Corn

A local thickening and hardening of the skin of the foot such as at the distal edge of the sole or between the toes and especially at the base joint of the great toe. A corn is called a flesh spike (肉刺 ròu cì) or chicken’s eye (鸡眼 jī yǎn) in Chinese; it has a deep root and a hard hollow head, is painful when pressed, and affects walking. It is produced by friction and pressure from footwear, occurring especially in cases where the affected part is abnormally protuberant.

Medicinal therapy: Treat by paring away the dead skin down to red flesh and applying Elephant Skin Paste (象皮膏 xiàng pí gāo).

Acumoxatherapy: One method is to apply the fire needle in the center of the corn and four surrounding points, pointing into the root. In mild cases, a week of such treatments performed daily is sufficient; in severe cases, two weeks may be necessary. Alternatively, direct moxibustion can be applied. Five to seven cones can be burned at a time, or 3–5 cones if the feet have been soaked and the surplus dead skin pared away with a knife. Compare callus.

Etymology

Chin 肉 ròu, flesh; 刺 cì, prick. 鸡 jī, chicken; 眼 yǎn, eye; from the appearance.