Durlacher’s Corn padding
A Durlachers corn is a specially named corn that occurs on the lateral side of the fifth toe adjacent to the nail and can be mistaken for a double nail. This Durlacher Corn is named after a UK chiropodist, Lewis Durlacher (1792-1864) while in the USA, they call this a Lister’s corn.
The cause of the Durlacher corn is too much pressure on the area. This type of corn is treated by debridement and then addressing the cause such as the correct fitting of footwear. One way to protect it after debridement and allow it to ‘settle’ down is with the use of felt padding:
The thinner felt (6mm) is better for this and pads can easily be cut from a larger sheet. It is important that the pad is big enough to get pressure off the area and not cover the area where the corn was, but at the same time not be too bulky that it can not fit in the shoe. After the pad is applied, adhesive tape is then required to keep it in place. Keep the pad on for 24 hours and then let the skin breath a little before applying another one. After several applications the irritation should have settled.
IMPORTANT: the cause of a Durlacher corn does need to be address or this will be an ongoing problem. The padding is a good way to get symptomatic relief, but it will not take away the cause of the corn (which is excessive pressure on the area).
The padding is not needed if you change your shoes to an open toe shoe or use a flip flop (eg the Archies) as they place no pressure on the area of where the corn occurs.
