Patient/caregiver was educated on risk factors and causes for callus formation as follows:
Prolonged excessive friction and pressure on the skin against any surface can result in the formation of callus.
The undue friction and pressure can be due to
- Improperly fitting shoe: Shoes with narrow toe box have edges that close onto your toes, crowd on them, and can exert undue pressure on the toes and compress the toes. Loose footwear can repeatedly slide away, rubbing against your skin. Also, using high heeled shoes can result in excessive pressure on the toes. All these situations with ill-fitting shoes can result in callus formation.
- Abnormal gait: Individuals with history of foot drop can present with hanging foot and toes pointing down causing the toes to scrape the ground during ambulation. This scraping of the toes on the ground can result in undue friction, with development of calluses.
- Reduced foot protection: Socks usually protect the feet from excessive friction from the shoes. Wearing shoes without socks is a common practice lately, which can lead to increased friction on the feet, resulting in callus formation.
- Other foot deformities: Individuals with other foot deformities, such as, bunions, bone spurs, and hammer toes can present with abnormal shape of the foot and toes. This can result in the abnormal bone protrusion to rub against the footwear, resulting in undue friction, leading to formation of callus.
- Manual labor: Individuals using hand tools, performing manual labor, and lifting heavy weights can be at increased risk for presentation with calluses on the palm and fingers due to undue friction and pressure from the tools and weights.
