Corns are a common problem of the foot that can be painful and difficult to manage. They are due to an excessive amount of pressure on an area of skin. They are part of a normal process that has gone awry. When there is too much pressure on the skin, that area of skin will thicken up to protect itself. If the pressure goes on over a long time, it becomes so thick that it is painful. This is similar to the process that happens when, for instance, chopping wood. Doing this, you eventually produce a callus on your palm. The same thing happens on the foot with pressure from the surface or pressure on a toe from footwear. When you quit cutting wood, the thicker skin on the palms subside. The problem in the foot is that you keep using footwear and you continue walking, so the pressure continues and the thicker skin forms into a corn and becomes painful.

Getting rid of corns is relatively easy and a skilled podiatrist will be able to remove them. That is the simple part. The hard part is stopping them returning. It can be one thing to take them off, however unless you take away that cause (the greater pressures on the skin), then they will just return eventually. Corns do not have roots that they grow back from. They keep coming back because the cause is still there. Removing a corn is like managing the symptom. They will come back unless the reason is taken away. This is where the skill of a podiatrist is needed to identify the proper cause. A complete assessment is necessary of the biomechanics, shoes, foot structure and lifestyle to work out just what it is that causes the higher pressure. Once that reason has been identified, then different interventions can be used to remove that pressure. This can vary from simple shoe advice to foot supports to surgery.