Gymnasts obsess about shaving them down; runners worry about keeping them built up.
With some smart management, its possible to have happy, tough skin that doesnt give you problems.
Guitar players even get (and cherish) tiny calluses on the tips of their fingers.
The outermost layer of your skin (thestratum corneumabove) is made of dead skin cells.
That may sound weird, but its how your skin is built.
These dead, flattened cells protect the living layers of skin underneath.
Sometimes, youll barely notice the callus.
Thats when its time to think about removing or thinning that callus, which well talk about later.
The friction that causes calluses can also cause or exacerbateblisters.
A blister can form when rubbing causes layers of skin to separate from each other.
As a newbie runner, say, your sensitive feet may develop blisters on your first long run.
The blisters arent a requirement, though; blisters do not turn into calluses.
It takes a few weeks to build up a callus.
We lose skin cells constantly, so the callus will fade after a few weeks.
To get some perspective on these controversies, I talked toDr.
Shaving a callus down, he said, is unlikely to do much damage.
Even if you file off too much, youll grow it back before long.
Hes more concerned about the opposite situation, letting it get too thick and having too much pressure.
Its possible to get a blister underneath the callus in some cases.
If a callus isnt causing you problems, you dont need to remove it.
You also dont have to be paranoid about keeping them.
Youre just doing it faster than would normally happen.
File the callus down with an emery board or a specializedfoot file.
Kick up the filing a notch with aMicroplane grater made especially for feet.
Donotget this mixed up with the one you use for lemon zest.
These are all just fancy files.
Shave the callus (carefully!)
with aspecially made razor.
Scholls Liquid Corn/Callus Remover.
If you get calluses all the time, and they bother you, it may be worth preventing them.
you’ve got the option to reduce friction bycoating sore spots in bodyglideorgel deodorant.
You canwear cut-off pantyhose under your socks.
For callus-prone hands, consider gloves.
In some sports, like Crossfit, people argue against gloves, but not for especially good reasons.
Know that theres nothingwrongwith using gloves, if you prefer them.
In that case, consider using lube or tape to reduce friction there.
Keep it clean and covered until it heals.
Wield that callus razor carefully, and good luck.
Illustration by Sam Woolley.
