- The TikToker Parmesan Palms has a rare genetic mutation that causes perpetual callouses to form on her hands and feet.
- Millions tune in as she removes the skin in the name of comfort and mobility.
In her first TikTok video, shared in January, Shanti McGinley shaves hardened skin from the bottom of her feet, which falls into a pile in lengthy strips. Ominous lyrics from Billie Eilish's "My Strange Addiction" track play in the background: "Don't ask questions," it goes. "You don't wanna know."
But, as it turns out, viewers have a lot of questions for McGinley, a 37-year-old, Oregon-based mother of two, who is going hugely viral on TikTok for documenting how she manages a rare skin condition that both she and her son were born with. This includes shaving, scraping, and drilling away a callous-like skin that forms on their palms and feet every few weeks.
"Does it hurt?" one user asked; "So satisfying," another quipped.
@parmesanpalms Having a #raredisease means I get a lot of questions #rareskincondition #callousremoval #callousedfeet #skinshaving #rarediseasewarrior #unusualthings #unusualvideos #weirdpeopleontiktok ♬ my strange addiction - Billie Eilish
In four months, McGinley has turned her condition — Diffuse EPPK (epidermolytic palmoplantar keratoderma), Vorner Type, a rare genetic mutation causing excess keratin to form — into a unique social media channel of over 647,000 followers.
Millions tune in almost daily to watch her use a litany of tools to remove piles of dead skin in the name of comfort and mobility. Her most-viewed video, a toe-clipping session last month, has accrued 47 million views.
While strange and striking, it's perfectly at home on TikTok, where similar videos with a dermatological bent, like corn, callous, and hangnail removals, as well as pimple popping, have become a staple. Viewers often comment that they find them "addicting" and "satisfying."
McGinley is well aware of this niche. But beyond entertainment, she told Insider she wants to share insight about the little-known condition to reduce stigmas for those born with differences.
McGinley feared she'd be called "disgusting," but many commenters are supportive, if not appreciative
McGinley, who said she's more comfortable posting facelessly right now but plans to reveal herself one day, began making the videos at a friend's suggestion. She said her husband came up with the channel name, which promptly made her crack up.
She told Insider she feared people would call her "disgusting," but she wanted to shed a light on EPPK that she said doctors she'd encountered over the years were "woefully undereducated" about.
To date, she's encountered roughly 300 others with the condition on TikTok. "In 99% of the cases it's people who've never had any idea how to take care of it," she said.
@parmesanpalms Explaining what’s going on here… @parmesanpalms palmoplantar keratoderma is a #raredisease caused by gene mutation of keratin genes expressed in the hands and feet. I specifically have Diffuse Epidermolytic Palmoplantar Keratoderma (EPPK) - Vörner type #rarediseaseawareness #skindisease #callousremoval #callousedfeet #callousremover #parmeseanpalms ♬ original sound - ParmesanPalms
"My older videos from January were a lot more clinical and a lot more educational," she noted. "But as I started to realize what the audience wanted, now I will show picking and peeling and blisters and all the other stuff that I never thought I'd make content out of."
She shaves her hands every two weeks, and her feet every three months
McGinley shaves her hands roughly every two weeks, and the whole process takes one to two hours per hand, she said. Her feet require a heavy scrape about every three months, but she clips and picks at them in between for maintenance.
Her most-used tool is a Credo pedicure razer, with a handle that her husband sculpted out of clay to fit the nooks of her particular grip.
@parmesanpalms Replying to @marshamllowgeekgirl the tool everyone is asking about and how the blades work. I get replacements on Amazon. Learn more about EPPK in my bio. #raredisease #rarediseaseawareness #palmoplantarkeratoderma #skindisease #callousremover #parmeseanpalms @parmesanpalms ♬ original sound - ParmesanPalms
While McGinley is self-employed as a textbook editor, content creation is gradually taking over her career. She said she is already "making very good money" from TikTok's Creativity Program in the short amount of time that she's been posting.
McGinley also posts on a second account dedicated to gardening called @fruit.and.sunlight. She also has a YouTube channel where she repurposes her TikToks and shares lengthier shaving sessions.
Sharing her son's condition has stirred impassioned criticism and support
In one particularly poignant video from mid-January, McGinley shared that her seven-year-old son was also born with EPPK. She's since made the decision to document the process of caring for his hands and feet, too.
She said she knew it was a "gamble" that her children would end up with the hereditary disease, which she said appears "all over the map" on family trees.
However, unlike videos of herself, reactions to sharing her son's hands and feet have been more divisive. While half of her fans staunchly defend her decision to be open, others have waged harsh criticism, calling her "shameful" for even choosing to have children.
@parmesanpalms Replying to @thescapegoat82 I said what I said. Enough marginalized, and different people have been kept from this world through prejudice, and I don’t want to contribute to that. #raredisease #rarediseaseawareness #palmoplantarkeratoderma #skindisease #callousremover #parmeseanpalms #callousremoval @parmesanpalms #choicetoheal #hereditary ♬ original sound - ParmesanPalms
McGinley said that growing up, her own "hippie" parents instilled a deep sense of self-worth, but were "lost" in helping her treat the condition. That's why she's choosing to show her son's hands and feet to help other families.
She's also doing so in order to stamp down on stigmas surrounding those born with differences. In her YouTube channel description, for instance, she calls EPPK "my plight and superpower."
"I can touch very hot things … I can walk on uneven surfaces and it's not painful," she said, noting that she and her son also don't have fingerprints.
"There is nothing different or weird about me. This just is how I am."