Footedness as a potential factor that contributes to the causation of corn and callus formation in lower extremities of physically active individuals

The objective of this study was to investigate the link between footedness and the existence of corns and callus in the lower extremities. To achieve this objective, hyperkeratotic data was collected from 115 right-footed male adult habitual runners with no record of specific congenital anatomical variants or functional abnormalities that can influence threshold values for skin adaptation and injury to the skin and soft tissue layers. From the results, it appears that there was a significant difference in frequency of corn and callus formation in relation to footedness (x2 = 8.5, P < 0.005). The occurrence of corns and calluses was higher in the preferred than in non-preferred foot. Furthermore, it becomes evident that there was a significant difference in bilateral comparison of mean corn and callus incidences (t = 2.76, P < 0.005). The mean value of corn and callus incidences was higher on the preferred than on the non-preferred foot. These results might be indicative of the asymmetrical behavior of the lower limbs during walking and running gaits and as such might reflect unevenly applied mechanical forces in the lower extremities or differential mechanical demands between the lower extremities during voluntary motor acts.