I did it my way (Bazuka Gel)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	Bazuka Gel
Date:	30/03/09 (437 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: see review

I don't often look under my feet so I was unaware of the problem that lurked there until it became painful. I started to notice a sharp pain under one of my toes, the toe next to my little toe to be precise, so I decided to have a look and see what the problem was. I expected to find I'd stood on something and it was embedded in the toe so sharp was the pain but no, I had a corn under there.

Corns are lumps of thickened skin that form due to friction. They can hurt if they press into the deeper layers of skin and that's what mine seemed to be doing. I guessed an old pair of flip flop type sandals were to blame as they had become a bit loose so I must have been gripping with my toes to keep them on and as a result I had a corn.

It wasn't a huge corn as it was on one of my smallest toes and as it was situated on the fleshy pad it had been pressed into the toe by my weight as I walked so it didn't stick out like the hard lumpy corns you get on the sides of the feet. Having no idea what I should use on said corn I got searching online for a product.

Bazuka gel came up in the results much to my surprise, I always thought it was only for verrucas but seems it's also for warts, corns and calluses too. The cheapest price for a 5g tube was £3.99 so I ordered some.

The box is purple with cream writing and a green circular symbol that I assume is supposed to represent the area you're treating. The claims are it is a complete treatment, it dries to form a protective water-resistant barrier, it inhibits the spread of verrucas and warts, no plasters are necessary and once a day application is all that is needed.

The leaflet inside tells us the product is "highly volatile and flammable" and must not be spilt on clothing etc. Also folding the tube may cause a leak so don't do it! The active ingredients are salicylic acid (I'm fairly sure this is something to do with aspirin) and lactic acid. Sufferers of diabetes and those with poor circulation should not use Bazuka and for the rest of us it can take weeks to remove the corn/callus/wart/verrica and may cause tenderness while you use it. Obviously keep it off skin that isn't hardened as it will irritate it. A packet with an emery board is also included.

So I took the little 5g tube and removed the plastic ring around the neck and screwed the pointed applicator in place. The seal is broken at this point so don't squeeze the tube hard or it goes everywhere. I once picked it up in a hurry and squeezed it a bit hard and loads came out.

You soak your feet first to soften the area, I had a hot bath, then carefully applied two drops to my corn. I then sat with my leg twisted in an odd fashion for a few minutes while it dried. Once dry it forms a white covering. What you're supposed to do is remove this white covering each night then apply more of the Bazuka gel. If the white layer won't come off it is ok to build on it for a few days which should allow you to remove it as it forms a thick white layer. Once a week you're supposed to use the emery board to file down the corn, the emery board is only a couple of inches long and as rough as the dark side of a normal emery board.

This all seemed like it was going to take forever to get rid of one little corn. I spent the first week religiously peeling the white layer off (one day it fell off without any help from me so those with infectious verrucas and warts be warned!) and applying more gel and used the emery board at the end of the week. The emery board is useless, once it's touched the skin it loses any roughness it may have had so I switched to a pumice stone instead.

After the first week the corn hadn't changed in appearance even though it wasn't as painful. I'm not very patient so I decided the next week I'd omit the peeling stage and just build up a layer of gel and pull it off in one go. This worked loads better, the white layer just got thicker and harder and at the end of the week I pickled it off with a pair of scissors and underneath revealed fresh pink skin with no corn! Over the next few days I used the pumice stone to soften the edges of this crater and the corn didn't return.

A few weeks on I am still left with a patch that's darker where I treated with the Bazuka gel but I'm guessing it will fade in time. Overall it worked but only when I used it my way and stopped faffing about peeling the gel off every night. The emery board is useless so don't bother and it's a hassle to have to wait for the gel to dry each night. I have lots left in the tube so you don't use much which makes it very inexpensive.

I'm not saying everyone should follow my example and use the gel this way, I'm far too impatient to wait weeks for a little corn to disappear. I would use it again if I got another corn but frankly if I got a verruca I think I'd opt for either the extra strength version or something else entirely as I don't know if this version would cope with it.

I'm giving it 3 stars because it worked but it loses 2 for the faffing about they recommend and how ineffective it seemed doing it their way.

Summary: Recommended for corns and calluses but nothing larger