Remove corns: These home remedies help

Corns are caused by tight shoes, among other things. In the early stages, you can remove corns yourself. In this article, you will learn how to do it.

Corns are often caused by shoes that are too tight or by misaligned feet. If a shoe presses on a certain spot, pressure points develop that can be very painful. The epidermis thickens to protect the affected area, causing the skin to become increasingly horny.

If pressure is continued to be applied to the area, the hardened area pushes itself wedge-like into deeper tissue layers. The nerve strands affected by this send pain signals, which is why corns are often very painful. But you don’t need to worry, as they are harmless. Fortunately, removing corns is quite easy.

To prevent corns, you should wear comfortable shoes that don’t pinch. If you’ve bought new shoes, you can break them in at home before going on a long walk. This will also prevent blisters on your feet.

How do corns differ from warts?

Before you remove a corn, you should check whether it is actually a corn. Corns are similar to warts at first glance, but the treatment varies.

Both are typically found on the feet and can also be a similar color. Corns, however, have a translucent core. In addition, unlike warts, corns have visible skin ridges – the small lines on the skin that also make up fingerprints. Corns are caused by pressure on the skin, whereas warts are usually caused by human papilloma viruses (HPV). You can find out how to treat warts in this article: Removing warts: What you should definitely pay attention to.

Remove corns: These home remedies can help

Corns often disappear on their own if you take the pressure off the affected area. You can support the disappearance by taking regular foot baths. The following home remedies are good if you want to remove corns:

• Tea tree oil: Make a foot bath with a few drops of tea tree oil. This will soften the corn and the tea tree oil will disinfect the skin. You can then rub it off with a pumice stone (available from Avocadostore, for example).

• Chamomile flowers: A foot bath with a decoction of chamomile flowers can help remove corns. To do this, pour boiling water over the chamomile flowers and let them steep for ten minutes. Then strain the flowers and add the decoction to your foot bath. Let your feet soak in it for around 15 minutes. Like a chamomile bath, the foot bath promotes wound healing. To increase the effect, you can also add fresh yarrow to the decoction.

• Arnica tincture: Apply a few drops of the tincture several times a day, but especially before going to bed. This loosens the calluses and new, smooth skin forms. Arnica has an anti-inflammatory effect and has proven effective for skin injuries. You can carefully remove the small callus after a homemade foot bath.

• Vinegar: Mix vinegar with water (3:1 ratio) and apply the mixture to a thin piece of cloth and wrap it around the corn with a gauze bandage. This will soften the callus, making it easier to sand it down (for example with a pumice stone). Vinegar has antimicrobial and antioxidant properties that can help with wound healing. You can also make a foot bath with apple cider vinegar.

• Aloe vera: Rub the corn regularly with aloe vera juice. You should do this for at least a week. The gel moisturizes the skin and softens the callus. The same thing works with soap.