Gentle Alternatives Soothe Painful Corns and Calluses.

Corn Recipe: Take one pair of tight shoes. Wear them all day-day after day.
Too much pressure, rubbing, or pinching on the delicate skin of your feet can cause a painful corn or callus-a bump or layer of thick, hard, dead skin. Corns usually appear on the toes and calluses on the bottoms of the feet.

You'll find plenty of products on the shelf of your local drugstore that claim they soften corns and calluses. And that's just where they should stay: on the shelf. Podiatrists and other foot care professionals say that these drops are too harsh and can damage your skin.

They also say that you should never trim these hardened areas yourself with a razor or other sharp implement. That advice goes triple if you have diabetes, because poor circulation to your feet can turn a cut into a catastrophe. Ask your health care provider to trim your calluses. The American Diabetes Association recommends using a pumice stone every day to help lessen calluses. Use it on wet skin.

You should, however, switch to roomier shoes, says Gregory Spencer, D.P.M., a podiatrist in Renton, Washington. There are also many over-the-counter and prescription cushioning products for your feet that can provide plenty of comfort if you have corns or calluses.
Instead of using harsh over-the-counter products to remove corns or calluses, you can use alternative home remedies that naturally soften and regenerate the skin, helping to heal the problem and prevent its return.

CALENDULA: The Natural Moisturizer

"A corn or callus is hard, dry skin, and regularly moisturizing that skin is the key to healing," says Andrea Murray, a certified reflexologist and herbalist in Portland, Maine.

A good moisturizer for softening and healing hard skin, she says, is the herb calendula. She recommends putting calendula oil or salve on the affected area twice a day and covering it with a bandage. You may need to reapply the moisturizer and bandage a third time after exercise. Keep the area continually moisturized until the corn or callous is healed. Herbal salves work best when applied after a warm foot soak.

CASTOR OIL: Invite It to Your Pad
The harsh acids in medicated corn pads can irritate or even burn the skin, says Dr. Spencer. That's why he suggests that you use a non medicated, doughnut-shaped corn pad that surrounds and is slightly higher than the corn, protecting it from shoe pressure.
When you wear the pad (which should be every day), apply it and then coat the corn with castor oil, which is a superb moisturizer for very dry skin. (Calendula oil and vitamin E oil also work well, Dr. Spencer says.) You may need to use a cotton swab to get the oil into the hole in the pad.
Once you've moisturized the corn, put a small piece of adhesive tape over it to keep the oil in place. "This method moisturizes the corn all day," says Dr. Spencer. Continue wearing corn pads and using the moisturizing oil until the corn disappears.

HOMEOPATHY: The Right Stuff
Homeopathic remedies can sometimes help heal a corn or callus, says Steven Subotnick, D.P.M., a podiatrist and naturopathic doctor in Berkeley and San Leandro, California. The trick with homeopathy is choosing the right remedy. Here are Dr. Subotnick's guidelines for treating a callus.

• If you have hard, horny calluses, painful heels, and brittle nails; if you are frequently irritable and crave pickles; and if direct sunlight makes you feel worse, try Antimonium crudum.
• If your calluses are extremely thick, your skin is dirty-looking and fissured, and you also have corns, try Graphites.
• If your calluses are hard and firm and you have cold feet, try Silicea.
• If your skin is dry, rough, and scaly; you have burning pain in the affected area; you're a typically fearful person; and your calluses feel worse when they're scratched, try Arsenicum album.
• If your calluses are very thick and they burn, try Sulphur.
• If your calluses feel worse when your feet are hanging down, try Ranunculus bulbosus.

Homeopathic remedies also may help heal soft corns, the kind that are softened by sweat and usually form between the toes, says Dr. Subotnick. Here are his recommendations.

• If your feet perspire, smell, and are raw or irritated, try the remedy Silicea.
• If they itch intensely, try Natrum muriaticum or Zinc.
• If you have athlete's foot-like cracks on your feet, but no redness or itching, and have soft corns between your toes, try Baryta carbonicum. Take a 6C potency of the appropriate remedy, following the dosage instructions on the label. Take one homeopathic remedy at a time, and stop taking it as soon as you feel better. If your condition doesn't improve in a short time, consult a homeopathic physician.

A Special Scrub to Smooth Calluses.
Stephanie Tourles has had to deal with thick, hard, calluses for most of her life. "I have extremely high-maintenance feet," says the licensed esthetician, reflexologist, and herbalist in West Hyannisport, Massachusetts. But now she has them under control; her feet are smooth and nearly callus-free. Her secret is a special scrub that she uses to smooth and remove the calluses. Here's her five-step strategy.

1. Start by making her Callus Smoother Scrub. You'll need I tablespoon of sea salt, I tablespoon of calendula oil, and three drops of orange, lavender, geranium, peppermint, or spearmint essential oil.
Combine the salt, the calendula oil, and whatever essential oil you choose in a small bowl until the salt is completely covered by the oils. Calendula oil both moisturizes the skin and helps it heal faster, says Tourles. Peppermint, spearmint, and orange oils are very stimulating.
They're a great way to start the day if you use the scrub in the morning. If you're using it before bedtime, try either lavender or geranium essential oil, both of which are very relaxing.

2. Three times a week, fill a basin with enough warm water to cover your ankles, add I cup of apple-cider vinegar, and soak your feet for 10 to 15 minutes. The natural fruit acids in the vinegar will immediately soften any type of hard skin, says Tourles.

3. After your soak, use firm, regular pressure to massage the scrub into the callused areas of your feet. Spend a minimum of 2 to 3 minutes on each foot, but feel free to massage your feet with the scrub for as long as you'd like.

4. Rinse your feet with warm water and rub them dry with a rough towel. 5. Massage some castor oil into each callused area and put on a pair of socks. "Castor oil really helps to heal dry skin," says Tourles, "because it is very thick and has great staying power."