Hard skin, corns and nails
Podiatric chiropody: removing hard skin, corns and calluses, cutting and filing nails, and treating fungal nail infections. Recommended for diabetics.
What chiropody is
It's the basic podiatry treatment: removing hard skin, corns and thickened or badly cut nails with sterile equipment, and leaving the foot in good condition. It isn't cosmetic: hard skin left to grow ends up hurting, changing the way you walk, and, on fragile feet, opening into an ulcer.
What it treats
- Hard skin on the heel or sole, and corns between the toes.
- Thickened, curved or hard-to-cut nails.
- Fungal nail infection: a yellowish, brittle, thickened nail caused by fungus.
- Athlete's foot and flaking between the toes.
- Cracked heels.
As well as cleaning up, finding out why
Hard skin is always telling you something: that there's an overloaded area. That's why, at the clinic, it isn't simply removed â it's checked how you bear weight and what footwear you use. If the pattern keeps repeating, the underlying fix is a gait analysis and, where appropriate, insoles: without that, the hard skin comes back every couple of months.
Who should have it done regularly
Older people who can no longer reach their feet comfortably or see well enough to cut their nails; anyone with diabetes or poor circulation, for whom self-care with scissors and corn removers isn't advisable; athletes under heavy load; and anyone with recurring hard skin or nail problems. Fungal nail infection also needs the diagnosis confirmed and a treatment lasting months, because the nail has to grow out fully to look healthy again.
Frequently asked questions
How often should you have a chiropody treatment?
It depends on your skin, your footwear and how much you walk; feet that build up hard skin easily usually need it every few months. In older people, or those with diabetes or poor circulation, regular follow-up is recommended, because self-care with scissors and corn removers is not advisable.
Why do my calluses always come back?
Because a callus is a warning of an overloaded area. If it is simply removed, it returns. The real solution means looking at how you bear weight and what footwear you use, and if the pattern repeats, at a gait study and, where appropriate, insoles.
Can a nail with fungus be treated?
Yes, but it requires confirming the diagnosis and a treatment that lasts months, because the nail has to grow out completely before it looks healthy. Giving up halfway is the usual reason it comes back. At the appointment the regimen is assessed and follow-up is carried out.
What does a chiropody session include?
Examination of the foot, removal of hard skin and corns with sterile instruments, cutting and filing of the nails, treatment of cracks and assessment of the skin and of your gait. If a weight-bearing problem is found, it is explained and a study is proposed, because otherwise the hard skin comes back within a few weeks.
How do you remove a hardened callus?
At the clinic, by paring it down with a sterile scalpel: it does not hurt and the relief is immediate. At home, salicylic acid plasters burn the healthy skin around it and blades end in cuts. And if the callus always comes back in the same spot, the problem is not the callus, it is how you put your weight down.
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Content reviewed by Dr MarĂa Francisca PĂ©rez Saavedra