose.

Corns: Pressure or friction between toes, on the bottom of your feet or the tops of your toes leads to hard skin developing to protect the area. This develops into a corn (which causes pain) as a self-defence mechanism to tell the brain that there is too much pressure on the area and it needs to be reduced.

There are a few different types of corns but the main ones are  hard corn, soft corn or a seed corn. They all have slightly different causes but are still treated the same. However, if the foot continues to experience pressure or friction a corn generally returns within 4-12 weeks.

How can Healthy Steps Podiatry help you?

1. We can remove the corn and the source of pain
2. Place appropriate props or padding in your shoes or between your toes, to prevent corns from returning as quickly
3. Asses the reason to why it is occurring in the first place.

Key note: Acid pads can be dangerous to use on corns as people can lose sensation of the area. The acid can sometimes burn the skin so badly that it results in an ulcer. They should be used with care.