What are corns?

Corns jīyǎn 〖corn; clavus〗 Usually spread on the feet, but also on the hands and arms. Small round lumps mainly formed due to friction and extrusion. They look like chicken eyes and have tenderness. Clinical manifestations (1) Corns are generally as big as beans or larger. The surface is smooth and flat with the skin or slightly raised. The boundaries are clear and light yellow. Or dark yellow, with an inverted cone-shaped horny plug in the center, embedded in the dermis. Because its tip presses on nerve endings, it causes pain when walking. Corns are more common on the front and middle of the sole of the foot, on the outside of the little toe or on the inside edge of the big toe, and are also seen on the dorsum of the toes. Corns that occur between the 4th and 5th toes are soaked with sweat and appear grayish white in color, with the cornea soaked. Called soft corns. (2) Calluses are waxy yellow, flat or slightly raised localized hypertrophic keratin plaques, hard and slightly transparent, with unclear borders, thicker in the center and thinner edges. It usually occurs on the palms and soles, often symmetrically. Those related to occupation can be found in stressed areas. Generally there are no conscious symptoms. In severe cases, there may be tenderness. Differential diagnosis: It is not difficult to diagnose based on the fact that it occurs on the palms and soles and appears as keratoproliferative lesions. The main difference between corns and calluses is: corns are inverted cone-shaped keratinous hyperplasia, which causes obvious pain when walking; while calluses are flat and flaky keratinous thickenings with a wide range and are generally not painful. Corns and calluses need to be distinguished from plantar warts: Plantar warts can be distributed everywhere on the soles of the feet, not limited to the areas under pressure, and can be multiple. The lesions are as big as soybeans and the surface cuticles are thickened. Use a knife to peel off the surface cuticles and you can see the dermal papilla. The soft core of blood vessels oozes small black dots of blood cells. Treatment instructions: For those with thick calluses, they can be soaked in hot water and then peeled off with a knife, or external exfoliants such as 25% salicylic acid collodion or retinoic acid ointment can be used. There are many methods to treat corns, and various corrosives are commonly used, such as salicylic acid. You can cut a round hole in the center of the adhesive tape, the same size as the corn, stick it to the affected area, expose the corn, sprinkle with salicylic acid powder, and then seal it with adhesive tape. Generally, the dressing is changed once every 3 to 5 days. Before each dressing change, remove the residual powder, soak the skin in hot water, and scrape off the softened cutin until all the corns are removed. You can also use traditional Chinese medicines such as fresh pinellia and gallbladder seeds to be mashed and applied with the same method as above. In addition, commercially available eye ointments can also be used. Corn removal can be performed if the pain is obvious. After local anesthesia, use a sharp scalpel to make a circular incision along the edge of the horn plug, clamp it with toothed tweezers, peel it off, dig out the corn, and then wrap it with sterile gauze. The external treatment method for corns is to first cut off a little of the hard skin on the corns, and then stick a piece of tape with a small hole in the center on the affected area, exposing only the corns, and then smash it with gallbladder seeds or castor bean seeds (you can also use corns Cream, Crystal Cream or Wumiao Narcissus Cream) is applied on the corn, and the outer cover is fixed with tape. The dressing is usually changed once every 3 days until it falls off. In addition, surgical treatment can also be used. Precautionary Instructions Friction and squeezing should be reduced, suitable soft-soled shoes should be worn, or sponge pads should be used to reduce local compression. If you have flat feet, you should wear orthopedic shoes