The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Castor Oil
Posted by Girlinms3 (Mchenry, Ms) on 10/09/2015
★★★★★
I had a corn on my foot for over 3 months. I literally tried everything!! Banana peels, vinegar, aspirin paste, stick on medicated pads, compound w and many more. The ONLY thing that got rid of this monster was castor oil.
Here's how I did it and I hope this helps other people because I really understand the pain you go through now and I feel so fortunate that I found mention of this on a website somewhere and gave it a try.
I took a cotton ball tore in less then half apart, made a circle out of it with the center open so the corn could come through the hole.
Pour a small about of castor oil on the cotton, but first place the cotton circle on tape that will stick to the bottom of your foot. I used medical tape that's like cloth from the drugstore. Tape it to the bottom of your foot and wear all day and one on all night. Normally in the morning I would take it off, file the corn with an emery board (black one from Sally's) and put the castor oil patch right back on.
With in 3 days, it was almost gone. I was so happy! Here's a picture of the castor oil I bought and how my cotton donut shaped patch looks. Good luck!!
Pumice Stone, Change Footwear
Posted by Mama To Many (Tn) on 11/17/2018
★★★★★
My daughter had a corn on the side of her big toe. At first we treated it like a plantar wart or wart as we had never dealt with a corn and thought it was a wart. But it was only getting larger and worse. Her toe was even swelling some and had redness. Wearing shoes was painful.
She used charcoal poultices overnight for the pain and inflammation for a couple of nights.
We finally decided it was a corn and not a wart. The first thing to do was change her footwear. She wears cheap flats or cowboy boots most of the time. Both were putting pressure on the toe, causing the corn in the first place. We found a pair of comfortable shoes with a large toe box. This brought some immediate relief as the corn was no longer being aggravated.
She started to use a pumice stone on the corn after each shower. We could see improvement daily. She used it gently.
Then it started to look like a scab. She stopped doing anything to it and the large scab came off on its own and now the toe looks normal again.
As a side note, I have learned a few things about feet with my broken baby toe.
Feet and toes need room to spread out! So much footwear restricts the movement of the foot!
I realized that I could wrap my toe and toes with some cohesive tape and as soon as I stood up, the tape was too tight so my toes couldn't do as they were supposed to. When they are squished, corns and even bone deformities can result over time.
I also found that even my little pinky toe is used to fine tune balance.
Tight shoes are not good for you!
Probably barefoot is best, but not practical for most people except at home. I will be making more of an effort to find shoes that do not bind my feet or my children's and allow our feet to do their job better.
~Mama to Many~
Banana Peel
Posted by Suziq (Gig Harbor, Wa) on 10/24/2013
★★★★★
Many, many years ago I had a soft corn between the little and next toe which took something like 6 months of drug treatment through my physician to clear up. Not wanting to go through that again, or even to take prescription medication, I decided to Google the problem and see what I could find. I found the Earth Clinic website and was delighted to see the list of maladies and the natural treatments different people have tried and their results. I was literally at my witt's end with this. My foot was so sore I have skipped the gym this past week, which is a big deal to me, as I go 6 days a week and walk about 4 miles. Going out has been excruciating for me. I just want to stay home and go barefoot. After reading the various posts, I decided to try the banana peel pulp between the toes. I would first soak my foot for about 10-15 minutes in as hot a water as my feet would stand. After drying completely, I would put a small amount of pulp scraped from the inside of the banana peel between the toes, bandage up good, then leave on all day. I would repeat the soak and reapply the banana pulp for over night. The crazy thing is that the first application, I noticed that the pain had almost gone away. Someone else mentioned using lime pulp for pain, but I didn't find that as effective. After 2 days of this, my bandage fell off as I was walking around the house on the third day, and most of the soft corn had already hardened and came out with the bandage. I was truly flabberghasted! There is a little residual tenderness, but the pain is gone. I think I am just going to continue the banana peel treatment at night periodically as I think possibly this may have been caused from gym shoes. Thank you thank you for this website and all the great information!
Duct Tape
Posted by Ellen (Tampa, Fl) on 07/25/2013
★★★★★
Simplest solution I've found is a small piece of duct tape --leave in place for 3 to 4 days. When it's removed, the "corn" will cone off as well.
Banana Peel
Posted by barabara (bundaberg, qld australia) on 01/28/2008
★★★★★
I developed a soft corn on my toe many years ago and it was exstremely painful. none of the over the counter remedies worked. someone told me that a piece of fresh banana skin taped with the inside of the skin on the soft corn and left in place for a week would kill the virus and the corn would fall off. I did as instructed and one week later when the tape was removed the core of the corn, now black and looking like a cauliflower floret,came away with the banana skin and tape. It left a large hole that healed without a scar and there has never been a recurrence in 22 years. babs
Vaseline
Posted by Kamilee (Brooklyn, Ny) on 12/14/2009
★★★★★
To get rid of corns, after your bath/shower simply apply vaseline and cover the corns with bandaids. Be patient, it takes a bit of time depending on the size/hardness of the corns... but it works.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Sondra (Rialto, CA) on 04/13/2007
★★★★★
I have used ACV to remove corns from my feet..I tried Dr Scholes corn remover,not healthy, can actually eat to bone.I read about ACV for corns and it worked. take a small piece of gauge soak with ACV place it over the corn only, use water proof bandaides and tape it aroun the toes, wear it all day and at night add more ACV. I did my own pedicure every few days, using a pumich stone rub off surface later. I start in the winter so by summer I can wear sandals. BE PATIENT and CONSISTANT.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by ST (Eugene, OR) on 06/03/2021
★★★☆☆
ACV soothes the corn, but I plan to try some of the other suggested remedies, especially the banana peel. However, I wish people would proof-read their comments so we could understand what they're trying to say. It also looks like people are calling anything from a blister to a bunion a "corn". Sorry to be critical but it's kind of important to get clear information.
Banana Peel
Posted by Mark (Missoula, Mt) on 02/23/2015
★★★★★
Read about using a banana skin on my foot for a corn. I thought it was weird but gave it a try as I had used the medicine in the store to no avail.
It worked great. It took about a week and a half of continually changing the banana and bandaid but it totally got rid of the corn!
Turpentine
Posted by Rob (Kentucky) on 10/31/2024
★★★★★
Use a drop of turpentine daily applied to the corn will relieve them. Old Folk Remedy.
Lemon
Posted by Rob (Kentucky) on 10/02/2024
★★★★★
Lemon for Corns. -Bind a piece of lemon over the corn every night for four or five nights.
From the book; Health Knowledge; a Thorough and Concise Knowledge of the Prevention, Causes page 1390, by John Leader Corish 1919
If a cripple will take a lemon, cut off a piece, then nick it so as to let in the toe with the corn, the pulp next the corn – tie this on at night so that it cannot move – he will find next morning that with a blunt knife the corn will come away to a great extent. Two or three applications of this was make a "poor cripple" happy for life.- London Field.
Book - Dr. Chase's New Receipt Book and Medical Advisor or Information for Everbody by A.W. Chase M.D., 1920
Apple Cider Vinegar, Aspirin, Banatrol
Posted by Betty (CA) on 12/06/2021
★★★★★
My husband has had a bad corn on bottom of his foot just under the pinky toe. He used a mixture of ACV, banatrol and aspirin on gauze wrapped over night for a few nights. He pulled out a tooth looking thing and now has a hole in his foot where it was with a pinpoint hole in the center of it. There are remnants of black specs that came out when the affected area was squeezed. What are those black specs?
Banana Peel
Posted by Jennifer (New York) on 08/10/2020
★★★★★
I want to add into the chorus for banana peel for corns, a remedy which I found here after going to a podiatrist who wanted to eventually recommend surgery to reshape my toes, which he said would prevent the corns in the first place - insane!
The banana peel worked in about two days on a soft corn in between my pinky and fourth toe. I also had success with peel on a rough patch of skin on my thigh that popped up overnight...raised pores and almost like sandpaper. for my part, even old saved banana peels, still work, including peels from bananas I had to freeze before they went bad because I didn't use them enough.
Banana and Lemon Peel, ACV Soaks
Posted by Relieved (Louisiana) on 05/13/2018
★★★★★
Corn Treatment: OTC did nothing. I alternated between the banana and lemon peels, changing daily. After a few days, I added a 30-minute foot soak with hot water and 3 tablespoons of acv. During the soak, I intermittently scrubbed the corn with a pumice stone. Within a week, the corn was gone. Thank you to everyone who recommended this remedy!
Castor Oil
Posted by Roxy (Cape Town ) on 11/02/2016
★★★★★
I tried the castor oil on a piece of cotton ball used it for two days now I promise it works was so amazed as I have bought many different expensive treatments over the years and I paid R20 for castor oil and it's a miracle in a bottle. I read a ladies review on earth clinic the best advice ever so now I can take out all my sandals and flip flops for summer.
