Plantar Warts

What is it?
A plantar wart is a wart caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) occurring on the sole or toes of the foot.

Causes:
Direct contact with the virus allows it to penetrate through microscopic breaks in the skin. Plantar warts are often passed on from infected people on the floors of communal changing areas and swimming pools for example. Once in the skin, the virus uses your skin cells to reproduce: this causes your own skin cells to renew themselves at a higher rate and this leads to the thickened area of skin under the foot. They often cause no problem at all to the feet and are a very common infection, although in some cases they can cause discomfort and need to be treated or made comfortable.

How can we help?
All treatments for plantar warts are to encourage your bodies defenses to find the virus and eliminate it. This can be done in many ways and could require a number of visits to increase the chances of getting the wart to disappear. These treatments may include liquid nitrogen, 60 % salicylic acid  treatments or dry-needling (under local anesthetic). A combination of treatments may be used. 

Our Podiatrist will discuss the problems that the wart is causing you and then you will both agree to the best course of action to take.  Also see our podiatry page.