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How to Treat a Plantar Wart

by Dr. Ronald D. Worley, DPM

The Foot Doctor of La Jolla �2011

 

Plantar Warts (verrucae plantaris) can be a challenge for the patient or doctor to treat.  These common lesions are caused by a virus, the Human Papiloma Virus. They are found in moist wet places such as swimming pools and gymnasiums. Plantar warts are seen throughout childhood up to about age 35 and in immune compromised persons at any age.
 
Why are Plantar Warts so difficult to treat?
Unlike other warts that protrude from the skin, plantar warts are deeply imbedded. Dermatologists and primary care physicians typically use liquid nitrogen on plantar warts. Because of the body of the wart lies well beneath the skin, this treatment is only destroying the surface of the wart. The liquid nitrogen treatment works well on protruding warts. One must be destroying the deeper "root" of the wart or it will come back, forever.
If you understand one thing, please remember that warts have babies and continue to spread unless treated right away.

 

Plantar Wart


 
How do you know if it is a wart?
These warts are frequently confused with callouses. Callouses are relatively infrequent in children and young people. Plantar Warts appear as a solitary lesion and rarely as a patch. Warts are usually round and very small at first. They may be only a couple of millimeters in diameter. A small callous may begin to form over them The longer they are living as a parasite in your skin, the harder it becomes to treat them and stop the spread.
Plantar warts have a typical cauliflower appearance when deroofed and pinpoint bleeding  

 

What is the home treatment for them?
The fact that there are hundreds of home remedies is testimonial to the fact that few of them work. Drying them out seems to work well. Have you heard about duct tape being used? The way duct tape is used over the wart, it has a drying action and will sometimes clear a wart. A better way to do this is to buy an over-the-counter product called Tincture of Benzoin Compound or TBC. Be sure the label says "Compound",  and not the much more common variety, Tincture of Benzoin. Your pharmacy may need to order TBC for you.
 
How to use TBC.
You will also need to purchase cotton swabs, wooden emory boards, and a good cornstarch based powder. Mexsana is a long-time favorite of mine.
 
1. Wipe the bottom of your feet with isopropyl alcohol and cotton balls to remove the skin oils in the area of the warts.
2. Using a cotton swab, paint the wart and surrounding skin with the Tincture of Benzoin Compound. If you sweat 

excessively, paint the whole bottom of your feet, and between your toes then let dry.
3.When the TBC is dry, powder the bottom of your feet. This will keep the TBC from sticking to stockings. Your skin will be stained a light brown. This is normal. It's better than wearing surgical bandages! 
TBC can be used on blisters, small cuts, and as a treatment for excessive sweating.
4. Use a fresh piece of an emory board each day to sand the top surface or the wart and wipe off with alcohol.and reapply the TBC over the area sanded and over the whole adjacent surface and wash your hands. This process is repeated daily.
5. If the wart(s) are not drying up in several weeks, you should see your podiatrist.
6. Wear sandals around pools and gyms. Spray any shoes you wear with Lysol or similar spray after removing them.
 7. Caution: Never scratch the wart or touch it unless you wash your hands immediately. You could develop warts on your hands and beneath your fingernails. Never attempt to cut on the wart with any blade, scissor, or clippers.
8. If any of this primer on self-treatment of plantar warts seems confusing or scary, let a podiatrist handle it for you.  

 

For your foot health and comfort,

Dr. Ronald Worley

 

Dr. Worley specializes in the care of Warts, Skin Cancers, Heel Pain, Ingrown Toenails, Laser treatment of Fungal Toenails, Damaged Nail Restoration, "Pillows for Feet" (use of injectable fillers like Sculptra to restore damaged fat pads), Classical Prescription Orthotics for Foot and Postural pain, Trigger Point Therapy, and General Podiatric Care. We look forward to helping you.  

We are available Monday through Friday and sometimes on Saturday for procedures such as the painless treatment of fungus infected toenails and nail restoration for damaged nails. We also treat scars, hammertoes, bone bumps, lacerations, birth deformities, and fractures. 

 

Please visit our website, www.TheFootDoctor.info

 

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