Hard corns

　　Hard corns mostly occur on the parts of the foot with bones, especially the toes, which are caused by thickening of the skin keratin layer, long-term compression and friction of the local skin, and are generally about the size of a soybean, slightly higher than the skin, with a pale yellow center and a darker ring around it, resembling the eyes of a chicken, hence the name 'hard corn'. Traditional Chinese medicine also refers to it as 'hard corn' and 'skin thorn'. According to traditional Chinese medicine, hard corns are caused by long-term pressure on the feet, poor blood and Qi circulation, malnutrition of the skin, and abnormal growth. After removing the causes of local pressure or friction, most hard corns can gradually soften and recover to normal skin.

　　When hard corns are relatively small, complications usually do not occur. However, if they are large and have been present for a long time, they can compress the nerve endings of the human body, causing pain. In severe cases, it can affect normal human activities. Some patients may also develop infections or abscesses due to traumatic treatment methods during the treatment process. After the hard corns appear, deep ulcers may occur, accompanied by a foul smell, which is common in people with excessive foot sweat.

　　What are the typical symptoms of hard corns?

　　Corns are a common foot disease, and prevention is very important.

　　1. Wash your feet frequently, do not go without washing your feet.

　　2. Choose comfortable and loose shoes to avoid causing foot deformity.

　　3. When you feel pressure and friction on a certain part of your feet, use foot care supports such as corn pads, toe separators, toe spreaders, toe protectors, etc. to reduce friction and pressure.

　　4. Avoid using unclean scissors to prevent infection. Do not remove corns or calluses yourself, especially diabetics should not remove calluses or corns themselves to avoid deterioration.

　　5. Soak your feet frequently, develop the habit of soaking your feet in hot water every night to soften corns and calluses.

　　6. After corns and calluses form on the sole, you can wear specific or non-specific orthopedic insoles to change the force distribution on the sole, thereby reducing friction.

　　Corns have obvious symptoms, generally no special examination is required. Tissue pathology can be performed to show that the lesion is a thickened keratin layer, arranged tightly in a plate-like manner, forming a keratin plug, embedded in the dermis in a wedge shape. There are often keratinocytes arranged in columns inside the keratin plug. The granular layer just below the tip of the keratin plug disappears, and the spinous layer atrophies. The epidermis around the lesion is normal or slightly thickened. The dermal papillae at the site of pressure become flat, with a few lymphocytes infiltrating.

　　In addition to general treatment after the operation of removing corns, dietary therapy can also be combined.

　　One: Pigeon soup

　　Main ingredients: pigeon 100 grams.

　　Auxiliary materials: Schisandra chinensis 10 grams.

　　Seasonings: 10 grams of cooking wine, 5 grams of ginger, 10 grams of scallions, 3 grams of salt, 2 grams of monosodium glutamate, 5 grams of sesame oil.

　　Cooking method:

　　1. Kill the pigeon, remove the feathers, internal organs, and claws;

　　2. Wash Schisandra chinensis and remove impurities;

　　3. Cut the ginger into slices, and cut the scallions into segments;

　　4. Place Schisandra chinensis, pigeon, scallion slices, ginger slices, and cooking wine in a slow cooker, add water, and bring to a boil over high heat;

　　5. Simmer over low heat for 35 minutes, add salt, monosodium glutamate, and sesame oil, and it is ready.

　　Two: Stewed pork knuckles with soybeans

　　Materials: pork knuckles 200 grams, water-soaked soybeans 100 grams, celery 10 grams, ginger 1 piece.

　　Seasonings: 15 grams of edible oil, 2 teaspoons of cooking wine, 1 teaspoon of ground pepper, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate.

　　Cooking method:

　　1. Wash the pork knuckles, cut into pieces, wash the ginger and slice it, wash the celery and cut off the leaves into segments;

　　2. Add water to a pot, bring to a boil, add pork knuckle pieces and cooking wine, boil over high heat to remove the blood from the pork knuckles, remove and set aside.

　　3. Add oil to the pot, wait until the oil is hot, add ginger slices and pork knuckles and stir-fry, then transfer to a sand pot, add water and soybeans, and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes until the soup turns white, add salt, monosodium glutamate, celery, sprinkle with ground pepper, and then remove from heat.

　　Three: Stir-fried pork with black fungus

　　Main ingredients: pork 150 grams, water-soaked black fungus 100 grams, powder 10 grams.

　　Seasonings: soy sauce, salt, monosodium glutamate, Sichuan pepper water, scallions, soybean oil, and wet starch.

　　Cooking method:

　　1. Remove the tough parts from the black fungus, wash off the mud and sand, and cut the meat into thin slices the size of the black fungus.

　　2. Heat the oil in a wok, add the sliced meat and stir-fry. Then add scallions, soy sauce, and Sichuan pepper water, and stir-fry the black fungus. Before removing from the wok, sprinkle with fine salt and seasoning, mix well, thicken with wet starch, and then dish out and serve.

　　You can eat more foods rich in vitamin C, such as kiwi, oranges, lemons, and grapefruits. Eat more vitamin A. It mainly exists in fish oil, carrots, tomatoes, and other foods. Eat less elk meat, fermented bean curd, scallions, chili peppers, chives, and other foods.

　　Firstly, treat corns by removing the pressure and friction applied to the skin, such as not wearing high heels and hard-soled shoes, adding soft insoles inside the shoes, so that corns can be expected to disappear spontaneously. If not removed, corns are difficult to heal. Secondly, treatment can be performed according to the following methods.

　　1. Soft and hard corns can be treated externally with 30% salicylic acid collodion, once a day, soak in hot water after a week to remove the conical and damaged skin of the corns, until they fall off.

　　2. Apply over-the-counter corn plasters. First, soak the affected area in hot water, scrape off the superficial keratin hyperplasia, and carefully remove the central keratin plug as much as possible, and then firmly stick the red medicine block of the corn plaster to this core area, change the medicine once a week, scrape off the whitened part before changing the medicine until it falls off.

　　3. Liquid nitrogen freezing treatment can be used.

　　4. If various methods of treatment are ineffective for corns on the feet, consider surgical removal.

　　Corns are commonly treated with various corrosive agents, such as salicylic acid. You can cut a circular hole in the center of the adhesive plaster, the size of which should be the same as the corn, and apply it to the affected area, exposing the corn, sprinkling salicylic acid powder on it, and then covering it with adhesive plaster. Change the medicine every 3 to 5 days, clean the remaining medicine powder before changing the medicine, soak the feet in hot water, and scrape off the softened keratin until all the corns are removed. It can also be treated with fresh hemerocallis, Brucea javanica seeds, and other traditional Chinese medicine, applying it in the same way. In addition, over-the-counter corn plasters can also be used. For those with severe pain, corn excision surgery can be performed, where a local anesthetic is applied, and a circular incision is made along the edge of the keratin plug with a sharp surgical knife, and the corn is peeled off with forceps, then sutured with sterilized gauze.

　　Treating corns with surgery is painful and prone to recurrence, and many patients often experience a recurrence after treatment for several months! It is not recommended to treat corns with surgery. The treatment with liquid nitrogen freezing is less painful and effective quickly. By using low-temperature liquid nitrogen to freeze the corn locally, the corn tissue turns black and falls off two to three days later, achieving the therapeutic effect. This method is slightly uncomfortable only during the freezing process. Compared with other methods, it is a bit more expensive than applying medicine topically.