thick dry skin around toenails and on feet

Please note that I am not a physician and cannot diagnose or treat any medical condition.

My first question is if this problem is concerning to you because of how it looks, or are there any other bothersome symptoms. Treatment and recommendations will depend on whether you simply have callouses or if you have some sort of swelling or infection.

Is the skin simply thick? If this is the case I would do two basic things. First, you can exfoliate the skin. This can be either mechanical or chemical in nature. You can use pumice stone to slough the skin under water. Or, you can consider using urea cream to soften the skin.

Secondly, seek the source of friction that is stimulating the feet to produce thickened skin. Perhaps change your shoes or use moleskin padding to prevent continual rubbing which will exacerbate the problem.

If there is redness, heat, or pain around the toenail bed, it could be that you have cellulitis, basically a skin infection. If this is the case, you may require treatment with an antibiotic.