Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand and writes about medical facts.
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Dear Martin,
I have been living in Thailand since 2005 and since I have been living here I have been suffering from huge calluses on my feet. I've tried all the remedies but nothing helps. Which is especially annoying and painful; are the rifts that arise almost continuously.
I walk barefoot in and around my house.
Can anything be done?
My age is 66 years, weight 86 kg. 1.90 m
Regards,
D.
******
Dear D.
First of all, you need to treat the fissures. Are they inflamed? Probably because you're in pain.
Do you take any medications?
Send me some pictures of your feet.
Buy soft slippers and walk in them, even in the house.
If I have more details I may be able to help you.
Be aware that the treatment will be long (three months) and labour-intensive (2-3 times a day).
Sincerely,
Martin Vasbinder
Dear Maarten
Thanks for your quick response. Yes, sometimes the fissures are inflamed. No, I don't take any medications. Coincidentally I had a lot of dead skin removed just today, but the attached photos give a good impression.
Regards D.
****
Dear J.
It is very important to wash your feet twice a day with, for example, baby shampoo. Rinse well and dry with cold hair dryer, if available. Fan is also allowed. After washing, treat the fissures with betadine. Dry with hair dryer or fan
Apply clotrimazole cream, or rather powder, also in shoes. For sale at the pharmacy. Powder is usually used for dogs. That's fine too. Minimum 3 weeks. Wear clean cotton socks, especially at night.
Once the fissures have healed, treat the calluses with urea-20 cream until the feet are soft again. Only at night. Also cotton socks.
In addition, I would take a tablet of Diflucan (fluconazole) 3 for 150 weeks. 1 x per week. That is to get rid of any athlete's foot completely.
I hope the medicines are available. According to the official channels, yes, but that doesn't say much. Always walking barefoot causes calluses. That is known. Calluses are fine, but they need to be maintained properly.
Pedicures often have dirty instruments. All over the world. Making an autoclave to sterilize them is very expensive. Alcohol is not enough
In Spain I sterilized the instruments of some pedicures. That saved a lot of trouble.
Sincerely,
Dr. Maarten