The outer edge of your foot is a common place to get corns. Your pinky toe area is also very susceptible.

This is because the entire area is flexible and is exposed to a ton of pressure when you walk.

In this corn removal, I take out a corn a few cm's under the pinkie toe. It was nice and dry and popped out easily.

It wasn't hugely painful at this stage but would have been in a few weeks.

This foot corn was probably just on the edge of home treatment. You'd have to be dedicated, however.

You'd need some Gehwol Fusskraft and a good file! 

Good 'ol Dr. Scholl's canary blue boxes grace many supermarket foot care shelves.

After the risible performance of the Scholl Velvet Smooth foot file, I decided to try this.

So, this Scholl's Cracked Heel Balm review:

To be fair, you're meant to apply this every day for weeks.

​(Not a 10-minute "one and done" with a foot file and scalpel)

That said, here's my impressions:

• It's very thin for a "balm" - It doesn't absorb well
• It has no smell whatsoever
• It's not easy to blade over
• It would make your dry heel skin look better in an emergency

Now, cracks in your heel are technically known as fissures. They're caused when dry skin and friction collide.

Your heel skin is preordained to get thick. It needs a cream with higher-than-normal Urea content to really work in.

(Gehwol Fusskraft Blue is infinitely better)

Anyway, the Takeaway...

Would I use Scholl Cracked Heel Balm on my patients? No.

​To be fair, you're meant to apply this every day for weeks. (Definitely not a 10-minute one and done with a foot file)

Would I use it if it was the only thing left on the shelf and I was going to a BBQ with the town mayor with 20 mins to spare?

​Yes.

Have you ever wanted to ask a Podiatrist (a question)?

​Most calls I get center around one of a few conditions: fungal nail infections, corns and ingrowing toenails. 

Coming to think of it, most emails too!

Anyways, as part of a new feature I'm going to post queries I get via email.

​I will of course ensure these remain anonymous.

(I'll also edit for clarity)

Here we have an almost perfect example of a pinky-toe corn.

An early one. One before it's dug really deep. In other words, one that is probably home treatable.

(To be fair that's why this corn removal was so easy, I had to slow the video down)

I carved it out one-handed (my Go-Pro is metaphorically in the post), so please forgive any jitters.

First off, I wanna apologize for the weird change in lighting half way through.

I'm still new to this and am getting a Go Pro soon (instead of using my phone).

Plus, I'm doing this scalpel work one handed lol.

Anyways, this was a long-standing hard corn on a elderly patient's heel. It had a thick layer of dome-like skin callus on top - almost like a cap.

I had to be very careful with this as too much force, too fast, and you're risking a skin tear or worse.

​This had to come off first as I wouldn't be able to tell where the actual corn began. It was probably as much this hard skin as the foot corn causing pain in this case.

​There was so much pressure on her heel on a regular basis that you had a double whammy. A corn growing in and hard skin growing out.

Removing this sole of foot corn was trickier than it looked!

(It didn't need as much wrist muscle action as this one though!)val) Enjoy!

In this foot skin shaving video, I went in dry. So to speak. 

In other words, I went straight scalpel to skin. Without foot cream on first (my preferred method).

As I've said before, dry heel skin scalpel removal makes bigger chunks of skin fly off (great for video if you're into that sort of thing).

The downside: it's a lot easier to take too much off or get an uneven finish.

​The type of scalpel planing blade I use is a Number 10.

Foot cream I used was Gehwol Fusskraft Blue. The foot file I recommend. 

After a summer full of hiking, look what we have here.

A corn right on the back of my heel. 

You can stop this before you have to cut it out. If you find yourself with one, do the following:

Apply Gehwol Fusskraft Blue over several days. A big healthy thumb full and let it sit each night undisturbed. 

After about three days, do the above and grab a trusty foot file, like this one. 

Nimbly file away until the rough yellow stuff goes — and before the bleeding starts!

Well lookee here. This Dr. Scholl Velvet Smooth Foot File review dissects its pros and cons. 

​Now, I'm a bit biased because I use top-end Podiatry drills.

(I also use better cracked heel creams than Scholl's heel balm)

In comparison, they're much more powerful. I can also use a scalpel.

But, I also have an expert understanding. I know what it takes to really rasp away ugly heel skin. ​

So, without further ado, let's get stuck into this review of the Scholl Velvet Smooth electric file!

​Yep, I'm back again.

In this video, I scalpel blade my annoying big toe pinch callus and scrape my hard heel skin away.

​I always use good foot cream when blade scraping.

It allows me to feel for lumps and bumps and glide over the skin's surface. 

​(I use Gehwol Fusskraft Blue in this video)

Here I am again finishing off my notorious right heel with a scalpel, foot file and urea cream.

As I mentioned in my previous video, I get thicker callus here than on my left. It also comes back faster. 

This happens because my right foot hits the ground harder than on my left. ​

Inside of my shoe, it gets churned and turned against the insoles I wear.

​I find I always get a ridge of hard skin on the outside of my heel that's denser than the rest. 

So it had to go!​

Change is as good as a rest, as the old saying goes. 

I decided to change up the blog format and post a video — featuring none other than yours truly!

Yes, even professional foot pros get foot problems.

(Second video is here)

The two that afflict me, pinch callus and dry heels, are there for the long haul. 

It's rare Podiatrists have a chance to dust off the old soapbox. 

Apart from mine, which is polished like a Victorian teak ​handrail.

So, the Barbie Feet Challenge. As modeled by the rather divine Margot Robbie. You step out of your high-heels, hold the position, and walk. 

Now, I'm not best placed to comment on its difficulty. 

(Like shellac, I've never worn stilettos) 

But I am well positioned on its risk of injury. 

​I'm bored writing about yellow corns and shellac toenails so I've been on a celebrity foot binge.

It brings up some interesting specimens. 

Steven Tyler comes up time and time again as the King of Rubber-Neck Feet. ​

​So what exactly is going on with his twisted trotters?

​"Shellac, shellac on the wall, where's the worst nails of them all?"

I say this to myself each morning before I start work.

I'm sick and tired of hearing a beautician's take on nail gel damage. It's like asking a circus owners opinion on dancing bears. 

Shellac was everywhere a few years back. But of late, I've noticed a drop off in the miracle nail polish.

Is it a mini-rebellion against the damage that gel inflicts on your nails?

​Now, I'm a Podiatrist, so this post is tailored to chalk-colored toenails. 

​But it also applies to the more common coated fingernails. 

Your nail tissue is the same. The process is the same. The white spots and fungal nail infections are the same. ​

Your humble pinky toe is an unsung hero. Thanks to it, you know where the next unstable inch of ground lurks. 

(Or if that step from the cab is too far after six Mojitos)

But what do you do as a way of thanks? You clamp, pinch and crush it all day long.  

​Yet, like a fairground fighter, it takes its licks. It recovers in silence and does the same the next day. And the one after.

​Sometimes, though, those bouts take their toll. Instead of a slur and thick ears, you get callus and pain on your pinky toe. 

It's time we had a little chat about shoes — the bad ones.

Now, everyone knows the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

(Whatever happened to that saying?)

And there's no doubt about where footwear falls in a woman's life...

...just behind oxygen and in front of handbags.

The problem is: shoes are by far the biggest cause of foot pain. 

But this rogues line-up isn't restricted to 6-inch high stilettos. ​This list of infamy also includes footwear that a lot of men spend all day wearing. 

Or both if you're Steven Tyler.

There's only one healthy reason for white chalky toenails. You bake bread with your feet and flour dusts your toes.

(Unless you're gluten-intolerant and I'm not going down that rabbit hole) 

​Anyway, before you sprint off for the calcium tablets, take a breather...

It's that time (again) for my favorite dinner-table topic: thick yellow foot skin. ​

This one is all about pinch callus. That hard skin ridge that runs up the base of your painful pinky toe. 

Or a mustard-colored clump on the side of your big toe.

Why do these areas attract pinch callus? Why do you get it?

​(It means you've got a little toe that juts under — or a big toe that twists off to the side)

And how do you get rid of it? At least for a while.

The tiny toe that gets big abuse. A painful pinky-toe is the foot-finger I treat the most — and it's no wonder.

Tight shoes, your BMI and four fat digits bully the baby one. 

Sat down in the South Pole of your body, it's a warning beacon for potential threats. ​Hazards such as unstable ground, a kick too hard and....baseboards. 

​The drawback with these keen soreness sensors is the reason for pinky-toe pain can be tough to tell.  ​
​
​​Not to mention, it's not exactly easy for you to get a good look...

Most people come to me for skin-related foot problems. By that, I mean warts, foot corns and callus. 

I've written about corns vs warts before, but what about with skin callus added to the mix?

​​All three are ugly and uncomfortable. They're also tough to tell apart. ​​

This confusion means you waste money on useless remedies. ​You limp on and on, ashamed to bare your sole. 

​So, here's a pro guide on wart vs callus (including pinch callus on toes).

You'll soon know the difference — and how to treat them!​

A tearing 'tween your toes is probably a soft corn. A splash of black-dotted skin on your heel? I'd err toward a wart.  

(Heel pain so bad you can't walk is probably plantar fasciitis)

If only it was always this simple! 

After writing my general guide, I realized telling a seed corn vs plantar wart can be tricky. ​ 

Both are similar in size, sprout in the same place and can form in a cluster. ​Not to mention, the sole of your foot is difficult to get a good look at.

​(Pro-tip: it's easier to take a magnified photo with your phone)   

So how do you tell them apart? Well, with these few pointers, you'll be well on your way. 

After my post on the price of ingrown toenail surgery, I thought I'd touch on corn removal surgery cost. 

A lot of you wonder about this. People assume that due to the pain, they're going to be super-expensive to banish. 

You'll be relieved to hear this isn't the case! The vast majority will be walking with a spring in your step after one appointment. 

But this doesn't mean you'll never have trouble with your corn again...