Hardened or thickened skin is a common problem experienced by almost everyone. Your hairless skin parts, such as the one on your palms and foot are prone to this skin problem. While most skin disorders are triggered by virus, bacteria, or aggressive immune system, corns are caused by much simpler risk factors that you can actually avoid to prevent it from occurring at all.

Risk factors of foot corns

On your foot, corns are likely to be located in the top and bottom parts of the toes. These hardened skin part may also be hidden between the toes. Research find out that corns are more common in women’s feet than men’s, and may affect some or all of their toes. Some highlighted risk factors contributing to the occurrence of hardened part of the toe skin are:

Wearing ill-fitting shoes

Women are four-time more susceptible to foot problems, including corns, than men, and the culprit of this is their ill-fitting, fashion shoes. High-heeled shoes are the most frequent cause of foot corns in women. They put pressure on toes, making them prone to the occurrence of thickening skin part of these toes.

Wearing shoes without socks

Socks are not merely a fashion item. It has a significant role of protecting our foot skin from external factor that may aggravate the skin, including rubbing. Whenever you are wearing shoes without socks, you put the foot skin to excessive rubbing. The area of the toes receives the largest amount of rubbing and thus, grows a protective layer in a form of hardened skin known as corns.

Foot deformities

People with foot deformities tend to have an improper walking motion, leading to uneven pressure and friction on the foot area. This may lead to corns.

Rubbing and excessive

Rubbing and excessive pressure on the toes might also trigger corn growth in between the toes. These are often referred as soft corns, which have got the characteristics similar to calluses.

Risk factors of complications of foot corns

Although foot corns are often referred as a skin disorder caused by excessive rubbing and pressure on the toes areas that can be removed by eliminating the underlying cause, such as the ill-fitting footwear, these hardened skin area may develop into more severe one. There are some complications that can be caused by the presence of corns and other risk factors, such as:

• Diabetes. If you are diabetic, corns should not be ignored, as it may lead into severe complications that may be fatal. In diabetic person, nerves may be numb and thus, open wound may be hard to spot. As a result, hardened skin area may cover a deeper open wound and ulceration. With diabetes, blood circulation that is essential in open wound healing is inhibited, causing delayed improvement. Hence, an untreated diabetic corn may lead to injuries that can be fatal and in some diabetic cases, life-threatening.
• Staph bacteria. Staphylococcus bacteria is bacteria residing in our skin. This bacteria is the leading cause to an infected foot corn. Bacterial infection is possible with corns, whenever this hardened skin area badly inflames and thus, develop into an open sore. An open wound is a harbor to bacteria, including Staph. When infested by bacteria, the previously-corn open wound may redden, swollen, or bleeding. This infection should be concerned, as foot area is moist and dark, causing excessive bacteria growth, delaying new skin cell growth and cause wound healing to be inhibited. Severe infection may not only affect the surface of the skin, but also the inner tissues and nerves.