What is it that leads to corns forming?
When you come into our Cairns podiatry surgery at Hip2Toe Podiatry, this is what you will probably ask. Well, firstly we will do a Hip2Toe Podiatry corn assessment with you, to establish why you have a corn. Basically, the corn formation is a response of the body to excessive pressure placed on the prominence of a bone. Whenever pressure or shearing forces are applied to skin tissue, chances are that the deep tissues down at the basal layer of the skin are going to start manufacturing tissue that is high in Keratin content. Yes, just like in the nails and hair. However, the body in its own clever way creates different shapes, often saucer shaped on the top, to decrease the excessive shearing forces and friction. Clever? Of course. But hang on, they hurt! Well, very often the lower structures of the corn are more sharply shaped, and are able to press down on nerves below the corn. Pain is an interesting phenomenon; low speed nerve fibres cause what is called a banking effect to take place along the sensory nerve on the way to the brain. What starts out as a little nagging pain can end up being excruciatingly painful. Try telling that to someone who has never had a corn. Ready to come and have us look at it? At Hip2Toe Podiatry at our Cairns podiatry surgery, we are able to painlessly remove these corns, and let you get back to enjoying pain free walking. But it does not stop there. We are able to do a Hip2Toe Podiatry shoe assessment at our Cairns podiatry surgery, and see if the corns are being caused by your foot wear. It is worth noting that before men and women wore shoes, we still got corns. How can that work? Well, the principles of biology and physics are involved here, and we just call it biomechanics. By doing a full Hip2Toe Podiatry biomechanical assessment at our cairns podiatry surgery, we can establish what biomechanical factors are leading to your corn formation. Then, if necessary, we can design and manufacture a pair of Hip2Toe Podiatry professional foot orthotics at our Cairns Podiatry surgery, to go in your shoes, and more than one pair for you if you have lots of different types of shoes. Corns respond very well to orthotic control, so if you have been putting up with them for a long time, come and see us!

Corns and shoes
Very often shoes can be a big contributing factor to the development of corns. Clawed toes or pressure on the sides of the big or little toes can lead to corns forming. Very often a Hip2Toe Podiatry shoe wear assessment at our Cairns Podiatry surgery will ensure that trouble relating to shoe wear is kept to an absolute minimum.

Corns and medical conditions.
Some medical conditions such as peripheral neuropathy and Diabetes require specialist assessment by us. If you have any medical conditions associated with your corns, we are able to carry out a full Hip2Toe Podiatry Podiatry lower limb assessment at our Cairns podiatry surgery. We will do vascular, neurological, dermatological and biomechanical assessment, including a foot wear assessment also. This is extremely important for making sure no tissue breakdown takes place that may develop into a wound. If this happens, infection and danger to the foot and lower limb may take place. Where chronic disease is present, Managed care plans allow up to 5 podiatry visits to us, through Medicare funding. If you are in this category, with any concerns about corn formation, swelling, excessive redness or deformity associated with corns, please come and see us as soon as possible.