CORN CURES:
I.—Salicylic-Acid Corn Cure.—Extract cannabis indica, 1 part, by measure; salicylic acid, 10 parts, by measure; oil of turpentine, 5 parts, by measure; acetic acid, glacial, 2 parts, by measure; cocaine, alkaloidal, 2 parts, by measure; collodion, elastic, sufficient to make 100 parts. Apply a thin coating every night, putting each layer directly on the preceding one. After a few applications, the mass drops off, bringing the indurated portion, and frequently the whole of the corn, off with it.
II.—Compound Salicylated Collodion Corn Cure.—Salicylic acid, 11 parts, by weight; extract of Indian hemp, 2 parts, by weight; alcohol, 10 parts, by weight; flexible collodion, U. S. P., a sufficient quantity to make 100 parts, by weight.
The extract is dissolved in the alcohol and the acid in about 50 parts, by weight, of collodion, the solutions mixed, and the liquid made up to the required amount. The Indian hemp is presumably intended to prevent pain; whether it serves this or any other useful purpose seems a matter of doubt. The acid is frequently used without this addition.
III.—Extract of cannabis indica, 90 grains; salicylic acid, 1 ounce; alcohol, 1 ounce; collodion enough to make 10 ounces. Soften the extract with the alcohol, then add the collodion, and lastly the acid.
IV.—Resorcin, 1 part, by weight; salicylic acid, 1 part, by weight; lactic acid, 1 part, by weight; collodion elasticum, 10 parts, by weight. Paint the corn daily for 5 or 6 days with the above solution and take a foot bath in very hot water. The corn will readily come off.
Corn Plaster.
Corn Cure.
Removal Of Corns.
Treatment Of Bunions.
The Treatment Of Corns.
I.—The preventive treatment lies in adopting such measures as will secure freedom from pressure and friction for the parts most liable to corns. To this end a well-fitting shoe is essential. The shoes should be of well-seasoned leather, soft and elastic, and should be cut to a proper model.
II.—The palliative treatment is generally carried out with chemical substances. The best method, is, briefly, as follows: A ring of glycerine jelly is painted around the circumference of the corn, to form a raised rampart. A piece of salicylic plaster mull is then cut to the size and shape of the central depression, and applied to the surface of the corn. This is then covered with a layer of glycerine jelly, and before it sets a pad of cotton wool is applied to the surface. This process is repeated as often as is necessary, until the horny layer separates and is cast off.
If the point of a sharp, thin-bladed knife be introduced at the groove which runs around the margin of the corn, and be made to penetrate toward its central axis, by the exercise of a little manual dexterity the horny part of the corn can be easily made to separate from the parts beneath.
III.—Any method of treatment to be curative must secure the removal of the entire corn, together with the underlying bursa. It is mainly in connection with the latter structure that complications, which alone make a corn a matter of serious import, are likely to arise. Freeland confidently advises the full and complete excision of corns, on the basis of his experience in upward of 60 cases.
Every precaution having been taken to render the operation aseptic, a spot is selected for the injection of the anæsthetic solution. The skin is rendered insensitive with ethyl chloride, and 5 minims of a 4 per cent solution of cocaine is injected into the subcutaneous tissue beneath the corn. After a wait of a few minutes the superficial parts of the site of the incision are rendered insensitive with ethyl chloride. Anæsthesia is now complete.
Two semielliptical incisions meeting at their extremities are made through the skin abound the circumference of the growth, care being taken that they penetrate well into the subcutaneous tissue. Seizing the parts included in the incision with a pair of dissecting forceps, a wedge-shaped piece of tissue—including the corn, a layer of skin and subcutaneous tissue, and the bursa if present—is dissected out. The oozing is pretty free, and it is sometimes necessary to torsion a small vessel; but the hemorrhage is never severe. The edges of the wound are brought together by one or two fine sutures; an antiseptic dressing is applied, and the wound is left to heal—primary union in a few days being the rule. The rapidity of the healing is often phenomenal. There is produced a scar tissue at the site of the corn, but this leads to no untoward results.