What is Plantar Warts?

Warts are infections on the skin caused by one particular strain of human papillomavirus (HPV). Warts which grow on the plantar surface (Bottom) of the foot are known as plantar warts. Warts are mostly non painful in nature. However, depending on the area and size of the wart it might prove to be a cause of irritation and pain. Plantar warts can be seen in all age groups but they are most common amongst high school going children.

Causes of Plantar Warts

• Using public showers can cause plantar warts
• If you like to swim you should know that swimming pools can be a reason for warts too
• Some kind of wound, friction on the skin sometimes might cause plantar wart
• Weakened immune system can also be the probable causes for the spread of infection.
Plantar warts are non-malignant and non-cancerous, in fact in about sometime most warts go away without any treatment. The size of the warts is 2-3 cms in general. However some warts may grow bigger and other might just might take the shape of little colonies.

Treatment of Plantar Warts

Home Remedy for Plantar Warts:

There are various ways of treating the wart at home. Duct tape is one such home remedy. A small strip can be placed over the wart and left for a few days. It can be removed just by peeling of the duct tape. The peeling method can be applied with salicylic acid as well.

Visit our clinic:

1. Cryotherapy: If you visit our podiatry clinic our doctor might suggest you to go for cryotherapy. Cryotherapy is basically done to freeze the wart by applying liquid nitrogen to it. Usually the dead tissue falls of within a week or so. Sometimes it might take you a few sittings with us to get rid of the wart completely.
Other popular treatments are,
1. Laser Treatment
2. Minor Surgery
3. Vaccination

Although warts are mostly non painful yet they might prove to be very unbecoming for us at certain situations. They become a cause for embarrassment for us in social gatherings and can indirectly be the cause of our low self-esteem. So it’s extremely important that they should be treated