Questions About Corns

[Guest mhall]

Dr. Emily went into the vet today for x-rays as we and our vet thought she had something imbedded deep in her foot. It turns out she had a corn that was not protruded at all from the surface of her pad, but went in very deep (there was a slight color change on the pad, but that appeared after previous trauma she'd had to the foot so it didn't seem significant). She also has a corn on her other back foot, which we initially thought was a callus as it wasn't tender and was located in a non-typcial corn spot. It now looks decidedly more corn-ish.

 

The corn that was bugging her was hulled out by our vet. She did not hull out the one that isn't hurting, but suggested soaking it to soften it and either using corn remover or dremeling it down.

 

Em already wears thera paws on walks as she has had problems with getting foreign objects stuck in her pads in the past. They had been helping with her limping, and we will continue to use them.

 

So that's the backstory. Here are the questions:

 

What approach (other than hulling) works best for managing corns? Dremeling? Duct tape? Salicylic acid patches, or corn remover? Some combination of the aforementioned options? I did some reading this afternoon and found conflicting information about dremeling and corn removers. Some sources seemed to think both did more harm than good by causing additional damage to the tissue surronding the corn.

 

Also, does anyone hull corns at home? Em gets very nervous at the vet, so we'd prefer to hull on our own when necessary if it's safe and feasible. Our vet said while it's something you're technically supposed to have done by a professional we could likely learn by watching her next time it needs to be taken care of. Her biggest concern was making sure we could find a good tool to do it - she said she uses a somewhat expensive dental tool.

 

Thanks!

[rascalsmom]

Dremeling: never did it

 

Duct tape: worked well to 'soften' the corn, which can make it easier to get out. It can also make it break off in pieces, thereby being harder to get out. Recently, however, the duct tape isn't sticking well--don't know why, as it's a new roll of brand-name stuff.

 

Salicylic acid: never used

 

Bag balm: have used it to soften the pad, but it doesn't prevent recurrence

 

Special cream from Murray Ave.: used it, didn't work

 

Bee propolis: I have some, but due to the stickiness/staining issue have not really used it. I was told to use a little round bandaid to cover the propolis, but I cannot get those to stick for any length of time.

 

Vitamin E: used it, but not consistently enough to know if it would work or not

 

Hulling: this is what we do. Our vet showed me how to do it, as Jack gets very nervous at the vet, too. When I do it he doesn't 'enjoy' it, but pretty much lays there and tolerates it anyway. Our dentist's assistant gave me a little tool to use--don't think it's really a 'root elevator', like they say to use, but it has a sharp end that works well to loosen the edges and underneath the corn. I use that along with some embroidery scissors to remove the corns.

 

As you can see, I have tried a LOT of things. I would give $10,000 if someone could figure out a way to make them GO AWAY FOREVER.

Edited January 25, 2012 by rascalsmom

[Guest mhall]

Thanks for the information Rascal's mom! We're trying duct tape on the not so painful corn as a first step. Good to know you hull at home - I think Emily would be much more comfortable with us doing it instead of the vet. It seems pretty straight forward.

 

I agree that corns stink

[Sheshe]

Our Angel has the worst corns. We use the Bee propolis tincture..Liquid. My husband applied it in the morning and at night. The corn started coming to the surface and would just peel it off. It seems it works from the inside out. There is a new proplolis that is the strongest I have seen which is 30/70 strength. We also have tried everything duct tape, murrays cream, soaking dremmeling, and this seems to work on the viral part of the corn.

Angel will now walk on the paw and the corn is getting smaller.

[krissy]

How long has she had the corns for? I just ask because Summit had a similar "episode". We thought he was having some arthritis when the cold weather hit and we couldn't find any other cause for his lameness (including corns... I looked). Then a few weeks later he seemed to be a lot better... at which point I actually did find a corn. At least, I think it's a corn. It looks like a corn and was in the right place. So I worried about what I should do with it. It wasn't bugging him since it had surfaced so I figured I'd leave it be. Well, wouldn't you know it, it hasn't cause him any further issues and has since completely disappeared. I can't figure it out. I'm hoping it was just a foreign body maybe so it won't be coming back... but from that experience my thoughts are to leave any "corns" that aren't causing limping and see what happens.

 

As for the real corn that's causing her issues... we never did anything first hand, but while I was at OSU this summer I learned how to hull corns. It's not difficult, but finding the right tool would be problematic. We use dental elevators.

[Guest mhall]

Sheshe, thanks for the bee propolis recommendation. Do you cover Angel's foot after applying the propolis? Rascal's mom mentioned it is sticky.

 

How long has she had the corns for? I just ask because Summit had a similar "episode". We thought he was having some arthritis when the cold weather hit and we couldn't find any other cause for his lameness (including corns... I looked). Then a few weeks later he seemed to be a lot better... at which point I actually did find a corn. At least, I think it's a corn. It looks like a corn and was in the right place. So I worried about what I should do with it. It wasn't bugging him since it had surfaced so I figured I'd leave it be. Well, wouldn't you know it, it hasn't cause him any further issues and has since completely disappeared. I can't figure it out. I'm hoping it was just a foreign body maybe so it won't be coming back... but from that experience my thoughts are to leave any "corns" that aren't causing limping and see what happens.

 

As for the real corn that's causing her issues... we never did anything first hand, but while I was at OSU this summer I learned how to hull corns. It's not difficult, but finding the right tool would be problematic. We use dental elevators.

 

Hmm, Summit's episode is interesting. The "real" corn Emily had started out as an issue with a foreign body. One the foreign body was removed I guess the tissue grew back abnormally and eventually formed a corn. It was definitely bothering her, even though it hadn't surfaced yet.

 

The "maybe" corn Emily has juts out at an angle from her pad so there's no pressure on it when she walks. We're trying duct tape on that one, but I'm not going to worry about hulling it unless it starts to bug her.

 

It seems like it will be relatively easy to track down a dental elevator, so thanks for the recommendation!

[Guest BlueCrab]

We tried dremmeling at home, soaking in epsom salts and then applying kerasolv cream, and hulling at the vet. None of those worked for us. Tried duct tape and it worked great for us. So that's what we now use: regular applications of duct tape, which softens the corn until it pulls out.

 

I get the feeling that different approaches work for different dogs, as others will tell you of the success they've had with the other approaches that didn't work for us. They do seem to be recurrent; once you've got them, it's mostly a management thing - they never seem to go away for good. Trixie's only got corns on her front feet, so we use Therapaws when we go for long walks on hard surfaces or when they seem particularly painful. Good luck!

[Guest Adrianne]

For just pure maintenance, dremeling was the best thing that ever happened for Chevy. Nothing else I did relieved the pain as well as that. I'd put a small bit on the dremel and grind that thing well below the paw pad. I'd dremel for a few seconds, wait a few seconds, dremel, wait, dremel, etc....

[Guest chigal950]

Anyone who uses therapaws - my dog has a painful corn on his left front foot and needs cushioning - do I buy therapaws for both front feet to keep him "evened out" when he walks or is it not a big deal?

[Guest mirinaaronsmom]

I only use one Therapaw boot on Miri and she's fine with that.

 

I've asked two previous vets about hulling myself and both told me the dog had to be sedated to do that. One of those vets is very grey-savvy, so I gave up on that and we just use bee propolis/duct tape and dremeling. I use the propolis tincture and it's not sticky but will stain, so I put a toddler sock on until it dries and haven't had any problems with staining the carpeting. But I do only apply it at night right before bed, so she's not moving around much - otherwise the sock wouldn't stay on. Then in the morning I put on the duct tape and that may last a day or two.

[Batmom]

Dog does not have to be sedated to hull corns -- I'd take those vets the article from Grassmere (also published in a vet magazine but I forget which one).

 

We got rid of ours for good by hulling and then lightly lasering (surgical laser) the hulled cavity while dog was under anaesthesia for something else.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Here's a link to the Grassmere article - I'm pretty sure I found this referenced here on Greytalk and bookmarked it:

 

Corn Hulling

Edited March 15, 2012 by PiagetsMom

[Guest Fasave]

My senior who passed away last year had corns of three different feet. I had the vet hull when things were bad but for the most part, I used duct tape to soften, then I would pick the center out with a finger nail and then dremel the edges. Over time, we were able to reduce the number of vet visits. I also tried everything else previously mentioned here.

 

However, I now have a 6 year old with a corn and he's a little snarky. He won't even let me do his nails so I need to muzzle and have a friend come over to work on nails and the corn. He's been to the vets twice for a hulling. As previously said, even with this snarky guy, no sedation is used to hull the corn.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Personally I cut them out with an X acto, and she has no issues.

[sweetdogs]

Personally, I like 2 boots for one corn: otherwise one leg is slightly lower than the other. They already have some problems walking, I don't want to make it worse. Although with that logic, I should use 4 boots. And I should do it anyway because my corn dog has/has had them on all 4 paws.

 

We're coming to the end of our 6 month trial of the Murray Ave corn cream with absolutely no changes. In fact, his corns seem to be worse. One still has a little depression from the last time I hulled it & STILL it hurts him. Maybe I'll switch back to the bee propolis. I had tried it a while ago with no improvement but I might try using the hyaluronic acid with it this time. I never could get any consistency with duct tape but it seems to matter which brand you use. So that will be next after the propolis.....

[LBass]

My vet had never hulled a corn so when MoMo developed one, he looked at the veterinary web sites to see how it was done. He hulled and I watched carefully with an eye to doing it myself. The vet was going to order the tool he used (a dental lifter, I think) for me so I'd be well equipped. He soaked her foot in water + disinfectant first--for about 15 minutes. Then we bandaged her foot. Having watched it done, I think I could have done it at home but I would have wanter a helper to hold her head for me. MoMo really didn't fuss at all during the hulling but I'd feel better with another set of hands.

 

As it turned out, we quickly realized that hulling was not going to work well for Mo. The corn grew back completely in less than a week. Hulling just didn't seem to net us any days of comfort.

 

 

I had just come back from Sandy Paws where one of the speakers was a very grey-savvy vet. He said he'd had good results from surgery that removed the corn all the way down to the toe tendon. In the end, nothing helped Mo much and I finally opted to have the toe removed. That has given her clear relief.

[rschultz]

We are dealing with this now. The vet hulled it once then we were applying the murray cream. It came back about 6 weeks later..vet hulled again. I keep putting the cream on but we shall see. The vet said they return often but he has found that the cream can keep it at bay for a longer period of time. I have tried the duct tape which did seem to bring it closer to the surface and easier to hull.

[Guest gomiesmom]

I have never tried 'dremeling", but I have tried hand filing, like you would file your rough feet. ( acutally use(d) a human foot file)

I put ointment on it ( blu goo) and then file, but it did not seem to do much good. It kept it from protruding, but w/ my little Lilly , the one who gets corns, the corns seem to bother her UNTIL they protrude, then she is fine, then they "hull" themselves, and just fall out, then the cycle seems to start all over again. I know, seems weird, but over 4 years of battling them, this is what I have figured out. Filing or dremeling may work for your pup though.

I have recently started trying the duct tape, but it's too soon to tell.

[Guest 8fleetfeet]

Of the four greys I've had, three have (or had) corns. I've tried hulling, dremeling, duct tape, bag balm--I even tried hulling and then using Abreva (I read this somewhere). Duct tape worked on one grey's corns temporarily. One grey will let me dremel and / or hull, but her corns always come back, and they seem to get bigger. My other grey is super-snarky when I mess with his corns. I just ordered the corn cream from Murray Apothecary. Even if it doesn't work, at least I will have tried it.

 

I'm with Greyaholic: I would pay a lot of money to someone who would find a way to make these suckers go away and never come back. Between my two greys, they wear six TheraPaws when we go for walks. It's a pain in the butt sometimes. Last weekend I had to drive around looking for one that got lost when my dog-walker took the dogs out (found it!)

 

I'm REALLY hoping I see some results with the corn cream.

 

Did someone say that when using duct tape for corns that a specific brand is required? What brand?

[rascalsmom]

I, too, have tried everything. Jack has corns on three feet, and cannot stand up for any length of time. I hull them at home, when they are really bothering him (usually about every 7-10 days) but it doesn't give him a whole lot of relief.

 

Right now I am trying thuja tablets (homeopathic)...he's been on one a day for about a month with no change; today I upped him to two. Also trying to put vitamin E oil on them throughout the day (when I remember ). And giving him fish oil.

[Guest Maloy]

I live in Ottawa, Canada and am an expert on corns. I have never had or fostered a grey that did not have corns.

 

My senior foster, this winter, had on one front foot, three corns on separate toes and on the other front, two corns on separate toes. I believe, regardless of what you use or try, they will come back. I told my vet that I believe that they can be seasonal. He agrees. Last year, during spring, summer and early fall. Not a corn to be seen, by late fall they came in with a vengeance.

 

On our walks, he wears Therapaws. I have tried everything under the sun and the worst are hulled by our vet, and some do come back.

 

Now to what I'm now using and it seems to work although slowly and even if the corns go away, I do prevention.

 

My vet also practices holistic care (chinese herbal remedies). He was doing research and found what is called "Wart Ade" made from thuja oil and used by farmers, etc. for livestock (i.e. cows, horses etc.). I dab it on the corns (twice a day) and being a liquid it goes on very well. As I mentioned, even though the corns are now almost gone (yeah!!!), I still use it as a preventative.

 

My foster is otherwise a healthy 11yr old, so if corns are his worst problem right now, I'm happy, considering it could be much worse.

[nessa]

I live in Ottawa, Canada and am an expert on corns. I have never had or fostered a grey that did not have corns.

 

My senior foster, this winter, had on one front foot, three corns on separate toes and on the other front, two corns on separate toes. I believe, regardless of what you use or try, they will come back. I told my vet that I believe that they can be seasonal. He agrees. Last year, during spring, summer and early fall. Not a corn to be seen, by late fall they came in with a vengeance.

 

On our walks, he wears Therapaws. I have tried everything under the sun and the worst are hulled by our vet, and some do come back.

 

Now to what I'm now using and it seems to work although slowly and even if the corns go away, I do prevention.

 

My vet also practices holistic care (chinese herbal remedies). He was doing research and found what is called "Wart Ade" made from thuja oil and used by farmers, etc. for livestock (i.e. cows, horses etc.). I dab it on the corns (twice a day) and being a liquid it goes on very well. As I mentioned, even though the corns are now almost gone (yeah!!!), I still use it as a preventative.

 

My foster is otherwise a healthy 11yr old, so if corns are his worst problem right now, I'm happy, considering it could be much worse.

 

Hi.

So do you think the wart ade did make a difference? I called the website that has it in Canada and they can ship it to the US. Is that worth a try in your opinion?

[Guest Maloy]

"Nessa" - I would definitely give it a try.

 

It is not expensive and being an oil it goes on well. Like anything, patience is the key. What happened with "Maloy's" corns, the smaller ones disappeared and the bigger ones got bigger and eventually I had them hulled out. I have tried everything and this works for us. The product is non-toxic and non-caustic. Maloy gets liver treats after I put the stuff on, so he comes when I call him and lifts his paws. This boy is very food motivated and loves his treats.

[rascalsmom]

I wonder if I could make something like this using the thuja tablets I have....??

[Guest Maloy]

"Rascals's Mom" - I don't know about that. I never knew there were tablets. We have always used the oil. Before, finding out about "Wart Ade", we had found a specialty store that carried the oil but in a very small bottle and a bit more expensive. The Wart Ade, I believe is just as good, or better because it is formulated for farm animals and not as costly. It works for us.