Calluses, Corns and Ingrown Toenails

At Instep Podiatry, our podiatrists can handle all of your general podiatry needs including the treatment of calluses, corns and ingrown toenails.

Our podiatrists have over 30 years of experience in treating foot conditions and have learnt the treatments and methods that are most effective in managing those unsightly foot problems Whether you have corns, ingrown toenails or any other foot problem, Instep Podiatry can offer you a solution to deal with your problem big or small.

Calluses / Corns:

A foot callus or corn usually forms due to increased friction or pressure on the affected area and is the body’s way of protecting the tissue from further injury. A corn is essentially a callus that has had increased pressure and formed a small core of harder skin that pushes deeper into the skin causing more pain than a callus.

Calluses / corns can be very painful, and usually the thicker they get, the more painful they become. Shoes with hard insoles, such as dress shoes or high heels, as well as work boots, are much more likely to cause calluses / corns on the sole of the foot, particularly the ball of the foot. Ill fitting footwear is more like to squash the toes and cause callus and corns to form between or on top of toes.

There are several treatment options depending on your individual situation. Wearing shoes with a soft insole is one. Orthotics with soft extensions to distribute foot pressure more evenly and to cushion the affected area is another. Professionally trimming the callus will also give temporary pain relief as the pressure over the bone becomes greatly reduced.

At Instep Podiatry we pay particular attention to removing the core of corns, improving pain relief further and extending the time between treatments. Our podiatrists know how to treat this painful condition correctly: identifying its cause and prescribing the right method of treatment for the individual situation.

Don’t live with painful calluses / corns – call Instep Podiatry today and begin treatment.

Book an appointment today
01 3855 2877

Ingrown Toenails:

An ingrown toenail is a painful condition of the toe that occurs when a sharp corner of the toenail digs into the skin at the end of or side of the toe. Pain and inflammation are usually the first symptoms, followed by infection or even an abscess. Ingrown toenails are most common in the big toe. They can be caused by a number of things, most frequently: tight shoes or high heels, improper trimming of toenails such as cutting them too short, or picking the nails, and acute injuries close to the toenail.

Treatments include both self care at home and podiatry treatment. At-home treatment includes soaking and washing the foot in warm salty water and dressing with an antiseptic, not wearing tight-fitting shoes or high heels, and separating the nail from the skin by placing small ball of cotton or gauze in between. Podiatry treatment includes correctly cutting nails and educating patients on correct care, conservatively removing a small sliver of nail from the edge to create a gap from the toe and to straighten the offending edge, and where conservative treatment fails, the edge of the nail can be surgically removed permanently under local anaesthetic using chemical ablation of the matrix (the cells at the base for the nail that form the nail).

Our podiatrists can offer the right treatment options for your ingrown toenails. Contact us today.

Book an appointment today
01 3855 2877