What are plantar warts and how do they develop. How can you identify a plantar wart. What are the most effective treatment options for plantar warts. Are there any home remedies for plantar warts. When should you seek professional medical help for plantar warts. How can you prevent plantar warts from recurring.

Understanding Plantar Warts: Causes and Characteristics

Plantar warts are a common foot condition caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). These warts typically appear on the soles of the feet, particularly in areas that bear the most pressure during walking or standing. Unlike other types of warts, plantar warts grow inward due to the pressure exerted on the feet, making them potentially painful and challenging to treat.

HPV enters the body through small cuts or breaks in the skin on the bottom of the feet. Once inside, the virus causes rapid cell growth, resulting in the formation of a wart. While anyone can develop plantar warts, they are more common in children, teenagers, and young adults, as well as individuals with weakened immune systems.

Types of Plantar Warts

• Solitary wart: A single wart that may increase in size and develop additional “satellite warts”
• Mosaic wart: Multiple warts clustered together in one area

Mosaic warts can be particularly challenging to treat and often require prompt medical attention to prevent spreading.

Identifying Plantar Warts: Signs and Symptoms

Recognizing plantar warts is crucial for early treatment and prevention of spread. Here are the common signs and symptoms to look out for:

• Small, fleshy, and rough growths on the sole of the foot
• Hard, thickened skin over the affected area
• Tiny black dots (often called “wart seeds”) within the wart, which are actually clotted blood vessels
• Pain or discomfort while walking or standing
• Tenderness when applying pressure to the affected area

Are plantar warts always painful? Not necessarily. While many people experience pain, especially when pressure is applied to the wart, some individuals may have plantar warts without any discomfort. However, as the wart grows or spreads, it’s more likely to cause pain and interfere with daily activities.

Medical Treatments for Plantar Warts

When it comes to treating plantar warts, it’s essential to consult with a podiatrist or dermatologist for proper diagnosis and treatment. Medical professionals have access to a range of effective treatments that can help eliminate plantar warts more quickly and efficiently than home remedies.

Prescription Medications

Doctors may prescribe topical medications containing salicylic acid or other wart-removing compounds. These medications work by gradually peeling away the infected skin, allowing healthy skin to replace it.

Cryotherapy

This treatment involves freezing the wart using liquid nitrogen. The extreme cold destroys the infected tissue, causing the wart to fall off over time. Multiple treatments may be necessary for complete removal.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy works by stimulating the body’s immune system to fight against the virus causing the wart. This can be done through topical or injectable medications that trigger an immune response.

Laser Therapy

Advanced laser treatments can target and destroy the blood vessels feeding the wart, effectively killing it. This method is particularly useful for resistant or recurring warts.

Minor Surgery

In some cases, especially for large or stubborn warts, a podiatrist may recommend surgical removal. This is typically done under local anesthesia and involves cutting out the wart and a small margin of surrounding tissue.

Home Remedies and Over-the-Counter Treatments

While professional medical treatments are often the most effective, some people may wish to try home remedies or over-the-counter options first. It’s important to note that these methods may take longer to show results and may not be as effective for all types of plantar warts.

• Over-the-counter salicylic acid products: Available as gels, pads, or liquids, these products work similarly to prescription medications but at lower strengths.
• Duct tape occlusion: Covering the wart with duct tape for several days at a time may help suffocate the virus and remove dead skin cells.
• Apple cider vinegar: Some people claim that soaking the affected area in diluted apple cider vinegar can help eliminate warts, though scientific evidence is limited.
• Tea tree oil: Known for its antiviral properties, tea tree oil may be applied topically to the wart.

Can home remedies cure plantar warts? While some people report success with home remedies, it’s important to approach these methods with caution. Home treatments may take longer to work and can sometimes lead to the spread of warts if not used correctly. If you don’t see improvement after a few weeks of home treatment, it’s best to consult a medical professional.

When to Seek Professional Help for Plantar Warts

While some plantar warts may resolve on their own over time, there are several situations where professional medical help is necessary:

• The wart is causing significant pain or interfering with daily activities
• The wart is spreading or multiplying
• You have diabetes or a weakened immune system
• Home treatments have been ineffective after several weeks
• You’re unsure if the growth is actually a wart or another type of skin lesion

Should you attempt to remove a plantar wart yourself? It’s generally not recommended to attempt self-removal of plantar warts. Doing so can lead to infection, scarring, or spread of the virus to other areas of the foot. Professional treatment ensures safe and effective removal while minimizing these risks.

Preventing Plantar Warts: Tips and Strategies

While it’s not always possible to prevent plantar warts entirely, there are several steps you can take to reduce your risk of developing them:

1. Keep your feet clean and dry
2. Wear shoes or sandals in public areas, especially around pools, locker rooms, and showers
3. Avoid walking barefoot in public places
4. Don’t share socks, shoes, or towels with others
5. Change socks daily and allow shoes to dry completely between uses
6. Treat any cuts or abrasions on your feet promptly
7. Boost your immune system through a healthy diet and lifestyle

How long does it take for a plantar wart to go away? The duration can vary significantly depending on the size of the wart, the treatment method used, and individual factors. With professional treatment, many plantar warts can be resolved within a few weeks to a couple of months. However, some stubborn warts may take longer to eliminate completely.

Understanding the Impact of Plantar Warts on Foot Health

Plantar warts, while often considered a minor nuisance, can have significant impacts on overall foot health and function if left untreated. The foot is a complex structure designed to support the entire body’s weight and facilitate movement. When a plantar wart develops, it can disrupt the normal biomechanics of the foot, leading to various issues:

• Altered gait: To avoid pain, individuals may change their walking pattern, which can lead to strain on other parts of the foot, ankle, or leg.
• Reduced activity: Pain from plantar warts may discourage physical activity, potentially impacting overall health and fitness.
• Development of calluses: The body may form protective calluses around the wart, further complicating treatment.
• Spread of infection: Without proper treatment, the virus causing the wart can spread to other areas of the foot or to other people.

Do plantar warts affect foot biomechanics? Yes, plantar warts can significantly alter how weight is distributed across the foot during standing and walking. This alteration can lead to compensatory movements that may cause pain in other areas of the foot, ankle, or even the knees and hips.

Long-Term Consequences of Untreated Plantar Warts

While many plantar warts will eventually resolve on their own, leaving them untreated for extended periods can lead to several complications:

• Chronic pain: Persistent warts can cause ongoing discomfort, affecting daily activities and quality of life.
• Spread of infection: The virus can spread to other parts of the foot or to other individuals through direct contact.
• Scarring: In some cases, particularly with aggressive home treatments or picking at the wart, scarring can occur on the sole of the foot.
• Resistance to treatment: Warts that have been present for a long time may become more resistant to standard treatments, requiring more aggressive interventions.

Advanced Treatment Options for Resistant Plantar Warts

For plantar warts that don’t respond to conventional treatments, there are several advanced options that a podiatrist or dermatologist might consider:

Bleomycin Injections

Bleomycin is an antiviral and antitumor agent that can be injected directly into the wart. This treatment is usually reserved for warts that have not responded to other therapies.

Photodynamic Therapy

This treatment involves applying a photosensitizing agent to the wart and then exposing it to a specific wavelength of light. The light activates the agent, which destroys the wart tissue.

Pulsed Dye Laser Treatment

This laser therapy targets the blood vessels supplying the wart, effectively cutting off its blood supply and causing it to die.

Combination Therapies

In some cases, a combination of treatments may be used. For example, cryotherapy followed by immunotherapy or topical medications used in conjunction with laser treatments.

Are advanced treatments for plantar warts painful? While some discomfort may be associated with these treatments, most are well-tolerated. Your healthcare provider can discuss pain management options and what to expect during and after the procedure.

The Role of Podiatry in Plantar Wart Treatment

Podiatrists play a crucial role in the diagnosis and treatment of plantar warts. These foot specialists have extensive knowledge of foot anatomy and are experienced in dealing with various foot conditions, including plantar warts.

Benefits of Seeing a Podiatrist for Plantar Warts

• Accurate diagnosis: Podiatrists can distinguish plantar warts from other foot conditions that may appear similar, such as corns or calluses.
• Customized treatment plans: Based on the severity and location of the wart, as well as the patient’s overall health, a podiatrist can develop a tailored treatment approach.
• Access to advanced treatments: Podiatrists have access to professional-grade treatments and equipment not available for home use.
• Comprehensive foot care: In addition to treating the wart, a podiatrist can address any underlying foot issues that may have contributed to its development.
• Prevention strategies: Podiatrists can provide advice on preventing future warts and maintaining overall foot health.

When should you consult a podiatrist about a plantar wart? It’s advisable to see a podiatrist if you suspect you have a plantar wart, especially if it’s causing pain, spreading, or not responding to over-the-counter treatments. Early intervention can prevent the wart from becoming larger or more difficult to treat.

What to Expect During a Podiatry Appointment for Plantar Warts

1. Medical history review: The podiatrist will ask about your symptoms, how long you’ve had the wart, and any treatments you’ve tried.
2. Foot examination: A thorough examination of your foot will be conducted to confirm the diagnosis and check for any other issues.
3. Treatment discussion: The podiatrist will explain your treatment options and help you choose the most appropriate one.
4. Treatment initiation: Depending on the chosen method, treatment may begin during the first appointment or be scheduled for a future date.
5. Follow-up care: The podiatrist will provide instructions for at-home care and schedule any necessary follow-up appointments.

By providing this comprehensive care, podiatrists ensure that plantar warts are treated effectively while also addressing the overall health of your feet.

Plantar Wart Specialist – Memorial Houston, TX: Foot Specialists of Memorial, PA: Podiatrist

What are plantar warts?

A plantar wart is a hard, grainy growth that usually appears on the bottom of the foot where the most pressure is absorbed. Plantar warts result when the human papillomavirus (HPV) enters the body through small cuts or wounds on the soles of the feet.  

People with weakened immune systems, especially young children and the elderly, may be more susceptible to plantar warts, but anyone is at risk.

There are two common types of plantar warts:

• Solitary wart: a single wart which may increase in size and develop additional “satellite warts”
• Mosaic wart: multiple warts clustered together in one area

Mosaic warts can be more challenging to treat, and prompt medical attention is necessary to reduce the spread of plantar warts. Most warts will go away over time, but the discomfort may encourage you to seek treatment to eliminate warts quickly.

What are the symptoms of plantar warts?

Common signs and symptoms of plantar warts include:

• Small, fleshy, and rough growths on the sole
• Hard, thick skin
• Formation of small, clotted blood vessels
• Pain while walking or standing
• Tenderness in the sole

Warts may spread with treatment but often go away on their own over time. Warts that continue to spread or cause pain need treatment as soon as possible.

What are the treatment options for plantar warts?

Plantar warts should be diagnosed and treated by an experienced podiatrist. Treatment options include:

• Prescription wart medications
• Cryotherapy (freezing warts)
• Immunotherapy
• Laser therapies
• Minor surgery

Home remedies are often ineffective at treating warts, causing them to spread to other areas of the foot. Effective treatment to permanently eliminate them helps to reduce the risk of warts spreading.

Dr. Hetman and Dr. Jared Menchin will evaluate your plantar warts and suggest a treatment based on your needs. Call today, or book an appointment online now for a thorough foot evaluation.

Plantar Warts Boynton Beach | Immunotherapy

The foot is a highly mechanical apparatus, and it carries the entire weight of the body when we stand, walk, and run. Several common conditions—warts, corns, and metatarsalgia—often cause pain and contribute to a loss of function in the use of the foot. Failure to treat these conditions may contribute to the development of serious and disabling changes to the foot.

What Are Plantar Warts?

When the human papilloma virus invades the outermost layer of skin somewhere on the body, causing the skin cells to reproduce faster than normal, the result is a wart. Warts are non-cancerous growths. When they develop on the bottom of the feet, they are known as plantar warts. This name derives from the Latin word “planta,” meaning sole of the foot. Plantar warts often appear as a thick, tough area of skin, similar to a callus. They range from the size of a pinhead to a few centimeters across. While they can develop anywhere on the bottom of the foot, they are most uncomfortable when located on pressure points such as the heel and the metatarsal heads at the front of the foot.

Warts on the feet can be extremely painful. Unlike corns or calluses, which grow over a bony prominence, warts are usually on the softer padding of the foot. They may be found as a single lesion or as in the shape of a large, flat cluster, known as a mosaic wart. Sometimes a larger wart will develop with several smaller warts around it – this is a pattern known as “mother-daughter” warts. There is often a soft, central core beneath a plantar wart. Pressure from walking and standing often flattens the soft core, pushing the wart up beneath the skin’s surface.

Tiny blood vessels called capillaries grow into the core of the plantar wart, supplying it with blood. The capillaries clot at the tip, appearing as dark dots (or seeds) in the wart’s center. The body of the plantar wart is usually gray or brown, with a distinct, irregular, ridged border. Normal skin lines over the wart, like the lines in fingerprints, usually become distorted.

A plantar wart begins as very small, raised bump on the bottom of the foot, usually on the ball, the heel, or the bottoms of the toes. Left unattended they often grow and multiply. They may grow as large as one inch or more, and sometimes develop into clusters. Spreading is made worse by scratching and bleeding. When pressure is placed directly on the wart, they can be intensely painful.

Who Develops Plantar Warts?

Plantar warts are most common in children, teenagers, and young adults, especially in those who are 12 to 16-years old. Young people who live together and share common bathing areas, such as college or boarding school students, members of a public gym, or people in the military, often develop plantar warts. The virus spreads easily in warm moist environments like public showers and pools.

For reasons that are not fully understood, some people are immune to the virus. Others are highly susceptible to warts. Warts seldom occur in adults who never previously had viral warts.

What Causes Plantar Warts?

Caused by the human papilloma virus, plantar warts are spread when the virus contacts skin or clothing that has come into contact with a wart. Walking barefoot where the virus can be found, in the moist, warm environment of a locker room, for example, can spread the virus.

There is no known way to completely prevent plantar warts, though various precautionary measures may help. These include changing shoes and socks according to your activity, using fresh socks for athletic activities, airing out athletic shoes, and keeping the feet clean and dry. Avoid direct contact with plantar warts, including your own.

What is the Treatment for Plantar Warts?

Whatever course of treatment is chosen, proper evaluation is the first step in understanding plantar warts and the problems they present. Seeking early evaluation is always a good choice, and can make a significant difference in the progression and spread of the virus. It is important to have a doctor distinguish warts from clogged sweat glands, which may have a similar appearance.

Parents should be aware that plantar warts often affect children and young people. Because they are contagious, they can spread to other parts of the body and to other family members.

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn recommended three remedies for warts: dead cats, beans, and spunk water. Modern medicine has developed a number of other approaches, including those listed here:

• Removal with special acid
• Salicylic acid plaster
• Freezing with liquid nitrogen, known as cryocautery
• Immunotherapy which makes the patient immune to the virus
• Electrocautery or the burning of the wart with an electric needle
• Laser surgery

Acid treatments, such as those in which salicylic acid is applied directly to the wart on a daily basis, depend on careful patent compliance for effectiveness. A doctor usually debrides the wart on a weekly basis, checking to be sure that all dead cells have been cleaned from the site of the wart.

New laser techniques have been developed that are very effective in cutting and vaporizing warts. The wart is often completely excised, and blood vessels are cauterized. Some laser techniques are designed to evoke an immune response to the wart that will heal it from inside out.

Pulse dye laser techniques direct a powerful pulse of light at the red blood cells in the wart. The pigment in these cells absorbs the light, cutting off nutritional flow. One advantage of this technique is that it can selectively treat the wart without adversely affecting the surrounding skin. It also does not require anesthesia or present a risk of infection, as the surface of the skin remains unbroken. Pulse Dye is more effective if the warts have not first been treated with other methods.

Sometimes warts are treated surgically, by means of blunt dissection. They may be cauterized with an electric needle. Sometimes plantar warts disappear spontaneously, only to recur later. Warts often require several treatment sessions, depending on the unique character of damage to the foot surface. None of these treatments is guaranteed to work in every case, or to be 100 per cent effective.

Sometimes local anesthesia is required. In most cases, the patient can pursue normal activities soon after treatment. It is unwise to try to treat warts on your own. The brown dots in the warts, known medically as rete pegs, are actually tiny blood vessels. Warts have a good source of blood supply, and will bleed and grow very rapidly if you pick at them.

Other Foot & Ankle Conditions

Warts | University Health Service

On this page:

What are warts?  Warts are benign skin growths caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). The virus, which is acquired through cracks in the skin, causes a thickening of the outer layer of skin. Warts affect 7-10% of the population, and young people are more commonly affected. Most warts are not worrisome, medically speaking, and are primarily of cosmetic concern except when causing discomfort, particularly on the bottom of the feet.

Transmission: Warts are transmitted by direct contact or indirect contact (e.g., public showers or swimming pool areas). They can be transmitted to one’s self or others. Picking or scratching at warts can increase the risk of transmission. Trauma may play a role in the development of warts as they often occur at pressure points, for example, on the bottom of the foot.

Types of warts:  Each type of wart is caused by a slightly different virus and treatment may vary. The common forms include the following:

Common warts (verruca vulgaris) are flesh-colored, small raised spots on the skin with a rough surface. The size of the wart varies and may appear anywhere on the skin, particularly on the elbows, knees, hands, fingers and around the nails. The black dots found in these warts, often called seeds, are superficial blood vessels and not actual seeds. 

Plantar warts (verruca plataris) are no different than common warts except that their location on the bottom of the foot may result in a flat appearance from being pressed into the foot by the weight of the person. Plantar warts may occur singly or in a pattern, grouped closely together. They may cause pain, redness and swelling. See Images on Wikipedia.

Flat warts(verruca plana) have a smaller, smoother surface than common warts. They may appear in great numbers on the face and may also occur elsewhere, particularly on the arms and legs. 

Genital warts (condylomata accuminata) may be small or large. When large, they may have a cauliflower-like appearance. They grow on warm, moist surfaces such as the genital and rectal areas. They are usually, but not always, sexually transmitted. Do not treat genital warts yourself; medical treatment is necessary. These warts are commonly treated with weekly applications of podophyllin, liquid nitrogen or other agents, which may be irritating to the skin. Genital warts are common, contagious and may be difficult to eradicate. See also:

Self-care:  You can treat warts, except genital warts, without visiting a doctor. Apply salicylic acid liquid or plasters (available without prescription) according to package directions. If using liquid, cover the wart with a waterproof adhesive tape like duct tape or white athletic tape. After 2-3 days, soak the area in warm water, then scrape away the dead gray/white skin with a pumice stone or metal nail file. Repeat until the wart has disappeared.

Duct tape alone as an occlusive dressing has been effective at resolving warts. See article on “Duct Tape More Effective than Cryotherapy for Warts” in the American Family Physician Journal.

If the wart does not completely disappear, see a clinician for medical treatment.

Medical treatment: Warts often disappear spontaneously over several years. If warts are painful, subject to infection or cosmetically objectionable, they should be treated. Treatment depends on the size, location and number of warts as well as the activities of the infected person. Warts may be very difficult to cure; often multiple treatments are needed, and even then treatment success cannot be guaranteed. Types of treatment include the following:

Cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen) is used on many warts at UHS. First, any dead skin surrounding the wart may be scraped off. Next, liquid nitrogen is applied, producing an uncomfortable blister within two days of treatment. Many warts require more than one treatment with the second treatment being performed 2-4 weeks after the first.

Electrodessication (electrocautery) is usually used only after warts have not responded to other procedures. It consists of burning the wart with a high frequency current, followed by scraping the surface. It should be used cautiously as it may occasionally cause scarring. This process is rarely used at UHS.

Salicylic acid is often used for plantar warts. A 40% salicylic acid plaster is cut to the size and shape of the wart and covered with an occlusive tape (e.g., duct tape). Alternatively, a 17-20% liquid may be applied. After 24 hours, the wart is pared down. This is repeated every day if the area is not too irritated. This method may be used at UHS. Salicylic acid is also available without prescription; follow package directions and do not use on genital areas.

Prevention:

Remove warts that are present.

Do not pick at warts to avoid spreading them.

Wear footwear in public showers and other public areas to avoid plantar warts.

Use condoms for intercourse. Condoms reduce but do not eliminate the risk of HPV transmission.

For more information:

At UHS:

• Schedule an Appointment: Appointments are required for most medical services, however options are available for urgent concerns.

• Nurse Advice by Phone is available day and night, which may save a trip to UHS, the ER or an urgent care facility.

Plantar Wart – an overview

3.1.1 Human Papillomaviruses

HPV is a major cause of disease in humans. In addition to the plantar, common, and genital warts caused by low-risk HPVs, HPVs can induce tumorigenesis in the oropharynx, anus, penis, cervix, vulva, and vagina. Although robust screening has dramatically reduced the frequency of most of these malignancies in the developed world, globally about 250,000 women die each year from HPV-associated cancer.

The HPV family is a very large group of viruses that infect epithelial surfaces. Based on sequence homology, there are 5 genera of HPV with close to 200 different viral types. However, relatively few types of HPV are capable of transforming cells. Only 15 HPVs are termed high risk (HR-HPV) on the basis of their ability to both infect the anogenital and oral tracts and increase the chance of oncogenesis. Two viral oncogenes, E6 and E7, are important for transformation and can immortalize cells in culture. They drive the process of HPV-associated oncogenesis in vivo, and the resulting tumors are dependent on their expression for continued proliferation.

Although E6 and E7 are capable of immortalizing cells, they are not sufficient for the full transformation phenotype and tumorigenesis. HPV induces cervical cancer over a period of decades during which cells expressing the viral oncogenes gain additional mutations that result in transformation. E6 and E7 directly contribute to the genome destabilizing events that lead to transformation. For instance, both E6 and E7 impair the ability of cells to repair damaged DNA by interacting with cellular proteins responsible for that repair. Further, these viral oncogenes also increase the likelihood of erroneous mitotic events that can result in aneuploidy and polyploidy. E7 induces these cancer-associated abnormalities directly, whereas E6 allows these atypical cells to continue replicating. The continued expression of E6 and E7 over the course of two–three decades results in substantial cellular genomic instability.

An event common to many HPV-associated tumors, and likely induced by the viral-mediated reduction in cellular genomic fidelity, is the integration of the HPV genome into the host genome. Integration of the circular HPV genome into the linear host genome requires a break in both genomes. Frequently, in HPV-associated tumors, the disruption of the HPV genome is seen in the HPV E2 gene. E2 regulates the promoter that drives both E6 and E7 expression, and inactivation of E2 leads to increased expression of E6 and E7 and a demonstrable increase in proliferation.

E6 exerts much of its influence on the cell through its association with a cellular E3 ubiquitin ligase, E6AP. This interaction allows E6 to mark cellular proteins for proteasome-mediated degradation by bringing E6AP to the targeted protein, resulting in polyubiquitination. E6 uses this mechanism to alter steady state levels of a number of host proteins, the most important of which is the tumor suppressor, p53 (Scheffner et al. , 1990). As previously discussed, p53 is the center spoke of a number of signaling pathways that dictate the cellular response to a variety of stimuli including damaged DNA or faulty mitosis.

E6 also activates telomerase, the ribonucleoprotein responsible for adding DNA sequences to the ends of chromosomes at telomeres to offset the loss of bases at chromosome termini during replication. Activated telomerase is seen in a wide array of cancers as it assists in the immortalization of cells. E6 can also directly interfere with DNA repair. E6 interacts with BRCA1 and BARD1, proteins central to the high fidelity repair of double-strand DNA breaks, as well as XRCC1, an enzyme involved in the repair of single-strand DNA breaks. These interactions impair the activity of some of these proteins, and contribute to the genomic instability seen in HPV-associated tumors.

E7 contributes to both immortalization and transformation in a number of ways. Most notable is the ability of E7 to destabilize the tumor suppressor protein, pRB (Dyson et al. , 1989). Typically, pRB regulates cellular proliferation by restricting transcription factors (such as E2F) that promote progression through the cell cycle, and disabled pRB has reduced activity. As a consequence, there is significantly less restraint on the propagation of cells infected with HPV. E7 also interacts with the DNA damage repair protein, BRCA1, and impairs some of its activities, thereby destabilizing the genome of its host cell.

Warts and Plantar Warts | CS Mott Children’s Hospital

Condition Overview

Is this topic for you?

This topic has information about warts on any part of the body except the genitals. For information about warts on the genitals, see the topic Genital Warts.

What are warts, and what causes them?

A wart is a skin growth caused by some types of the virus called the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV infects the top layer of skin, usually entering the body in an area of broken skin. The virus causes the top layer of skin to grow rapidly, forming a wart. Most warts go away on their own within months or years.

Warts can grow anywhere on the body, and there are different kinds. For example, common warts grow most often on the hands, but they can grow anywhere. Plantar warts grow on the soles of the feet.

How are warts spread?

Warts are easily spread by direct contact with a human papillomavirus. You can infect yourself again by touching the wart and then touching another part of your body. You can infect another person by sharing towels, razors, or other personal items. After you’ve had contact with HPV, it can take many months of slow growth beneath the skin before you notice a wart.

It is unlikely that you will get a wart every time you come in contact with HPV. Some people are more likely to get warts than others.

What are the symptoms?

Warts come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. A wart may be a bump with a rough surface, or it may be flat and smooth. Tiny blood vessels grow into the core of the wart to supply it with blood. In both common and plantar warts, these blood vessels may look like dark dots in the wart’s center.

Warts are usually painless. But a wart that grows in a spot where you put pressure, such as on a finger or on the bottom of the foot, can be painful.

How are warts diagnosed?

A doctor usually can tell if a skin growth is a wart just by looking at it. Your doctor may take a sample of the wart and look at it under a microscope (a skin biopsy). This may be done if it isn’t clear that the growth is a wart. It may also be done if a skin growth is darker than the skin surrounding it, is an irregular patch on the skin, bleeds, or is large and fast-growing.

How are they treated?

Most warts don’t need treatment. But if you have warts that are painful or spreading, or if you are bothered by the way they look, your treatment choices include:

• Using a home treatment such as salicylic acid or duct tape. You can get these without a prescription.
• Putting a stronger medicine on the wart, or getting a shot of medicine in it.
• Freezing the wart (cryotherapy).
• Removing the wart with surgery (electrosurgery, curettage, laser surgery).

Wart treatment doesn’t always work. Even after a wart shrinks or goes away, warts may come back or spread to other parts of the body. This is because most treatments destroy the wart but don’t kill the virus that causes the wart.

Cause

A wart develops when a human papillomavirus (HPV) infects the outer layer of skin and causes the skin cells to grow rapidly. The virus can then spread from an existing wart to other areas of the body, causing more warts. Various types of this virus thrive in warm, damp environments such as showers, locker room floors, and swimming pool areas.

You are most likely to develop a wart where you have broken skin, such as a cut, a hangnail, a closely bitten nail, or a scrape. Plantar warts are common in swimmers whose feet are not only damp and softened but are also scratched and broken by rough pool surfaces. Common warts are often seen among those who handle meat, chicken, and fish.

How are warts spread?

Warts are easily spread by direct contact with a human papillomavirus. You can reinfect yourself by touching the wart and then touching another part of your body. You can infect others by sharing towels, razors, or other personal items. After exposure to a human papillomavirus, it can take many months of slow growth beneath the skin before you notice a wart.

It is unlikely that you will develop a wart every time you are exposed to a human papillomavirus. Some people are more likely to develop warts than others.

Can common warts on hands or fingers be spread to the genitals and cause genital warts?

It depends. There are many types of HPV, and the types that cause common warts are usually different from those that cause plantar warts and genital warts. If the wart on a person’s hand is caused by a type of HPV that can also cause genital warts, then there is a chance that skin contact could cause genital warts.

But common warts don’t cause the type of genital warts that lead to high-risk cancers.

Symptoms

Warts occur in a variety of shapes and sizes. A wart may appear as a bump with a rough surface, or it may be flat and smooth. Tiny blood vessels (capillaries) grow into the core of the wart to supply it with blood. In both common and plantar warts, these capillaries may appear as dark dots (seeds) in the wart’s center.

• Common warts usually appear singly or in groups on the hands, although they may grow on any part of the body. They usually are rough, gray-brown, dome-shaped growths.
• Plantar warts can develop on any part of the foot. As the callus and wart get larger, walking can become painful, much like walking with a pebble in your shoe. When pressure from standing or walking pushes a plantar wart beneath the skin’s surface, a layer of thick, tough skin similar to a callus develops over it. Sometimes dark specks are visible beneath the surface of the wart.
• Flat warts are usually found on the face, arms, or legs. They are small (usually smaller than the eraser on the end of a pencil). There are usually several in one area. They have flat tops and can be pink, light brown, or light yellow. Flat warts are often spread by shaving.
• Filiform warts, a kind of flat wart, can grow around the mouth, nose, and beard area. The surface of this type of wart has many flesh-colored, finger-shaped growths.
• Periungual warts are found under and around the toenails and fingernails. They appear as rough, irregular bumps.

Warts cover the lines and creases in the skin—this is one way to tell a wart from other skin conditions, such as skin tags or moles.

What Happens

Human papillomaviruses can live on healthy skin without causing infection. But when a human papillomavirus enters the body through small breaks in the skin, it can infect the skin cells beneath the surface, causing a wart to grow.

• A wart can take many months to grow before it becomes visible.
• Warts, particularly newer ones, are easily spread. They can spread to other parts of the body or to other people.
• Plantar warts can be pushed beneath the skin’s surface by pressure from standing and walking. A thickening of the skin slowly forms over most of the wart and looks and feels like a callus.
• Periungual warts can affect nail growth.
• It may be hard to get rid of warts after they develop. But they generally go away on their own within months or years.
• Just before warts disappear on their own, they may turn black.

What Increases Your Risk

Risk factors for warts include:

• Having an impaired immune system.
• Your age. Warts occur most often in children and young adults. As you get older, you may find that you get fewer warts or that your warts go away.
• Walking barefoot on moist surfaces, as in public showers and locker rooms and around swimming pool areas.
• Sharing towels, razors, and other personal items with a person who has warts.
• Biting your nails or cuticles.
• Wearing closed or tight shoes that cause sweaty feet.

When To Call

See your doctor if:

• You aren’t sure if a skin growth is a wart. If you are older than age 60 and have never had warts, consider seeing your family doctor or other health professional to check for skin cancer.
• Nonprescription home treatment isn’t successful after 2 to 3 months.
• Warts are growing or spreading rapidly despite treatment.
• Signs of bacterial infection develop, including:
  • Increased pain, swelling, redness, tenderness, or heat.
  • Red streaks extending from the area.
  • Discharge of pus.
  • Fever.
• A plantar wart becomes too painful to walk on.
• You have diabetes or peripheral arterial disease and you need treatment for a wart on a leg or foot.
• You have warts on your genitals or around the anus. For more information, see the topic Genital Warts.

Watchful waiting

Watchful waiting is a period of time during which you and your doctor observe your symptoms or condition without using medical treatment. It is often appropriate treatment for warts, because they generally go away on their own within months or years. But you may want to consider treating a wart to prevent it from spreading to other parts of your body or to other people. You can try a nonprescription wart treatment for 2 to 3 months before deciding to see a doctor.

Who to see

Warts can be diagnosed and treated by most health professionals, including:

Exams and Tests

Warts are usually diagnosed based only on their appearance.

In rare cases, more testing is done. If the diagnosis of a skin condition is unclear or if you are at high risk for having skin cancer, your doctor may take a sample of the growth and examine it (a skin biopsy). A biopsy is usually done if a skin growth is darker than the skin surrounding it, appears as an irregular patch on the skin, bleeds, or is large and growing rapidly.

Proper diagnosis of plantar warts is important. Some wart treatments can cause scarring.

Treatment Overview

Not all warts need to be treated. They generally go away on their own within months or years. This may be because, with time, your immune system is able to destroy the human papillomavirus that causes warts.

You may decide to treat a wart if it is:

• Painful.
• Embarrassing.
• Easily irritated.
• Growing or spreading to other parts of your body or to other people.

The goal of wart treatment is to destroy or remove the wart without creating scar tissue, which can be more painful than the wart itself. How a wart is treated depends on the type of wart, its location, and its symptoms. Also important is your willingness to follow a course of treatment that can last for weeks or months.

Wart treatment isn’t always successful. Even after a wart shrinks or disappears, warts may return or spread to other parts of the body. This is because most treatments only destroy the wart and don’t kill the virus that causes the wart.

Treating the warts yourself

Many people don’t treat warts unless they are unsightly or painful. You can treat warts yourself with:

If your child has a wart, treatment probably isn’t needed. That’s because warts often go away on their own. But if the wart is on your child’s face or genitals or is painful or spreading, your child should see a doctor for treatment. Otherwise, it is usually safe to treat a wart at home with duct tape or salicylic acid. If the wart doesn’t start to improve within 2 weeks, see your doctor.

For more information, see Home Treatment.

If you have diabetes or peripheral arterial disease, talk to your doctor before you try home treatment for warts.

Getting treatment from your doctor

Your doctor can treat warts with:

• Cryotherapy. For more information, see Other Treatment.
• Medicines, such as retinoid cream, cantharidin, or imiquimod.
• Surgery, such as electrosurgery and curettage and laser surgery.
• Chemical peels with glycolic acid, tretinoin, or a stronger formula of salicylic acid.

What to think about

It’s important to distinguish a plantar wart from a callus before choosing a treatment. Wart treatment applied to a callus may be painful or create scar tissue.

Plantar warts are often hard to treat because they lie beneath the skin. A doctor may need to pare the skin over a wart to help the medicine penetrate the wart.

Before treating your warts, think about:

• The potential for scarring. Scarring is the most important thing to think about when choosing a wart treatment. Scarring from treatment may be permanent and can be as painful as the wart itself. The bottom of the foot is especially sensitive, a consideration in the case of plantar warts. And scarring changes the way your skin looks. Treatments that are less likely to leave a scar include salicylic acid, cryotherapy, and laser surgery.
• The cost. Home treatment is often as effective as treatment by a doctor. And it costs less. But home treatment may take longer. Less expensive home treatments include tape occlusion (duct tape) and nonprescription salicylic acid.
• Your ability to tolerate pain. Quicker but more painful methods include some topical medicines (such as cantharidin) and cryotherapy.
• Your risk of infection. Treatment can sometimes cause infection. If you have an impaired immune system or a condition such as diabetes or peripheral arterial disease, discuss your increased risk of infection with your doctor. You may need to take special precautions.
• Your history of recurrent warts. If you have a history of warts that come back, you may want to talk with your doctor about more aggressive treatment methods.
• The location and number of warts. Large areas covered by warts may be better treated with salicylic acid than with more painful, potentially scarring methods.
• Your age. Painful treatments, such as cryotherapy, may not be appropriate for young children. If you are older than age 60 and have never had warts, you may want to see a doctor to check any skin growths for skin cancer.
• The time needed for treatment. Topical (putting medicine on the wart) treatment is often slower than surgical treatment. Some treatment methods, such as immunotherapy applied by a health professional, require repeated office visits. In such cases, the expense and inconvenience may outweigh the benefits of treatment.

Prevention

The main way to prevent warts is to avoid contact with the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes warts. If you are exposed to this virus, you may or may not get warts, depending on how susceptible you are to the virus.

Tips on avoiding the human papillomavirus

• Avoid touching warts on yourself or others.
• Don’t share razors, towels, socks, or shoes with another person. Someone with no visible warts can still be carrying the virus.
• Avoid walking barefoot on warm, moist surfaces where the wart virus may be alive. Wear shower shoes when using public showers, locker rooms, or pool areas.
• Keep your feet dry. If your feet sweat heavily, wear socks that absorb moisture or wick it away from the skin.
• Avoid irritating the soles of your feet. Warts grow more easily if your skin has been injured or broken in some way.

Tips on preventing warts from spreading

• Keep warts covered with a bandage or athletic tape.
• Don’t bite your nails or cuticles, as this may spread warts from one finger to another.

Self-Care

Home treatment is often the first treatment used for warts. When done properly, home treatment is usually less painful than surgical treatment.

Home treatment includes:

• Salicylic acid, which is currently considered the most desirable wart treatment, based on its effectiveness and safety. The treatment takes 2 to 3 months. Salicylic acid formulas include Compound W and Occlusal. Ask your doctor about how to use salicylic acid.
• Tape occlusion (duct tape), in which you use duct tape to cover the wart for a period of time. This treatment takes 1 to 2 months.
• Over-the-counter cryotherapy. There are home cryotherapy kits that you can buy without a prescription, such as Dr. Scholl’s Freeze Away. These treatments may be safe for warts on the hands or feet but not for genital warts. Follow all instructions carefully.

If you are uncertain that a skin growth is a wart, or if you have diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, or other major illnesses that may affect your treatment, it is best to see a health professional.

Reducing plantar wart pain

You can reduce plantar wart pain by:

• Wearing comfortable shoes and socks. Avoid high heels or shoes that increase pressure on your foot.
• Padding the wart with doughnut-shaped felt or a moleskin patch that can be purchased at drugstores. Place the pad around the plantar wart so that it relieves pressure on the wart. Also, consider placing pads or cushions in your shoes to make walking more comfortable.
• Using nonprescription medicines, such as aspirin, ibuprofen (such as Advil), or acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) to help relieve pain. Do not give aspirin to anyone younger than 20, because of the risk of Reye syndrome, a serious but rare illness. Be safe with medicines. Read and follow all instructions on the label.

What to think about

Salicylic acid treatments are often effective. They aren’t very painful, aren’t very expensive, and usually don’t cause scarring. Salicylic acid is a good treatment for children because it isn’t very painful. For treatment to be successful, salicylic acid must be applied on a regular basis, usually for a number of months.

Folk remedies, such as rubbing a wart with a bean, may have an effect on a wart. But such treatment may simply coincide with the natural disappearance of a wart.

Never cut or burn off a wart yourself.

Medicines

If you decide to treat your warts, both nonprescription and prescription medicines are available.

Nonprescription medicines

Nonprescription medicines include:

• Salicylic acid, which softens the skin layers that form a wart so that they can be rubbed off. Salicylic acid formulas include Compound W and Occlusal.

Prescription medicines

Medicines that your doctor may use or prescribe for you include:

• Retinoid cream (Avita, Retin-A). It disrupts the wart’s skin cell growth.
• Cantharidin (Cantharone, Cantharone Plus). This medicine causes the skin under the wart to blister, lifting the wart off the skin. This medicine is applied to the wart at your doctor’s office.
• Immunotherapy medicines, which help your body’s immune system fight viruses, including the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes warts. These medicines may include imiquimod, contact sensitizers, and interferon.
• Bleomycin injection, which destroys the skin containing the wart. But bleomycin isn’t often used, because it is painful during and after the injection.

What to think about

Other medicines used for warts include 5-fluorouracil, which is more often used on genital warts, and cimetidine. Cimetidine can be taken by mouth (orally) or as an injection.

As with any medicine, talk to your doctor before using a wart medicine if you are or may be pregnant. Some wart medicines may cause birth defects.

Surgery

Surgery is an option if home treatment and treatment at your doctor’s office have failed. Surgery for warts is usually quick and effective. No single surgical method is more effective than another in removing warts. Generally, doctors start with the surgical method that is least likely to cause scarring.

Surgery choices

The most common types of surgical treatment for wart removal include:

• Electrosurgery and curettage. Electrosurgery is burning the wart with an electrical current. Curettage is cutting off the wart with a sharp knife or a small, spoon-shaped tool. The two procedures are often used together.
• Laser surgery. Laser surgery burns off the wart with an intense beam of light.

What to think about

A wart may return after surgery, because surgery removes the wart but doesn’t destroy the virus that causes the wart.

The type of surgery used to remove warts depends on the warts’ type, location, and size. Curettage, electrosurgery, and laser surgery are more likely than cryotherapy to leave scars, so they are usually reserved for hard-to-remove or recurring warts. If you have a large area of warts, curettage may not be an effective treatment.

Some surgical treatments may be too painful for some children.

Other Treatment

Cryotherapy, which uses a very cold liquid to freeze a wart, is the most commonly used procedure that doesn’t involve medicine to treat warts. This procedure poses little risk of scarring but can be painful.

Credits

Current as of:
July 2, 2020

Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Patrice Burgess MD – Family Medicine
Adam Husney MD – Family Medicine
Martin J. Gabica MD – Family Medicine

Plantar Wart (Verruca Plantaris) – Podiatrist in Muskegon, MI

What is a Plantar Wart?
A wart is a small growth on the skin that develops when the skin is infected by a virus. Warts can develop anywhere on the foot, but typically they appear on the bottom (plantar side) of the foot. Plantar warts most commonly occur in children, adolescents, and the elderly.

There are two types of plantar warts:

• A solitary wart is a single wart. It often increases in size and may eventually multiply, forming additional “satellite” warts.
• Mosaic warts are a cluster of several small warts growing closely together in one area. Mosaic warts are more difficult to treat than solitary warts.

Causes
Plantar warts are caused by direct contact with the human papilloma virus (HPV). This is the same virus that causes warts on other areas of the body.

Symptoms
The symptoms of a plantar wart may include:

• Thickened skin. Often a plantar wart resembles a callus because of its tough, thick tissue.
• Pain. Walking and standing may be painful. Squeezing the sides of the wart may also cause pain.
• Tiny black dots. These often appear on the surface of the wart. The dots are actually dried blood contained in the capillaries (tiny blood vessels).

Plantar warts grow deep into the skin. Usually this growth occurs slowly, with the wart starting small and becoming larger over time.

Diagnosis and Treatment
To diagnose a plantar wart, the foot and ankle surgeon will examine the patient’s foot and look for signs and symptoms of a wart.

Although plantar warts may eventually clear up on their own, most patients desire faster relief. The goal of treatment is to completely remove the wart.

The foot and ankle surgeon may use topical or oral treatments, laser therapy, cryotherapy (freezing), acid treatments, or surgery to remove the wart.

Regardless of the treatment approaches undertaken, it is important that the patient follow the surgeon’s instructions, including all home care and medication that has been prescribed, as well as follow-up visits with the surgeon. Warts may return, requiring further treatment.

If there is no response to treatment, further diagnostic evaluation may be necessary. In such cases, the surgeon can perform a biopsy to rule out other potential causes for the growth.

Although there are many folk remedies for warts, patients should be aware that these remain unproven and may be dangerous. Patients should never try to remove warts themselves. This can do more harm than good.

Plantar Warts Treatment Fort Myers

No, it Wasn’t the Toad!

Kids will be kids. No matter how many times you ask them to put on their shoes, they run around barefoot. Next thing you know, they’re complaining about warts on their feet.

They experience sharp, rubbing pain and the black “pinpoints” inside the bumps stand out like a sore thumb. Maybe your child is even digging at the warts, causing lesions or open wounds.

Don’t fret! This skin irritation is common in children and our team knows exactly how to stop Plantar warts in their tracks, even for the smallest patients.

Wart-Free in Days

The black dots inside the warts are often mistaken as buried debris from stepping on something. People pick at them, hoping get rid of whatever’s inside. This is a tell-tale sign of Plantar warts, as those dots are actually dried, clotted blood vessels caused by a skin infection.

This condition is also commonly confused with corns and calluses. Lucky for you, our professionals at Foot & Ankle Group know how to properly diagnose your condition, even when irritation masks details from the naked eye.

We aim to get you in quickly, treating and eliminating troublesome warts in sometimes as little as five days.

Our Plantar Wart Treatments

Plantar warts are small growths that usually appear on the bottom of your feet, hence the name “plantar” for the pain you feel when you plant your heel. They are caused by the HPV virus, which enters through broken skin and festers behind the surface.

At Foot & Ankle Group, we treat Plantar warts immediately:

• • Come in for a consultation.
    We’ll evaluate the lesion and test a small sample to determine if it’s a Plantar wart.

• • Get treated immediately.
    Because the warts are a type of skin infection, most only require topical ointment. The cream will create a blister-effect, pushing the infection off in five days to a week. The pain-free skin can be removed at home.

• • Return for one last check-up (or possible second treatment).
    Two weeks after treatment, we like to see patients one more time, to remove any excess skin. Some areas of the foot, such as the ball, have thicker skin and require a second treatment to eliminate all warts. For those needing another treatment, or in extreme cases surgery, we’ll treat however necessary.

• • Learn prevention methods.
    This condition is very common in children, as the virus is picked up from exposure to the ground or sometimes, damp wet conditions like a public pool. We’ll advise you to keep them in shoes and other prevention methods for a safe and long-lasting recovery.

Say Hello To Swift: A Fast Solution for Plantar Warts

Plantar wart relief is easier than ever before with Swift, the most modern and effective treatment for warts available, now available at Foot & Ankle.

Learn more about Swift treatment for Plantar warts.

Removal of plantar warts

Plantar warts are growths in the deep layers of the epidermis caused by the human papillomavirus. They may have a shaft – a darker colored area in the center of the wart with dots in it. The rod consists of a detached epidermis and thrombosed vessels. However, the stem is not always present in plantar warts. In this case, they are considered calluses and are treated accordingly, without much sense.

Peculiarities of the procedure

Removal of plantar warts with a laser or radio wave method is performed under local anesthesia.Given the average area of ​​the wart, a fairly decent amount of anesthetic is injected.

Usually the doctor manages to remove all plantar warts in one session. However, if there are a lot of them and they are large, then the limit on the administration of painkillers can be reached. Then the completion of the removal is carried out at the next session.

On the soles of the feet, healing times are always long. From a month or more. The soles are too far from the heart, so relatively little blood comes in.When there are chronic diseases of the vessels of the legs, such as atherosclerosis of the arteries or varicose veins, the healing time is even longer.

It is necessary to pre-register and orientate on the number of plantar warts to be removed so that a sufficient amount of time is allocated for you.

How much does it cost to remove a plantar wart

Preparation and process

How to prepare for the procedure

In the area of ​​the sole, the injection of the pain reliever itself is painful until the effect of the pain reliever occurs.It is advisable to take an anesthetic capsule or pill in half an hour – an hour (after consulting with your doctor) in order to reduce the sensation of the first injection. An hour before the procedure, it is also better to drink 40 drops of motherwort tincture. Loose shoes should be chosen so that after plantar warts are removed, they do not press on fresh wounds. The foot may grow slightly larger due to the swelling caused by the administration of pain relievers.

Process description

During the removal of plantar warts, the doctor uses a laser or a radio wave knife to destroy those layers of the epidermis that are affected.And also captures a little healthy skin around to destroy the viruses that live there latently. It is important to clearly define the boundaries and depth of the plantar wart so that no parts of it remain that give a relapse.

What to do after deletion

After the removal of the plantar wart, the wound should be treated with solutions or ointments prescribed by the doctor. Usually, antiseptics, antibiotics are prescribed so that there are no infectious complications. It is possible to use antiviral ointments and creams to combat human papillomaviruses.As well as ointments that accelerate healing. You should be patient, the healing process in the sole area is long. The wound can be quite painful when walking, and after a week or two after removal it can begin to bleed (the newly formed granulation tissue is easily injured during the healing process). For pain, you can take pain relievers from the NSAID class inside (analgin, diclofenac, ketonal and others) or use in the form of creams and ointments.

Why are plantar warts dangerous?

Plantar warts often grow large, are multiple, disturb when walking.They sometimes turn into skin cancer. Pigmented acral melanoma may initially resemble a plantar wart; delay in treatment in this case can lead to death from metastases. Through house shoes, baths and showers, papiilloma viruses spread to other people and they also develop plantar warts.

Sign up for a consultation

Equipment

In the case of laser removal of plantar warts, a special medical laser device is used, which releases beams that are absorbed by water or blood in the tissues.Due to this specific absorption, water quickly evaporates from the tissues, they dry out with minimal blood loss. In case of removal of plantar warts by the radio wave method, appropriate devices (Surgitron or other brands) are used. In them, electromagnetic radiation with a very high frequency evenly and bloodlessly separates the tissues without burning them.

Frequently asked questions

Since the presence of a bar does not necessarily have to focus on location first.Plantar warts are usually asymmetrical. In places where there was no friction before. They usually do not pass on their own. For the appearance of corns, constant friction is necessary; when the friction is eliminated, the corns usually disappear.

On the one hand, prolonged healing is normal for a plantar wart. Even when the wound is completely healed and all the crusts fall off, for a long time the skin above it may be reddish, peeling. On the other hand, plantar warts themselves often relapse.See a doctor if in doubt.

It is best to remove the method that the doctor to whom you turned to is fluent. All methods are quite modern and effective. Only in the case of constant relapses is it advisable to change the method of removal to another, or even change the doctor.

90,000 ᐈ 【Removal of foot wart】 in Kiev, price – clinic “Dobrobut”

BOOK AN APPOINTMENT:

Plantar warts are a viral disease.They can appear both on the foot and between the toes. Sometimes (in 25%) they go away on their own, but in most cases they need to be treated. Firstly, because they cause discomfort when walking, and secondly, being a viral disease, warts can infect family members or others in public places such as a swimming pool, sauna, shower.

A prerequisite for the treatment of warts is their removal. In the Dobrobut Center for Dermatology and Cosmetology, podologists with extensive experience and modern effective means of removing neoplasms from the skin of the feet remove warts.

Removal of warts at the Dobrobut Center for Dermatology and Cosmetology includes:

• disinfection of the foot;
• Applying propolis to soften the wart;
• Cutting the wart along the edges to pink color;
• Applying capolin with propolis and taping;
• unloading with plaster.

After removal, it is recommended to carry out the treatment of warts at home. The doctor will give his recommendations on the choice of the drug, as well as on its use.

The procedure does not require any special training. contraindications – allergy to the drugs used.

Do you want to get an online explanation from the doctor of MS Dobrobut?

Download our Google Play and App Store

Warts and papillomas on the feet

Warts on the feet can appear at any age.It happens that they go away on their own, but more often they cause great inconvenience, up to the inability to walk due to severe pain.

If you have a sedentary job, you can adapt somehow. However, for people leading an active lifestyle, who regularly play sports, the plantar wart becomes a hell of a torment.

Attempts to independently remove the wart on the foot often end in nothing, since they grow from the deeper layers of the skin. The modern hardware methods, practiced in the clinic of aesthetic medicine and dermatology Esteva Clinic, come to the rescue.

Experienced doctors will find a safe and gentle way to get rid of this scourge, and you will soon be able to return to your favorite activities, be it dancing, morning jogging or conquering the peaks.

What warts look like on the foot

Plantar warts are often confused with calluses. They are similar, both neoplasms look like a dense dry growth, sometimes painful. A callus hurts when pressed directly, a barb when pressed from the side.

If you remove the upper stratum corneum, numerous black dots will be visible on the cut.These are capillaries (petechiae) through which the wart receives nutrition. Corns are completely dead tissue, there are no blood vessels in them.

At the initial stage, the wart on the foot looks like a round spot with a depressed center. The surface is rough, becomes hard over time, resembling a cauliflower inflorescence.

With the formation of multiple papules in one area, they speak of a mosaic cluster. It forms predominantly on the cushion and causes severe pain when walking.

How warts on the leg look can be seen in the illustrations. Note that it is not worthwhile to carry out diagnostics based on the picture. Not a single photo can replace the consultation of a qualified dermatologist, who will not only make the correct diagnosis, but also select the method of treatment.

Causes of the appearance of warts and papillomas on the foot

A wart on the heel is an infectious disease caused by the human papillomavirus. There are about a hundred types of papillomavirus with different manifestations.Damage to the skin of the legs is caused by types Nos. 1, 2, 4, 60 and 63.

Like other diseases of a viral nature, it occurs against the background of reduced or undeveloped immunity. For this reason, it is often found in adolescent children (12-16 years old), people after chemotherapy, organ transplantation (during treatment, such people receive immunosuppressants), with HIV.

Papilloma on the foot in adolescents can disappear without any intervention, simply due to the development of their own immunity.But the problem cannot be ignored, since the disease tends to spread quickly. At a minimum, enhanced preventive measures should be taken to keep family members or others safe.

What factors contribute to the infection

Common areas in which sufficient hygiene measures are not maintained are factors in the spread of papillomavirus infection.

You can get infected and get a viral wart on the foot:

• in the pool;
• in the sauna;
• in the locker room at the sports club.

The fact is that the virus can remain outside the carrier for a long time. He has enough humid environment to maintain the ability to reproduce. Therefore, drops near the pool or in the changing room become the focus of infection.

In common areas, it is necessary to regularly and thoroughly disinfect. Visitors should use personal shoes (slippers), personal towels, and treat their feet with prophylactic agents after visiting.

Increased sweating of the feet, often characteristic of adolescents due to hormonal imbalance, contributes to infection.Hygienic methods of combating sweating should be used more often in order not only to maintain external decency, but also to reduce the risk of infection.

How does the infection occur

The papillomavirus (HPV) enters the body through damaged skin. This is not necessarily an open wound, microcracks or abrasions are enough. With a strong immune response, the disease is suppressed in the embryo, and in immunocompromised individuals it can develop before visible growths appear.

Due to the fact that it takes some time from infection to manifestation, it is almost impossible to establish the source of the virus or the place of infection.Moreover, at the initial stages, the wart on the foot may not manifest itself in any way. Soreness appears later and depends on the location. The most tangible places: the pads of the feet and the heel. Shoes that are too tight can aggravate the discomfort.

If there is no pain, the papilloma on the foot can not be touched, it heals itself; but at the same time it is imperative to adhere to the rules of personal hygiene.

Why are warts on the foot dangerous

Treatment of papilloma on the foot is necessary if the neoplasm causes pain, interferes with walking, grows, changes its appearance.Squamous cell carcinoma is sometimes mimicked as an unassuming tumor. The sooner this is discovered, the more successful the treatment will be.

The main danger to others is to get infected through direct contact with a sick person. Therefore, one should not change shoes, even within the family, and even more so in educational teams.

Use only personal socks or tights, do not let others take your things and shoes. These are the minimum conditions for the non-spread of infection.

What symptoms should be the reason for going to the doctor

The question “how to treat warts on the foot” is often asked in our clinic and on specialized forums on the Internet.

We recommend starting with a visit to a doctor and a diagnosis. The fact is that the wart on the foot must be differentiated from other diseases that have similar manifestations, namely:

• lichen planus;
• seborrheic keratosis;
• fibroma;
• cutaneous horn;
• squamous cell carcinoma.
• b azalioma
• c ontagous mollusc
• e pydermal verrucous nevus
• m aszol
• l adono-plantar 2 For syphilis 9,073 900,000 excluding the above diseases, you need to make an appointment with a dermatologist.During the examination, samples (scrapings) for biopsy may be taken.

  After the diagnosis, the specialist can prescribe one or several types of procedures.

  How to get rid of a wart on the foot

  In a clinic, a wart on the foot is removed by more radical means. Among the most successful methods:

  ✔️ removal of a wart on the foot with nitrogen;
  ✔️ radio wave removal;
  ✔️ laser cauterization.

  Laser removal of a wart on the foot, as well as exposure to radio waves, destroys the structure of the neoplasm, at the same time clogging up the blood vessels.The procedures are carried out with anesthesia and give a visible result rather quickly.

  Cryotherapy works no less effectively, freezing unhealthy tissues.

  Each of the methods is well tolerated, promotes rapid healing without scarring.

  Old, large corns will require a second course, since large cornification cannot be removed in one session. Otherwise, this would lead to the formation of a deep scar and the inability to walk all the time while the regeneration process is taking place.

  In a sparing mode, patients can lead a normal life within a day or two after cryodestruction or laser.

  The doctor may prescribe immunomodulatory therapy to combat HPV.

  Each of the drugs described has its own regimen and should only be used as directed by a dermatologist.

  Prevention of the appearance of warts on the foot

  People with reduced immunity may experience relapses of the disease, not necessarily in the same place.At the same time, common warts do not tend to malignant transformation.

  For prevention purposes, simple rules should be followed:

  1. Do not walk barefoot in public places (showers, changing rooms, etc.).
  2. Use only personal shoes, towels and linen.
  3. Treat cuts, cracks in the skin with an antiseptic.
  4. Observe general foot hygiene.
  5. Prophylactic creams with essential oils or other disinfecting ingredients can be used.
  6. If ​​neoplasms are found, visit a dermatologist.
  7. Monitor your general health and immunity.

  If the neoplasm hurts, interferes with the usual way of life, it must be removed. For this, either external medicines or destructive hardware methods are used – laser, cryodestruction. Only a qualified specialist should select a method of treatment after an appropriate diagnosis.

  Advantages of treating warts on stap at Esteva Clinic

  📌 Esteva Clinic employs specialists with many years of experience who love their work
  📌 We have dermatoscopy and histological examination available
  📌 Esteva Clinic, a clinic of dermatology and aesthetic medicine, has modern equipment for treatment of warts and papillomas of the feet

  Esteva Clinic is the official partner of Skin Checker (La Roche-Posay company), which is a social project in the fight against skin neoplasms

  Cost of the procedure

  Warts and condylomas – ERA1 ESTHETIC 9000

  Diagnostics and treatment

  Warts are growths of the skin and mucous membrane of white or light gray color with an uneven keratinous surface in the form of nodules or nipples formed as a result of the proliferation of the epidermis and papillary dermis.

  All types of warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV)

  There are about 150 types of this virus. Certain types of HPV violate their characteristic anatomical areas (common warts cause types 2 and 4, warts of the feet – type 1, etc.). However, they can appear in places that are not typical for them.

  How is HPV spread?

  • By direct contact (common warts – through the hands; genital warts, also called warts – during intercourse).
  • Through indirect contact (through contaminated objects).

  Warts spread through the skin and mucous membranes, most often due to the penetration of the virus into the body through damaged skin during direct contact, especially if it is too dry. Also if there are cracks, impaired blood flow, or increased sweating. The virus that causes warts does not penetrate deeper than the skin.

  What do warts look like, what types are they?

  Warts can be of several types:

  • Common warts are the most common.Often they appear in children and adolescents, often localized on the skin of the hands and feet. First, a hard, light gray nodule with an uneven surface appears, after removal of which small black dots become visible. These warts can be painful.
  • Flat (juvenile) warts appear on the hands and face. They are small, multiple, red and brown, sometimes with a yellowish tinge. They grow on the backs of the neck and hands, on the skin of the knees.These warts can spread on the face (in men) and on the legs (in women) after shaving.
  • Warts of the feet appear in all age groups. As a result of constant squeezing, they are very hard, flat, with a horny surface, on which black dots are often noticeable. Usually there are 2-3 warts, sometimes more than ten. Several warts, located next to each other, can merge and form, as it were, a surrounded “plate”. These warts are often very painful and make walking difficult.
  • Filiform warts most often grow on the neck, under the armpits, on the skin of the eyelids, under the breast. They are thin, several millimeters in length, with distinct edges, in the form of nipples with an uneven surface. The number of warts can be very different – from single warts to large clusters.
  • Genital warts (genital warts) – the size of the head of a hairpin, red, often with outgrowths on the pedicle. They appear on the external genitals, on their mucous membranes, around the anus, in the perineum, on the skin of the buttocks.Warts can coalesce. In this case, they are shaped like cauliflower or cockscomb. Infection occurs through sexual intercourse or through contaminated objects. Some types of HPV that persist in the genital area are oncogenic, i.e. can provoke the development of cervical cancer.

  What affects the appearance of warts?

  • Weakening of the body’s immune system.
  • Violation of the barrier function of the skin (too often moisturizing of the hands or feet, microtrauma).
  • Poor hygiene.
  • Unsafe and promiscuous sex life (in case of genital warts).
  • After undergoing or with certain medical conditions.
  • After kidney, heart or liver surgery.

  How should warts be treated?

  Local medicines:

  • strong acid preparations;
  • cytotoxic drugs;
  • DNA inhibitors.

  Destructive treatments:

  For multiple warts, several treatments can be used, but only a doctor can prescribe a certain type of treatment, taking into account the person’s age and immune system, the number, prevalence, size and location of the warts.

  Prevention of warts

  • Protect the skin from drying out.
  • Do not overwork, observe the regime of work and rest.
  • Balance your diet.
  • Take care of your feet to avoid excessive sweating, do not wear tight, uncomfortable shoes and synthetic socks.
  • In order to protect against genital warts, a safe sex life is necessary.

  For more information on laser treatment for warts, see Removing warts with laser.

  ---

  Article is the intellectual property of Era Esthetic Laser Dermatology Clinic; copying and / or distribution is prohibited.

  Elimination of warts | Dermatology Clinic Prof. J. Kisisa

  Elimination of warts can be carried out for aesthetic reasons, because they cause discomfort when in public. Another reason is the discomfort caused by warts when walking, if they are on the feet.

  Treatment of warts

  It is patience and regularity that lie at the heart of a successful warts treatment process, i.e.because if the course of treatment is not followed, the wart usually grows back and treatment must be started from the beginning. A single visit to a dermatologist is rarely possible, especially in the case of large warts.

  When using folk remedies to remove warts at home, you can result in an even thicker or denser skin growth, in severe cases ulcers are possible. In most cases, self-elimination of warts does not differ in duration or regularity, and is often aggressive.

  Only a qualified dermatologist has sufficient knowledge to make an individual assessment, prescribe the methods most suitable for the patient and the necessary course of treatment for the wart. Since the formation of a wart is based on viral infections and a weakened immune system, there are times when additional studies and tests are needed to control and treat exactly the causes of the formation of warts. The doctor also determines if the neoplasm is malignant.

  Frozen wart

  Cryosurgery of a wart or freezing with liquid oxygen.Research has proven that cryotherapy is one of the most effective methods of eliminating warts, as well as the method that provides the lowest rate of warts recurrence (recurrence). It not only ensures the death of the wart or necrosis, but also activates local immunity. Cryosurgery does not require special anesthesia.

  Laser therapy for warts

  Laser procedures require an anesthetic injection, which is painful in itself, especially on the hands and feet.

  Cream Imiquimod against warts

  Special cream prescribed by a dermatologist, activating the immune system, followed by the elimination of warts. A painless, but long (and more expensive) course. A good solution in some cases, for example, for children.

  Salicylic acid against warts

  Salicylic acid is used to treat warts, either alone or in combination with other treatments. At low concentrations, it removes the outer stratum corneum of the skin and facilitates subsequent freezing of the wart.In turn, at high concentrations, it cauterizes the wart. Usually, long-term treatment is required, and during the course of treatment, it is required to strictly follow the instructions of the dermatologist so as not to injure healthy skin.

  Curettage of warts

  Often referred to as scraping the wart with a sharp spoon. During the procedure, the dermatologist anesthetizes the wart and mechanically scrapes the wart with a special instrument, a curette. After the procedure, a small abrasion is formed, which is sometimes slightly cauterized.

  Curettage allows you to quickly get rid of a large amount of tissue, but without the use of additional methods of treatment, warts can regrow, since cells infected with HPV remain at the base. When combined with other methods such as freezing, curettage is very effective.

  Electrosurgery of warts

  Also referred to as electrocautery for warts. During the procedure, the dermatologist uses a special medical device that cauterizes the wart with alternating current.Cauterization of a wart with an electric current is painless if anesthesia is performed. Sometimes it is recommended to combine with other treatments.

  Excision of a wart

  Dermatologist anesthetizes the wart and excises it with a scalpel. If the wound is small, it may heal on its own, and if the wart is large, stitches may be needed. Surgical wart removal can be applied to large warts that are difficult to treat. There is a risk that the wart could grow back if not cut out enough.After surgery, a scar may form.

  Isoprinosine tablets for warts

  Prescribed medicine by a doctor. The tablets stimulate the immune system against viral infections, incl. and against the manifestations of HPV infection – warts and genital warts. The medication helps to destroy warts. Isoprinosine tablets are usually combined with other treatments.

  Traditional medicine methods for warts

  Most often, celandine, sometimes lemon, aloe or apple cider vinegar, is used to eliminate warts.Traditional methods can be effective, but it is difficult to judge their real effectiveness, because there are no clinical studies.

  Medicines for warts available in pharmacies

  The most common means available in pharmacies are various acids – formic acid, salicylic acid, lactic acid. There are also warts freezers available, but they do not contain liquid oxygen and are not cold enough to effectively treat warts.