Natalia Babich
A terribly unpleasant phenomenon, these calluses on the hands and feet. Besides the fact that they constantly hurt and interfere with normal life, it always gets on your nerves. That’s why you just need to know more about anti-callus products. For example, what to anoint calluses with to relieve severe pain, which will help remove them quickly and permanently? This knowledge will serve you very well at the right time. Every modern woman simply must have them.
How calluses form
Calluses are known to everyone without exception. It is impossible to imagine a person who has never encountered them in his life. They appear on the arms, legs, and other parts of the body. At its core, it is an excellent protective mechanism for the skin from severe damage. And at the same time, these growths bring a lot of trouble to their owners. But before solving problems associated with calluses, they must first be “earned.”
And such formations appear in places of strong and constant, and most importantly, regular pressure on the skin. That is, where the skin is most often injured. And if our body did not have such a protective function as a callus, it’s scary to even imagine what the skin of the legs and arms in such places would turn into. And these places, as a rule, are the feet, ankles, palms, toes and hands.
Prevention
Preventative measures help prevent the formation of calluses and keep your hands healthy. Soft, moisturized skin is resistant to damage and less susceptible to friction. Experts recommend:
- morning and evening, smear your hands with a nourishing cream with the addition of vitamins A and E;
- When performing sports exercises, sprinkle your palms with talcum powder;
- Wear gloves when lifting heavy objects, digging the garden, or doing other physical work.
Preventive procedures quickly restore elasticity and tenderness to your hands. Once a week, you should lubricate your skin with heated olive oil, put on cotton mittens and leave the compress on until the morning.
You can use boiled potatoes. Mash the tubers into a puree, add a little milk and butter. Place the warm mass on your hands, wrap it in polyethylene and put on mittens.
Regular care and protection guarantees brilliant results and prevents the formation of wet and dry calluses.
Types of calluses and how to deal with them
Dermatologists divide calluses into two main types:
- wet, or watery (as a variety - bloody);
- dry calluses (as a type of dry - core, or calluses with roots).
Wet callus, dropsy
The mechanism of dropsy formation is associated with the same constant friction. As a result, the top layer of skin (epidermis) peels off from the deeper layer (dermis). Intercellular fluid accumulates in the cavity formed between the layers. The “bubble” is ready, and the question: what can be used to anoint the callus, moves from the theoretical category into a purely practical area.
In order to resolve such issues less often, you need to know the reasons for the appearance of wet calluses, and, if possible, follow simple rules for preventing such phenomena. The main problem of all women is incredibly beautiful, but slightly narrow or hard shoes. Dress shoes or elegant boots just look great on your feet. But if they are even a little too small or tight for you, you must not forget about the inevitable retribution. Increased sweating of the feet, neglect of basic hygiene rules, even a simple hole in a sock greatly contribute to the appearance of dropsy.
Dropsy will soon appear on the palms and fingers even if you work with tools for a long time without protective gloves. If the skin is delicate or very sensitive, then even short work with a shovel in the garden or with a knife in the kitchen without the necessary protective equipment will “provide” a wet callus.
Treatment of water callus
If you still fail to protect yourself and dropsy appears, there is no need to despair. Most of them can be easily cured on your own. Small bubbles just need to be treated with brilliant green or iodine, and then sealed with a bactericidal plaster to prevent them from rupturing. What to do if the bubble is large? Is it possible to smear such a callus with iodine? It is possible and necessary, because a large blister will still have to be punctured. Otherwise, it will burst on its own, and the possibility of infection of the wound will be almost guaranteed.
But remember: you can pierce such a callus only in the first day after its appearance. After this, you should not smear the calluses with anything - various tinctures or lotions. You only need to apply it with an ointment that contains an antibiotic. And be sure to apply a bandage with a gauze pad, which will protect and protect the wound from infection and further injury.
If you don’t know how to properly treat a water callus, how to treat it or treat it, it begins to gradually turn from wet to dry.
Dry callus
We have already talked about calluses as a protective reaction of the body. So, if the blisters of wet calluses are not treated, they burst, the remaining skin dries out, and then hardens. Thus, a protective “armor” is formed in this area. It really protects the skin from further injury. Nevertheless, you still need to get rid of it, and the sooner the better.
The fact is that in such a formation a rod or root soon begins to form. This root gradually penetrates deeper into the layers of the skin, compressing the nerve endings. And there are a lot of them on the feet. The pain that intensifies day by day will quickly force you to treat the calluses in order to somehow relieve them!
Another point that forces you to look for a solution to this problem: the extremely unaesthetic, repulsive appearance of the callus. And every woman knows about this. Such a skin defect sometimes disfigures the foot so much that putting on beautiful sandals in the summer becomes simply impossible. Involuntarily, you have to think not only about what to simply apply to the callus so that it does not hurt, but about more serious and qualified treatment.
Ways to prevent formations
Treating water callus is much more difficult than preventing its formation. To avoid rubbing dropsy, it is recommended to comply with the following requirements:
- It is advisable to break in new shoes using a special product to soften them;
- use “footprints” so that the heel does not rub;
- Don't put on shoes if your feet are wet.
The problem area should heal in no more than 2-3 weeks. For inflammation that lasts longer, the patient should visit a doctor (dermatologist, surgeon).
A wet callus, if it bursts, causes pain and discomfort to a person, so you should not delay treatment and a visit to the doctor. To prevent the development of a pathological process, if you notice increased friction, stick a piece of adhesive tape on the problem area. It is recommended to select shoes according to your foot size and wear them at the appropriate time according to weather conditions. Compliance with hygiene rules reduces damage to the feet by calluses.
Which medicine is better?
Today there are many ways and methods for removing calluses. Let's look at the main ones, and most importantly, those that give an excellent therapeutic effect.
Pharmacy products
Pharmacists in any pharmacy will tell you how to get rid of this scourge, what you can apply to the callus to relieve acute pain or completely remove it. The fact is that almost all ointments and creams are created on the same basis: salicylic acid. Interestingly, this substance was derived from the bark of the common willow tree. Such drugs have not only therapeutic, but also excellent anti-inflammatory effects.
Please note that the duration of treatment with ointment or cream should not be more than 20 days. The recommended optimal period of treatment with this drug is 7-9 days. Depending on the type of medicine, you will need to use it from one to three times a day. Before use, it is necessary to steam the areas of the legs or arms on which calluses have formed. This will help the healing substance get deeper into the problem area faster.
A novelty in this area is the invention of a pencil for calluses. According to pharmacists, it can both treat and prevent the appearance of growths. Application is simple: remember where calluses usually appear in you, and before leaving the house, treat these places with a pencil.
Sometimes the question arises: is it possible to smear a callus with brilliant green? There is nothing wrong if the sore spot, simply smeared with brilliant green, is once again disinfected. In addition, this will avoid problems if cracks have formed on the callus and there is a possibility of inflammation.
The following drugs have shown themselves to work well in the treatment of dry calluses:
- “Super Antimozolin”, an ointment whose main components are lactic acid and urea;
- "Nemozol", a cream based on salicylic acid;
- “Stop callus”, cosmetic liquid;
- “Balsam Karavaeva”, a remedy for internal calluses;
- "Salipod", a callus plaster, also has salicylic acid as its main component.
Fast Healing Products
There are many pharmaceutical and folk remedies that are recommended to be used to smear calluses for quick healing if the surface of the blister is damaged:
- “Rescuer” ensures rapid healing and protects against suppuration;
- “Synthomycin liniment” helps to heal a wound during an inflammatory process;
- Vishnevsky balm is used to quickly cure purulent pathology;
- If you anoint the affected area with 10% Salicylic ointment, the treatment of wet calluses will be accelerated;
- To quickly cure inflamed dropsy, Levomekol ointment is used;
- For faster healing, it is recommended to treat a callus that has torn with an oil tincture of the herb St. John's wort (pour a glass of raw material into 0.5 liters of any vegetable oil and leave in the dark for 3 weeks). The pathology is treated by applying a gauze bandage soaked in the composition to the problem area.
Before applying pharmaceutical products to broken calluses on your feet, you must carefully read the instructions and follow their recommendations.
How to anoint a callus: Video
Traditional methods of treatment
Over its millennia-long history, humanity has suffered greatly from calluses. Therefore, it is not particularly surprising that there is an extraordinary variety of recipes with which you can fight calluses at home.
- A newly formed callus can be quickly and painlessly removed by applying overnight compresses made from bread crumbs soaked in vinegar.
- They help solve the problem of oat baths. Place the sore spot in a hot decoction of oat straw (tolerant to the skin) for 15 minutes. Continue the procedures daily until the callus disappears.
- Apply the cut top of the lemon fruit with the pulp to the callus and fix it. Before this, it is advisable to steam the skin growth.
- An aloe leaf cut lengthwise is applied with the inside to the callus. Gives a good effect even in the treatment of old and deep core calluses.
- Raw potatoes will also help in the fight against calluses. The finely grated mass is applied to the affected area. Place polyethylene on top and secure with a bandage. In the morning, after removing the bandage, the softened skin is removed with pumice. After the procedure, be sure to lubricate the area with cream.
Recipes for all kinds of folk medicines and ways to get rid of calluses can be listed endlessly. Whether they should all be trusted is a question everyone decides for themselves.
Remember the main advice: in order not to treat calluses, not to find out what, when and how they need to be treated - simply do not allow them to appear. Compliance with basic rules of personal hygiene, correctly selected shoes for all seasons and occasions, and the use of protective equipment while working is not so difficult. As a reward for this, the question of treating calluses may remain a theoretical question for you.
Reasons for appearance
First of all, formations appear as a result of mechanical action on the skin of the hands. The pressure occurs unnoticed and painlessly, but calluses appear quite quickly. The prerequisites for their appearance may be:
- physical exercises on the horizontal bar or with a barbell;
- carrying heavy loads;
- prolonged use of a pen or pencil;
- constant work with the keyboard;
- monotonous work with hands.
Important to remember! Regularly moisturizing and nourishing the skin of your hands will help prevent the appearance of tumors! Therefore, you should use hand cream daily.
