Holly Jness wrote:
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Im wondering if this painful thing I have on the bone under my little toe is a callus? Can calluses become infected? Mine is painful-afraid if I keep putting off going to the Dr, it will worsen. Can I buy something over the counter to get rid of this? Its hard skin, almost yellowish, and red all around it. When I go to touch the red around it, it turns white to the touch, and its warm- feels kinda infected.
Ive been soaking my feet and not wearing the shoes that may have caused this.
Thanks for any advice anyone can give me.
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The combination of warmth and redness generally means one of two thing . . either infection or irritation. It is essential that someone with sufficient knowledge make a determination as to which it is, as infections, especially in the foot, can be very troublesome and may even pose a significant risk to your general health and well being.
That being said, a callous is a buildup of hypertrophic eperderic skin resulting from intermittent pressure . . . commonly from a bony prominence or uneven weightbearing. I say, "intermittent" as unrelenting pressure general results in the breakdown of skin . . a process known as ulceration.
The callous or "keratosis" as it is medically known, is NON-living tissue and, yes, it does frequently have a waxy, yellowish coloration. The area of redness around it would be living tissue . . the redness being either sign of infectious process or non-infectious inflammation. Of the two, infection is generally the more painful. It is not terribly common, though, to have an infected callous unless there has been a break in the skin or an ulceration.
You should not be attempting to treat this by yourself, and especially not with over-the-counter remedies. I would highly recommend that you see a podiatrist. You haven't mentioned your age or the status of your circulation and general health, but all of these could be important factors in either an uneventful resolution of your problem or a course fraught with serious complications.
Cough up the bucks and go see a doctor at once.
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