If it feels like there’s a lump on the ball of your foot, the most likely causes are calluses or corns, which are thickened areas of skin caused by friction or pressure. The outer layer of the skin thickens to protect the structures under the skin with extra padding. Calluses and corns on the feet can be caused by friction or pressure from:
- Wearing shoes that don’t fit well
- Not wearing socks with shoes
- Walking barefoot
- Intense training, such as doing high-impact sports daily
- Having misshapen feet
- Having reduced foot sensation, if you have diabetes or neuropathy
Other causes include:
- Bunions: Swollen and thickened toe joint
- Gout: Swelling due to accumulation of uric acid crystals at the toe joint
- Morton’s neuroma: Noncancerous swelling of the nerve sheaths that supply the toe
- Warts: Commonly caused due to viruses and may look like small cauliflower-like growths
- Ganglion cysts: Soft, fluid-filled sacs that are noncancerous and painless
- Plantar fibromas: Fibrous, hard nodules found within the ligament of the foot
- Cancerous nodules: Rarely, squamous cell carcinoma may present as a nodule or mass
What are treatment options for calluses and corns?
Treatment options may vary depending on your symptoms, severity of the condition, age, and general health.
- Trimming the skin: Your doctor may recommend using a nail file or pumice stone on the corn or callus after the skin is softened in a bath or shower. In some cases, your doctor may use a sharp tool to trim outer layers of the skin.
- Salicylic acid: You can put salicylic acid on the corn or callus to soften and remove some layers of the skin.
- Urea cream: You can use this cream to thin out the skin.
- Padding: Moleskin patches or soft pads can help protect the skin where corns and calluses form to reduce pain and rubbing.
- Cortisone injection: Cortisone can be injected into a corn or callus to reduce pain.
- Changing shoes: Your doctor may advise wearing shoes that have more toe room, as this can help prevent your toes from rubbing against the top of the shoe. Severe calluses or corns may hurt, become infected, harm healthy tissue, or affect your ability to walk. If you have diabetes, calluses and corns may lead to more problems with your feet. Wearing specially designed footwear may help.
- Shoe inserts: If you have calluses, wearing shoes with cushioned insoles, arch support, or heel counters can help reduce friction. Orthotics are special inserts for shoes that come in different shapes and sizes to help with foot problems. They can help cushion calluses or move pressure away from problem areas where calluses form, limiting existing problems and preventing new ones from starting.
- Surgery: If a bone or joint is out of place, certain parts of your foot may be under too much pressure. This can cause severe corns and calluses. In such cases, surgery may be the best way to correct the problem and improve foot bone position. Your doctor may cut the extra bone, reposition larger bones, or even attach (fuse) joints together. In some cases, doctors cut tendons or ligaments to reduce tension on a bone or joint.
How to manage other foot lumps and bumps
If the bump is due to other causes, your doctor will examine your foot and try to determine the exact cause. They may perform an X-ray, a sonography of the cystic nodule, or a biopsy (a test in which part of the nodule is taken and examined under a microscope).
Most foot bumps do not go away and need medical intervention. Treatment of gout and surgical extraction of cysts, fibromas, or cancerous nodules followed by physiotherapy and foot rehabilitation may help in the management of foot problems.
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References
Understanding Corns and Calluses -- the Basics: https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/understanding-corns-calluses-basics
Calluses and Corns: https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/ug2399
HOW TO TREAT CORNS AND CALLUSES: https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/injured-skin/burns/treat-corns-calluses
Calluses and Corns: https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/ug2399
HOW TO TREAT CORNS AND CALLUSES: https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/injured-skin/burns/treat-corns-calluses
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