Are Calluses Serious?

Calluses may seem benign enough — after all, they’re just patches of thickened skin that develop on certain areas of your feet. However, depending upon their location and size, calluses can go from minor nuisances to painful problems that hamper your ability to step freely.

If your feet easily develop calluses and they’re causing problems, the extensive team of podiatry experts at Neuhaus Foot and Ankle is here to help. 

In this month’s blog post, we take a closer look at calluses — how they develop, why they become a serious problem, and what we can do to offer relief.

Calluses 101

Your feet are no strangers to friction and pressure, which cause the skin on your feet to go into overdrive to protect itself. As a result, you end up with patches of hardened and thick skin in areas where your feet encounter the most friction and pressure, typically around your heels and the balls of your feet. If you have structural issues, such as bunions or hammertoes, calluses can also form on those areas.

Calluses are mostly harmless and don’t pose any serious problems, but they are signs that you’d do well to relieve the pressure on certain areas of your feet (more on this in a moment).

When calluses become problematic

There are several cases when calluses can be problematic. If you routinely develop calluses in sensitive areas, the thickened skin can cause discomfort with certain types of footwear.

Going a step further, sometimes blisters can form under the calluses, causing considerable discomfort.

If you have thickened skin around the edges of your heels, it can crack and become painful. Called heel fissures, these cracks typically form when the callused skin dries out, which often happens during winter when you’re faced with lower humidity and dry heating.

Lastly, if you have diabetes, any condition that develops in your feet is cause for concern, including calluses.

Treating problematic calluses

If you have uncomfortable calluses, heel fissures, or diabetes, it’s essential to come to see us so we can treat your existing calluses and prevent new ones from forming.

To treat existing calluses, we carefully remove the extra skin using a shaving technique. Once we remove the callus, our next step is to help you find ways to avoid calluses in the future. That typically means changes in footwear, as well as custom orthotics, inserts, and/or padding that can relieve the pressure in certain areas of your feet.

We can also recommend certain products that can help you minimize developing calluses, such as lotions, files, and stones.

For expert treatment of your calluses, please contact one of our locations in Hermitage, Brentwood, Nashville, Mount Juliet, Waverly, Smyrna, Gallatin, Columbia, Pulaski, or Lebanon, Tennessee, to set up an appointment.