Plantar Warts

Plantar warts are a common viral skin infection on the bottom (plantar) side of your foot. About 10 percent of teenagers have plantar warts. Using a public shower or walking around a locker room in bare feet increases your risk for developing plantar warts.

Causes

Contrary to the old folk tale, you can’t get warts from touching a toad. Warts are caused by a virus that enters the body through a break in the skin. The virus grows in warm, moist environments, such as those created in a locker room or in your shoes when your feet sweat and moisture is trapped.

To reduce your risk of getting plantar warts, be sure to wear flip flops or sandals when you use a public locker room or shower. Use foot powders and change your socks frequently to keep your feet dry.

Symptoms

Plantar warts often spread to other areas of the foot, increase in size, and have “babies,” resulting in a cluster that resembles a mosaic.

Plantar warts can erupt anywhere on the sole of the foot. They may be difficult to distinguish from calluses. However, you may be able to see tiny black dots on the surface layer of a plantar wart. These are the ends of capillary blood vessels. Calluses have no blood vessels, usually resemble yellow candle wax, and are located only over weightbearing areas.

Plantar warts can be very painful and tender. Standing and walking push the warts flat. They grow up into the skin, making it feel like there’s a stone in your shoe.

Potential Treatments

Although plantar warts may eventually disappear by themselves, you should seek treatment if they are painful. Your foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeon may carefully trim the wart and apply a chemically treated dressing. The physician also may give you instructions for self-care. Salicylic acid patches, applied on a daily basis, and good foot hygiene, including regular use of a pumice stone, usually are effective. However, it may take several weeks for the wart to disappear completely.

If the wart is resistant to treatment, your physician may recommend an office procedure to remove it. After a local anesthetic is applied, the physician uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the wart and dissolve it. To avoid scarring or damaging other tissues, this method removes only the top portion of the wart. The treatment must be repeated regularly until the entire wart is dissolved. Alternatively, the physician can cut out (excise) the wart.

Disclaimer: The Relief Institute has made reasonable efforts to present accurate information on this website; however, it is possible that information found on this website could potentially be out-of-date or limited in nature. Any medical and health-related information presented on this website is general in nature. The Relief Institute does not furnish or render professional health care services or medical care. Therefore, the information presented on this website is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, nor is it intended to provide you with a specific diagnosis or treatment for a specific ailment. The information is made available to you for educational and informational purposes and does not constitute the practice of medicine and/or as a substitute for consultation with your personal health care provider. Click here to view our full disclaimer.