weird callous-thing on my foot?

When I typed the subject of this post, I put "weird callous-thing on my food" instead of foot.  Luckily I caught the mistake before I posted it.  You would all be wondering what kind of food I was eating that had weird callous-things on it!

Anyway, about my foot.  I have this weird callous-thing.  I'm assuming it's a callous.  It looks and feels like a callous, to me.  It's on the ball of my foot, but towards the outer side.  Maybe an inch or two below my baby toe.  It's about the size of my pinky fingernail and it feels hard and looks sort of like very dry skin.  I have a callous on the middle finger of my right hand, which formed a long, long time ago from writing.  It's where a pencil rests against that finger.

I don't know what would cause a callous at this place on my foot.  I've only become aware of it recently, maybe in the last week or so.  It's big enough that I can feel it when I'm walking and it hurts just a little.  Feels kind of like walking with a pebble or something in your shoe.

So.  Does this sound like callous?  Or what else could it be?  More importantly, is there a way to get rid of it?  It's not terribly painful but it's uncomfortable when I walk.

Kelly, It could very well be a small callous, and yes, they can make walking a little painful. I notice mine more in the summer when I wear sandals all the time. I have birkenstocks that have a molded footbed, and they can cause some irritation. I use a pummice stone in the shower, and try to lotion my feet well before bed. I don't have them so much in winter...I guess wearing socks, and different shoes don't cause callouses to form as fast.

I was thinking a pumice stone might help it.  I also wear sandals all summer.  I love sandals.  I go barefoot in the house, though.  I only wear my sandals when I go somewhere.  But I hardly ever wear socks.

I have that on both of my feet where my flip flops rub. Mostly a pain in the butt. A pedicure should get rid of them but it may be time to change shoes if you notice it coming back.

I do my own pedicures basically because I have an aversion to someone messing with my feet...LOL...I love my sandals, & try to keep up as best I can. Now that I'm not so heavy, getting the toenails painted is soooo much easier too!!

I had something similar years ago. I was around 19 years old and my doc dianosed it as a planter's wart. These grow underneath the skin and you may not see the wart for several weeks or longer.  I had this one removed with an "electric arc" the treatment back then.  I was told mine was due to an irritation from shoes that had a severely worn sole.  The "thing" didn't bother me most of the time. BUT, whenever I took a shower, played sports, etc. --the tissue on the foot would swell, and it was somewhat painful to walk.  I had another one that developed a few weeks later, even though I had new shoes. I knew how my foot felt from the previous one. Then one day, the wart popped through the skin.  I would soak my foot in epsom salts, and take a tweezer to remove the segments of the wart. There are likely topicals today that would do the same thing.  "Pebble feeling" and hurting when you walk, make me think that you had the planter wart issue I have many years ago.  DAVE

How big was yours?  I've had warts a couple of times and this is significantly bigger than they were.  But maybe I'll try some of that OTC wart remover stuff.  Last time I had a wart was many years ago, but it was on the back of my hand and I used those sticky things that are kinda like bandaids that remove warts.  You just stick one on over the wart and a couple days later I took it off and there was the wart, stuck on the bandaid-thing.

The wart itself isn't that big. BUT, due to the fact it's beneath the thicker skin of the foot, the wart looks appears larger, but it's just stretching a thicker skin area.  Unless you actually see the wart, I doubt that the wart remover liquid will do anything.  So topicals or wart patches won't do much until the wart passes through the skin. So in the meantime, you'll have to put up with the pain in your foot. Personally, I'd get it looked at by your local urgent care or your PCP.  My issue was in the late 60's and I really have no idea on how these are treated today. Just googled it and: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/plantar_warts/article_em.htm  Link has description, treatment (freezing or burning for removal), danger issues than can arise if not removed, etc.  Didn't spell it correctly, plantar wart.  DAVE

It could be a plantar wart, but if it is, it should only be removed by a good dermatologist, a true plantar wart can grow to be enormous, my brother had one on the back of his neck, and they generally grow a type of root structure, and the root has to be excised too, or it will grow back with a vengeance, and a piece of one in an open wound will cause ot to grow there too.

Have you been having any back, hip, or knee pain lately? If so, perhaps you could be walking with a slight gait, which would explain a callous in an unusual area.just a thought. Or you may be due for a new pair of shoes lol.