Plantar Warts

Its real name is verruca plantaris but most people refer to it as really plantar warts. It is caused by the human papillomavirus and is found on the soles of the feet or on the toes. Plantar warts can be quite painful because the weight of the body rests on your feet thereby causing a lot of pressure on the wart. This is what causes the pain that one feels when they have a plantar wart.

According to Wikipedia seven to ten percent of the population in the U.S. is infected with plantar warts. The warts are benign epithilial tumors which are caused by infection. The papillomavirus attacks the skin through direct contact and enters through tiny cuts in the outermost layer of the skin. Infection usually occurs from wet walking surfaces such as showers or swimming pools. The best way to prevent this type of infection is to always wear some sort of shoes, like flip flops, when showering in a communal place and immediately when going out of a swimming pool. And never share shoes or socks with anyone.

Plantar Warts Infection

After a person is infected by the virus you may not see the wart for weeks or months. The reason for this is that due to the pressure on the soles of the feet or toes the wart is pushed inward and a layer of hard skin may form over the wart and cover it. There is one hopeful note in all of this. Human beings build immunity with age so there is less infection in adults than in kids.Warts are very common in children and they are very contagious . Therefore if your child has a plantar wart you should cover it with an adhesive bandage when swimming, have him/her wear flip flops in communal showers and instruct him/her not to share towels.

Plantar Warts Treatment and Remedies

There are a few choices for treatment of plantar warts but it is possible that even after treatment the wart may still return. The first and easiest choice of therapy, which you can do yourself, is over the counter salicylic acid. The most effective way to use it is to put a drop of salicylic acid on the wart and cover it completely with a bandage made of fabric. Repeat this everyday. It could take 4-6 weeks until it disappears totally. When you remove the bandage each day, to change it , do it with care because a piece of the wart may peel off with it. This is good because eventually the whole wart will peel off and disappear.

The next method of plantar wart removal is cryosurgery. This essentially means “freezing” off the wart with liquid nitrogen. This method makes a blister under the skin which will eventually go away. It’s called “freezing” it off but it feels like it is burning when the liquid nitrogen touches the wart. Have you ever touched a block of ice that was so cold and it felt like it burned your hand? That’s what it feels like.

The third choice of therapy is surgical excision. This method basically cuts the wart out of the skin. The doctor (usually a dermatologist) numbs the area with some form of novocain and the wart is surgically removed from within the skin. There will be some bleeding during the procedure and there may be scarring after. You can actually see a video of this procedure being done live on You Tube, if you can stomach it.

There is also another method which works very well but is not very scientific. It requires patience because it may take 6 or 8 weeks. A layer of plastic wrap is affixed firmly with a bandage over the wart, covering a little more than the surface of the wart. You are basically suffocating the wart. It also works well with duct tape instead of plastic wrap. You must make sure that the skin does not get a chance to breath or be exposed to air for too long while changing the tape or bandage. You should start to see results in two weeks. If you don’t see any results by then you should probably discontinue it. This method may be more successful if you apply salicylic acid to the wart first and then cover it completely with duct tape. Good luck in getting rid of Plantar warts and good riddance!