Why do I get horrible callus on my feet?

Everyone gets hard skin or callus.

I never see a single foot during my day's list that has not got some form of hard skin somewhere on it.

Some people have more than others and if I look at my own feet I have areas of hard skin on my heels and on the insides of my big toes (see...bet you thought my feet would be baby soft!!)

A callus forms on the foot when there is enough traction, weight and friction applied repeatedly in one place. Certain people can take up to 10000 steps a day. Even a relatively inactive person will take up to 4000 steps just pottering around.

This, coupled with wearing shoes (evolution didn't prepare our feet for shoes....), extra weight, sports activities or demanding jobs and you can start to have some sympathy with what your feet go through each and every day.

The only way to stop getting callus is to stop walking or weight bearing!


Callus are part of the body's defence to help protect our feet from these external forces.

A little bit of callus is fine but some people develop more than others, or their callus becomes painful.

I always find it interesting to note a patients callus pattern as you can get a pretty good idea of certain factors such as how they walk, maybe what their hobbies are and the type of shoes they wear.

I have also been accurately able to guess the type of job the patient does just form the pattern of callus on their feet..... (not sure whether that is something to be proud of or not!!)

The above picture show the basis patterns of callus I see on an everyday basis.

So....is there anything you can do to stop these areas of hard skin developing?

In a word NO! Unless you take to your bed and never walk again. 

Most foot care is maintenance rather than permanent cure.

A foot file,

and some decent foot cream or moisturiser is your best defence. Specialist products such as Flexitol Heel Balm has a higher content of Urea in which is proven to help decrease the build up of callus.

Other products such as callus cream don't stop the callus forming it just makes it softer to remove. These products often contain salicylic acid so should be used with caution. Likewise, callus knives can be useful for home use but I have seen some nasty injuries from these so please be careful!