Plantar Wart Removal: Safe & Effective Solutions | Modern Foot & Ankle (2024)

FAQs

Plantar Wart Removal: Safe & Effective Solutions | Modern Foot & Ankle? ›

Liquid Nitrogen Treatment

Conventional treatment focuses on removal, while alternative approaches emphasize gradual remission. Whatever you do, do not try to cut off a plantar wart yourself because you may injure yourself and cuts in your skin allow the warts to spread.

Absolutely never attempt to pick at your wart with tweezers, cut it out with clippers, or perform any kind of “bathroom surgery.” This not only won't solve your wart problem, but can also cause you a lot of pain and increase your risk of dangerous infections.

Podiatrist's can help in a number of ways, including:

Sharp debridement to remove the hard outer layer of the wart tissue. Use of mild acids to burn away the wart tissue. Use of cryotherapy to freeze the wart. Minor surgery done under local anaesthetic for complete plantar wart removal.

Salicylic acid: Salicylic acid breaks down layers of thick skin. A higher percentage of salicylic acid (20% to 40%) is most effective. You should be able to scrub out or pull out your plantar wart after several weeks.

One needs to keep going down until just below the level of the surrounding skin to eradicate a wart completely. Stop when the base of the wart looks exactly like normal skin (i.e. no black dots or 'graininess). If they become sore or bleed a little just leave off the treatment and carry on the following night.

Below the surface of the skin, the virus will infect the skin cells, leading to the creation of a wart at the surface. This is why when one removes or pulls a wart out, it typically leaves a large hole in the skin. They can be rather deep depending on how severe the skin infection is.

Skin warts are growths on the skin that are caused by a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV infection is common; there are different types, some of which can cause warts. The types of HPV that cause common warts, plantar warts, or flat warts are usually different from the types of HPV that cause genital warts.

Plantar warts are caused by an infection with HPV in the outer layer of skin on the soles of the feet. The warts develop when the virus enters through tiny cuts, breaks or weak spots on the bottom of the foot. If left untreated, warts can last from a few months to 2 years in children, and several years in in adults.

What can be mistaken for a plantar wart? ›

Sometimes plantar warts can grow in clusters; those are called mosaic warts. Sometimes corns or calluses are mistaken for a palmar or plantar wart. In some warts, little black dots appear, leading people to call them "seed" warts. Actually the black dots are little blood vessels that have grown up into the wart.

Cryotherapy. Cryotherapy uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and destroy a wart. Research has shown cryotherapy effectively removes warts in 50–70% of cases after 3–4 treatments. Cryotherapy may remove warts more quickly than salicylic acid.

Warts live within the top layer of skin, or epidermis, and do not extend deeper into the areas where you have fat, large blood vessels, nerves, or muscles. It may feel as though the wart is very deep with roots due to the hardness of the skin around it, but this is not the case.

During and after treatment for plantar warts it is important to always wear clean, dry shoes, socks, panty hose, and the like. Also remember that old footwear items must either be thoroughly sanitized or discarded or else re-infection is likely to occur.

How much does it cost to remove a plantar wart? The pricing varies, but usually covered by health care insurance. Cash prices vary from $50 with topical medication, $100 with cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen), to $500 if surgically removed.

The answer is yes – when it comes to the treatment of plantar warts, turn to a podiatrist for help. This medical specialist specializes in treating foot and ankle problems and can effectively treat abnormal growths on your feet.

We still do not fully understand why the immune system in a healthy person cannot get rid of plantar warts. But the leading theory says that the virus hides itself and its DNA inside the skin cells (epidermal cells), which is why the immune system cannot recognize it.