A callus is an area of thickened skin caused by excessive pressure such as compression. Excessive pressure causes the skin to thicken in response to protect the area and in doing so forms the callus. Calluses can develop on your feet for many reasons such as wearing ill fitting shoes, altered way of walking and having an underlying biomechanical issue. Calluses need to be removed when they become irritating and painful. Treatment can involve callus removal, pressure offloading with custom-made orthotics and proper footwear.

A corn is a small area of callus with a deeper center of thickened hard skin. Corns can develop from direct pressure such as excessive rubbing or irritation from wearing improper fitting shoes, altered way of walking and having an underlying biomechanical issue. Corns need to be removed when they become irritating and painful. Treatment can involve corn removal, pressure offloading with custom-made orthotics and proper footwear.

During the winter season, as the heat is constantly turned on in our homes, our skin tends to become dry. Skin needs to be well moisturized for it to withstand the stresses from walking and standing. Dry skin can become itchy and can crack under the stress of our daily activity leading to pain and risk of infection. Using a cream or lotion regularly to moisturize your skin can help to prevent your skin from becoming dry and cracked. Urea is an emollient and when used in a cream or lotion helps your skin to retain moisture and stay hydrated. Some over-the-counter creams that contain urea include Uremol 10, Uremol 20, Flexitol Heel Balm and Urisec.

A fungal infection of the toenail can cause the nail to become discoloured, thickened and brittle. While having fungal nails is generally not painful, it is unappealing and can eventually spread to affect all your toenails. There are many options to treat the fungal toenails including using topical anti-fungal medication, laser surgery and surgical intervention.

Ingrown toenails can occur when the edge of the toenail has grown into the nearby skin fold causing irritation and possibly infection. Ingrown toenails can be caused by poor nail trimming, wearing improperly fitting shoes and trauma. There are many ways to treat ingrown toenails such as routinely removing the ingrown nail edge or permanent surgical removal of the affected nail edge may be needed.

An acute injury, repetitive damage to the nail, poor blood circulation, disease and fungal infection can cause thickened toenails. Depending on the cause of the thickened toenails, treatment can involve foot care treatment to reduce the thickness of the toenails, topical medication and proper footwear.

A virus that infects the outer layer of the skin causes a wart. A wart on the bottom of your foot may appear as a rough and scaly area of skin with tiny dark spots and can become irritated and painful. There are many ways to treat warts including applying topical medication, cryotherapy, laser surgery and surgical intervention.