In the short term, pressure, friction, and rubbing may cause the skin to form a blister, but continually, the skin will harden and thicken, eventually forming a callus. For example, if you do a lot of digging in the garden, your hands may form a callus. If callus did not form, you would eventually wear a hole in the skin, so it is the skin’s normal protective reaction. Calluses will continue to form and become thicker if the cause of the callus is not addressed, which is why they can become painful.

The ball of the foot, on the side of the big toes, and around the heel. Some people have skin that reacts to pressure much more than others, so they seem to form more callus more easily. Structural deformities affecting the way you walk can cause areas of abnormal pressure. Insoles and orthoses can assist by correcting how you walk and redistributing pressure, reducing callus formation. High heels will also increase the pressure and, therefore, the callus under the ball of the foot. Sling back and open shoes in the summer is the main reason for heel callus forming, which can dry out, split, and become painful. Removing the callus and the use of moisturizing creams helps greatly.

A corn is just callusing that form when there is a focal point of pressure, such as over a bony prominence.  Callus that develops in these locations will compress into a hard plug or core of callus. For something so small, corns can be painful.

Hammer toes: These include the side of the little toe, in between, and on the tips of the toes; however, they can occur in the ball of the foot. Corns do not have a “root,” and they are not like warts or other skin lesions; if you burn, freeze, or cut them out, they go away.  Removing the callus or corn by trimming away the dead layers of skin will give temporary relief; however, this does not deal with the Underlying Cause

In the first instance, it is typically pressure, friction, and rubbing. With corns, the things that give rise to pressure points are hammer toes, where the toes are no longer straight but bucked, leading to one of the small joints becoming quite prominent so that shoes then rub and irritate. When corns form over straight toes with no bony prominences, the cause is usually shoes that are not correctly fitted or appropriate for your foot type.

Often, a combination of buckled toes and inappropriate shoes leads to corns.  Low-cut court shoes are a major culprit in the creation of corns and callus. Shoes that hold on the foot over the instep leave toes free, whereas a court shoe only holds onto your foot around the toes and needs to be snug to hold onto your foot. This makes toes prone to pressure, friction, and rubbing and leads to corns.  A wide, roomy court shoes are of no help as they will slip off.  Another problem with many shoes is the shape of the last. Shoe manufacturers often use a curved last as this gives the shoe a more tapered appearance; however, many shoes are made over a curved last, which puts a lot of pressure on little toes. Look for shoes made on a straight last.