Corns Surgically Removed

[Guest LHibner]

Hi I don't post much (I mostly just read) but I have an adopter who's grey has a reoccurring corn. She asked my thoughts on surgery to get it removed. I have never had a dog with corns or personally know anyone that has had one surgically removed. So I was wondering what are your experiences with have them surgically removed. I will pass the posts on to my adopter........

 

email from my adopters:

"You know Morris has a corn, well we had it hulled out twice and we got the therapaw bootie which works great when we are camping but it rubs his knuckle. He really limps on it on hard surfaces at home and because of the boot rubbing his knuckle I don't like to use it all the time. My queston is I have an appt for surgery to get it removed on Oct 25 and I was wondering if you had heard of the surgery or know of anyone that has had it done? I am worried if I don't get it taken care of it could cause shoulder problems because of his favoring it. I was just hoping you could give me your opinion. If you could try to e-mail before the 25 of Oct with anything you may know or have heard I would really appreciate it."

 

Thanks for the help!

lhibner

[ZoomDoggy]

I tried to have one surgically excised on my Sissy, years ago. It was a long recovery (pads don't heal fast) and then corn grew right back within a month or two. Total waste.

 

I hope it works better for them than it did for me.

[Walliered]

I have heard good things about Murray Avenue Apothecary having a Corn/Callus Cream. Their e-mail is www.MurrayAvenueRx.com and their phone number is: 1-888-799-4247 or 412-421-4996 The owner and Pharmacist, Susan Merenstein will be glad to e-mail you information on her product. Hope this helps. Nan

[Guest Shermanator]

I tried to have one surgically excised on my Sissy, years ago. It was a long recovery (pads don't heal fast) and then corn grew right back within a month or two. Total waste.

 

I hope it works better for them than it did for me.

 

Same here.

We opted for surgery to remove Patton's corn. It was a long, hard recovery- slow to heal, and the corn came back in about a month.

We decided to amputate the toe. It was a simple recovery for him, and he was back up and running pain free in about a week/2 weeks. We noticed his entire gait changed, since he was favoring the corn leg, and once the toe was removed, and pain gone, he was able to straighten himself, rather than keep himself hunched to accommodate the pain. If any of my pups develop a hard-to-manage corn, and surgery is considered, I'd amputate the toe before trying to only remove the corn.

 

Edited to add:

Breakthough Corn Treatment

Did you see this?

Edited October 13, 2010 by Shermanator

[sweetdogs]

I had my Conor's front corns removed surgically. It took quite a while to heal & he's still working out the last of the scar tissue (surgery was last December). I'm pretty sure one has not returned & am not sure about the other. But he was almost unable to walk so I really had no choice. Overall, I'm happy I did it. BTW, the vet that did the surgery has had lots of experience with greyhounds & corns.

 

For his rear corns, I've been hulling & using the corn cream. One is a minor corn that comes & goes & is very small. The other is very stubborn & neither the hulling nor the cream has made a lasting difference. Since it's on a rear paw, he isn't as bothered by it as the front ones but I can tell when he's in pain. He's a tough little man.

 

Conor hated the therapaws. But he tolerates Neo Paws much better. Terrific customer service, lots of experience with greyhound feet & quite sporty looking.

 

Good luck - corns suck!

 

eta: Conor had conventional surgery - there is also a laser option to consider.

Edited October 13, 2010 by sweetdogs

[Hubcitypam]

Rex had them surgically removed from all 4 paws and I would never put a dog through that again. It was terribly painful and as others said a long slow recovery. I din't which was going to happen first -- his paws healing or my back going out from lifting an almost 90 pound dog down off the stoop. The spray to toughen his pads stung like the devil. In less than six months they started to came back and I used duct tape,

[Guest BlueCrab]

We were facing surgery after trying Kerasolv, nightly soaks, dremmeling, hulling, Thera-Paws, x-rays - all with no no luck. Tried duct tape. Worked magic. There are some other threads that talk about it, and in fact I posted on another message yesterday about duct tape. I'd recommend doing some searches here on GT first for other corn information and then try the duct tape. It's cheap and easy, and if you try it and it doesn't work, no harm, no extra cost. But I hope you'll have the luck that we had. Ours are gone for now. Limping that we'd had since June has resolved.

[rallyp]

I think you're going to see a pretty clear consensus that surgery isn't the way to go because most of the time the corns just come back. I've come to the conclusion, as I think many others have, that the best way to deal with them is to change my outlook from thinking I can get rid of them forever to managing them as best I can to minimize the overall discomfort that Lima has to deal with. For us, that means hulling on a regular basis (usually once every 3 weeks or so for us), using things like bee propolis, bag balm, etc. to try and slow down the corn growth or keep it softer than it otherwise might be, using a Thera-paw when the corn gets big enough to affect Lima's walking but not big enough to hull, and then using duct tape to help make the hulling easier.

[Guest MnMDogs]

I wouldn't do it. The corns came back for us within 6 - 12 months. We manage with dremeling, TheraPaws and bag balm.

[Guest Smiley]

We did all of the corn treatments for Peanut (hulling, abreva, therapaw, dremeling, etc.) and finally did do the surgery on it while she was also having a dental. We are one of the success stories. The corn was removed, her toe stayed intact and healed beautifully. AND the corn never returned. There is also a new compounding drug that others are swearing by-there is a link in H&M somewhere that would be well worth looking at.

[turbotaina]

I don't personally know anyone who has had success with surgery and I do know people who have tried it. My guess is that the success of the surgery would depend on why the corn formed. If it formed due to a foreign body imbedded in the pad, surgery could be successful. If it formed due to a virus (it's thought that corns may be caused by canine papilloma virus), then there's a good chance it'll return. Problem is, you just don't know why it formed, so surgery is really hit or miss. I wouldn't do it.

[rascalsmom]

My Jack has four corns, spread over three of his feet. Since June, we've had them hulled three times, and they keep coming back.

 

I used the special corn cream for three months and it didn't do anything.

 

I am now using duct tape, and while it's too early to really say for sure, I can tell you that it seems to be changing the texture of the corns. I am hopeful.

 

The vet told me that she's done surgery on them before, and it is a long recovery period, and "about 50% of them come back." Not good enough odds for me to want to put my dog through that. And since they can only do one corn at a time, Jack would have to go through it numerous times. No thanks. We will keep trying other options if the duct tape doesn't do the trick, and keep getting them hulled.

[Guest mirinaaronsmom]

I had Miri's corn surgically removed in May when she needed a dental and as soon as her pad healed, the corn was back. I HATE those things! I've tried Abreva, the Murray Ave. cream, bee propolis and now am trying the duct tape, but nothing seems to help my poor little girl. As far as the duct tape goes, I can't get it to stay on. I put a fresh piece on at night and it's gone as soon as we take a walk in the morning. I was thinking of putting some crazy glue on also to hold it on better/longer.

 

Phyllis with Miriam (and Aaron, gone but still loved)

[kamsmom]

For the last few years I kept getting Isis's corn hulled. Then the vet told me to just leave it alone. Turns out it isn't even a corn it's a horn thing. It is just one of those anomalies that happen. So since I quick worrying about it it grows and then falls off. Is this perhaps what it could be?

[Hubcitypam]

As far as the duct tape goes, I can't get it to stay on. I put a fresh piece on at night and it's gone as soon as we take a walk in the morning. I was thinking of putting some crazy glue on also to hold it on better/longer.

I wouldn't do that. In my feeble and uneducated mind it is something in the duct tape glue that works (hence the name brand working way better than the discount stuff). If you use crazy glue you'll skew it. But what do I know? Of course duct tape corn removal is in itself an inexact science.

 

With Rex the key was to trim that piece of duct tape just as big as the corn (usually about the size of a hole punch) not to cover the whole pad with a big square. If I put on too big a piece he'd mess with it and/or take it off. It may be it's being messed with overnight and then falls off in the morning on the walk.

Edited October 16, 2010 by Hubcitypam

[rascalsmom]

I would NOT use crazy glue!!

 

Yesterday, I was able to peel off the smallest corn from Jack's back foot. The ones on his front feet are huge, and they are taking longer, but I am hopeful!! I make the circles just a bit larger than the corn, since the edges always seem to roll up a little. Unfortunately, a hole punch would be WAY too small for Jack's corns on the front feet, that's how big they are.

 

Another thought: If I keep putting the duct tape over the spot where the corn came out, will it help to PREVENT it from coming back?? Does anyone know?

Edited October 16, 2010 by rascalsmom

[rascalsmom]

This morning I was able to remove the corns from Jack's front feet. I am a duct tape convert!!

[Guest goodtimekid]

I tried to have one surgically excised on my Sissy, years ago. It was a long recovery (pads don't heal fast) and then corn grew right back within a month or two. Total waste.

 

I hope it works better for them than it did for me.

I've been kicking this around with Kid's corn... I am at a total loss as what to do...

[Guest nikkikaye]

NOTHING prevents them from coming back.. unfortunately. I have been a corn survivor since 2005- and having one of the worst cases I have ever personally seen, I consider myself a pro on corns. My poor 11 yr old male Ben has debilitating corns on his one back foot and several not so large corns on ALL other pads. I agree with the other long time serious corn sufferers as to methodology. Stop thinking they will go away- serious large corns dont go away- they ALWAYS grow back. Learn how to manage with dremeling, therapaws, bag balm (and other balms work well to- you need to experiment to find what works better for you), and of course, hulling on a cyclical basis. Lots of people find duct tape useful for softening (to prep for removal) and to help smaller corns come out all together. When your corns are as large as my guy's (the diameter of a dime now!), the dremel is your best friend- along with a little tramadol for those 1st couple of post hull/dremel days. It becomes a part of regular hygene for your grey, but if you pay attention and try a bunch of things, you will find the practices that make your & your grey's life the easiest with this awful affliction. Ive tried every cream, every bee propolis, tinctures, Murray cream, miracle cure & bs crap out there- hundreds of $$ over the years & nothing works when your corns are as large as ours- but still we manage with the old tried & true corn management methods. In all the years and all the vets & gh owners I have spoken to, I have never found the surgery option to be a succesful way to go. At least try everything else for a year or 2 before you put your gh thru that pain and recovery. Its not fun for you or them

[Guest tysmom]

can some one tell me where to find the duck tape explanation on corn removal? this is new to me and I'd like to see it.

deb

[Guest goodtimekid]

We recently had Kid's corns surgically removed while he was under for his dental. The vet packed the wounds with the cream from Murray;s. It has been 2 weeks now and he is in the same if not more pain. I have to have his therapaw boots on and even with them he raises his foot and walks tripod a lot of the time. I wanted to amputate the entire toe but I was convinced otherwise by our vet. I hope whatever you decide to do works for your baby.

[Hubcitypam]

can some one tell me where to find the duck tape explanation on corn removal? this is new to me and I'd like to see it.

deb

I don't know that there i an explaination as suck on why duct tape removes corns, I can only tell you that it worked for us. I did not change it every day, more like every other.

 

I would never ever have a corn surgically removed again.

[Guest tysmom]

just so i understand...you just cut a piece of duct tape and cover the corn? nothing else.. i read something about bag balm..

[Guest Smiley]

We are one of the few that had great success with the surgery. Peanut limped for years and we did everything under the sun to try to get rid of it (and I mean everything). Finally we decided that when she went in for a dental, we would have our vet remove the corn-she would be under anyway so we thought we'd give this a chance. He did an amazing job-he got the entire corn and not only did the corn not return, the paw pad healed up like it had never been there. Chalk us up to a successful case!

[Guest iconsmum]

the Murray Avenue compound cream was a complete success here - Echo had a huge deep corn that was cracking his front pad in half - he limped and held the paw up as a default position when he was standing. It took 3 months of following the instructions carefully but the pad seemed to actually grow the corn out and off. There was no hole left behind, and 3 months later, I can't even find the spot. The pad is soft, the limp is gone, and that paw stays on the ground when he stands - I still rub a little into his pad at night superstitiously - check the search here and you'll find their contact info.