Calluses and Corns - Symptoms
You can tell you have a callus or corn by the way it looks. A callus is hard, dry, and thick and may appear grayish or yellowish. It may be less sensitive to your touch than surrounding skin, and it may feel bumpy. A hard corn is also firm and thick. It may have a soft yellow ring with a gray center. A soft corn looks like an open sore.
Calluses and corns often are not painful, but they can cause pain while you are walking or wearing shoes, and they may make it hard for your feet to fit in your shoes. Pressing or squeezing the callus or corn may also cause pain.
See pictures of
calluses
and
hard and soft corns.
A callus or corn may be confused with a
wart. Warts are generally tender and painful when
pinched side to side, whereas calluses and corns can be painful when pressing
directly on them. See pictures of
types of warts similar to calluses and corns. For more information, see the topic
Warts and Plantar Warts.
Other conditions that can look like a callus or a corn include:
- An object in the skin, such as a sliver.
-
Inflammation of the lining of the joint
at the end of the
metatarsal bone (synovitis).
- A pinched nerve between toes (Morton's neuroma).
- Hardened areas of skin due to genetics.
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
