Corn (clavus)

A corn, medi­cal­ly known as a cla­vus, is a well-defi­ned thi­c­ke­ning of har­den­ed skin with a firm core that points inwards. It usual­ly forms on the toes or the sole of the foot. In Ger­man it is cal­led a „chi­cken’s eye“ becau­se the cen­tral core resem­bles a pupil.

Cau­ses

The cau­se is ongo­ing pres­su­re or fric­tion at one spot, often from tight shoes, high heels, toe defor­mi­ties such as ham­mer toes, or a splay­ed fore­foot. The skin pro­tects its­elf by pro­du­cing more hor­ny tis­sue, which pres­ses inwards into the deeper layers.

Sym­ptoms

A typi­cal corn is a round, yel­lo­wish, glas­sy patch that cau­ses a sharp pain when pres­sed. Unli­ke a wart, it shows no tiny black dots, and the skin lines run unin­ter­rupt­ed across it. Bet­ween the toes, corns can also be soft.

Tre­at­ment

The first step is to reli­e­ve the pres­su­re with well-fit­ting shoes, pad­ding or inso­les. Plas­ters con­tai­ning sali­cy­lic acid sof­ten the hard skin, after which the core is remo­ved pro­fes­sio­nal­ly. Whe­re a foot defor­mi­ty is invol­ved, an ortho­pae­dic assess­ment may help. Peo­p­le with dia­be­tes or cir­cu­la­to­ry pro­blems should not tre­at corns themselves.

Matching tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Corns (Cla­vi)