Guidelines For The Prevention of A Callus on the Heel

A callus on the heel can be prevented. There are two aspects to preventing these:

good foot care and proper choice and care of footwear.

There are some aids that also help prevent calluses or callosities as well as remove any that you already have. However, prevention is better than cure.

Good foot care for a callus on the heel

Good foot care consists of taking care of your feet on a daily basis as good foot hygiene is one of the keys to preventing a callus or clavus on the heel. You will recognize a callus on the heel as an area of hardening of the skin.

Try to make this your daily routine:

• Use a good pumice stone or foot file for any callus on your heel when you first get out of bed. This will reduce any thickened skin you already have on your heel and make any preparation you place on your skin more easily absorbed. If you already have larger calluses, you will need to see a podiatrist to have them removed.

• Once you have finished with the pumice stone, use a heel balm or cream specially formulated for feet. It is important to do this in the morning to make the skin more flexible before you start your days’ activities. Repeat this routine at night.

Try not to wear open shoes if you can, especially without socks. This will mean the skin on your feet will not dry out as much. Drink plenty of water during the day for the same reason.  Use heel cups inside your closed in shoes as that increases the amount of moisture your feet retain.

Keep your feet as dry as possible and wear socks of a natural fiber. If your shoes get wet, dry them out before putting them back on.

Wash your feet every day and dry them well.

Footwear to prevent calluses

The second aspect to preventing calluses is the choice of your footwear. This has a lot of impact on how healthy our feet are.

• Don’t be tempted to wear high heels on a regular basis. This pushes your feet into positions where calluses form. Higher heeled shoes are often not shaped for comfort and feature small toe spaces which again cause foot problems.

• Make sure you can wiggle your toes comfortably when buying new shoes. You will probably have one foot larger than the other so choose a shoe size that is comfortable for the largest foot.

• Choose the size of your shoe at the end of the day so that it will accommodate your feet when they are more swollen.

• Buy your shoes from a shoe shop that does fittings and have them measured.

• You may have calluses forming because your feet are not shaped uniformly. In this case, you will benefit from using orthotics. These will correct any imbalance in the shape of your foot and make walking more comfortable. A good shoe store that measures your feet before selling you your shoe can help you with that.

• Good care of your footwear is also important. Worn shoes can help cause calluses as they cause shoes to rub in different places.

Pads, often sold as corn pads, are designed to protect your feet and can be worn to help prevent calluses but are not as effective as proper foot care and footwear. Diabetics should be especially careful to avoid developing foot problems such as a callus on the heel as they are much more prone to foot problems. The consequences are much greater if foot problems arise.

Keywords:

Primary: callus on the heel

LSI:  good foot care, foot hygiene, callus on the heel, callus on your heel, foot problems, thickened skin, corn pads, hardening of the skin, hardened skin