Minor skin conditions can sometimes be overlooked due to their negligible appearance and painlessness.
While some of these conditions don’t threaten your health, others can be both painful and costly to treat if not attended to in time.
People often develop corns, callus, and warts on their skin but face difficulty in differentiating between these due to their similar resemblance.
It is therefore important to understand the difference between the said conditions in order to treat them effectively.
This article will define each of the conditions at length before discussing a few good tips on what you can do to treat them.
What Is A Corn?
Simply put, a corn is basically a small thick patch of skin that has a central core or plug in its center.
While these usually form at the top or side of your toes, they sometimes can also appear under the toenail.
Corn can usually appear when some part of the foot is under continuous pressure.
Also, pain is experienced when there’s some pressure on one of the nerves in the affected area.
One good way to identify a corn is to look for a hard inflamed skin around its center.
Furthermore, corns can easily be distinguished by the fact that these can be painful when pressed.
You can also identify a corn as it is very distinctively round in shape.
It is pertinent to mention here that a corn is basically a type of callus and it consists solely of dead skin.
Unlike other types of corns, the soft corns are whitish and can be found in the moist and sweaty parts of the skin.
If you think you have developed a corn and that it is causing a hindrance in your everyday routine, then you can have it removed painlessly with the help of an expert podiatrist.
What Is A Callus?
The first thing to note about a callus that it is not as painful as a corn and that these are larger in size too.
Also, these appear particularly on the soles of the feet, more often under the heels.
But these are not just limited to feet and can also appear on the palm of the hand or the knee.
Callus typically forms when there is too much friction, irritation or pressure on a certain part of the skin.
For instance, you can get callus when a part of your foot constantly rubs against the footwear.
This is one of the reasons that calluses are one of the most common forms of skin conditions of the feet.
Unlike corns, calluses are pale or yellowish. Furthermore, a callus doesn’t have defined edges and is not in a circular shape like a corn.
As far as the affected area is concerned, these usually appear under your toes and other areas that take your weight when you walk.
The easiest way to avoid a callus is to simply avoid using footwear that causes constant friction.
What Is A Wart?
Warts may be the most troubling of all as they can bleed whenever pressure is applied to them.
These form on the bottom of the foot and are easily identifiable by their appearance which is similar to a cauliflower.
You may also notice small, black dots in the middle of a wart.
What’s more worrying about a wart is that it is basically a virus that appears in between the outer and inner layer of the skin.
A wart may appear on your foot in the form of a pattern called mosaic wart. They require early removal so these can be less painful.
There are not many options that you can use to get rid of a wart.
Perhaps the only way to eradicate a wart is to stimulate the immune system of the person suffering from it.
Another fact about warts that makes them even more troublesome is that these are contagious and can affect those around you.
People, especially children who have weakened immune system are more likely to develop warts and require early treatment.
How You Avoid These Skin Conditions?
While these skin conditions sometimes can become unavoidable and you may only notice them when they appear, following are some simple tips to avoid them altogether.
- The easiest of ways to avoid a corn is to remove the cause of the friction.
If you can switch to shoes that do not cause a lot of friction, you will notice that the corn on your foot gradually disappears.
Sometimes, friction could also be caused during certain foot treatments, which should be avoided.
2. The best way to avoid a callus is to use footwear that’s not loose.
You should go for shoes that are low-heeled and provide adequate space around your toes.
Another proven way to be free of a callus is to wear socks that are made of soft fabric and hence, cause the least amount of friction.
3. The important rule to remember about warts is to avoid touching a patient’s wart or their footwear.
If you already have a wart, remember to never rub or scratch it so that it doesn’t spread to other parts of the skin.
Also, exercise special caution not to rub a brush or a similar material on a wart. Until your wart disappears, remember to keep the affected area as dry as possible.
Last Few Words
Skin conditions can mostly be worrying whether or not they are painful. These can also cause a person to avoid social activities.
It is, therefore, immensely important to take appropriate measures to avoid them.
In case you find yourself to be suffering from one of these conditions, take measures to have it treated on an urgent basis.
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