- Freezing medicine (cryotherapy). Cryotherapy is done in a clinic and involves applying liquid nitrogen to the wart, either with a spray or a cotton swab. ...
- Stronger peeling medicine (salicylic acid). Prescription-strength wart medications with salicylic acid work by removing a wart a layer at a time.
Medication
- Other acids. Your doctor shaves the surface of the wart and applies trichloroacetic acid with a wooden toothpick. ...
- Immune therapy. This method uses medications or solutions to stimulate your immune system to fight viral warts. ...
- Minor surgery. ...
- Laser treatment. ...
- Vaccine. ...
Procedures
- Dressing: A topical antimicrobial ointment or gel followed by a soft, dressing is placed on your foot. ...
- Weight-bearing: You may be placed in a flat surgical shoe, depending on your particular surgery. ...
- Pain management: Usually, Tylenol or Advil is plenty to allevate the discomfort associated with this prodecure. ...
Therapy
- using treatment rather than waiting for the wart to go away by itself, which takes longer and gives the virus more chance to spread
- covering the wart, which helps prevent HPV from passing on to others or spreading to other areas
- washing the hands straight away after touching or applying treatment to a wart to stop the virus from spreading
Self-care
- Using a home treatment such as salicylic acid or duct tape. You can get these without a prescription.
- Putting a stronger medicine on the wart, or getting a shot of medicine in it.
- Freezing the wart (cryotherapy).
- Removing the wart with surgery (electrosurgery, curettage, laser surgery).
Nutrition
What is the most effective treatment for plantar warts?
What is the recovery time after plantar wart removal?
How to know if a plantar wart is healing?
What kind of Doctor is better for a plantar wart?
How do you permanently get rid of a planters wart?
How to remove plantar wartsCryotherapy. Cryotherapy is one of the most common ways to treat warts. ... Salicylic acid. While you can purchase salicylic acid over the counter, the prescription-strength is stronger and can remove a wart layer by layer. ... Immunotherapy. ... Laser treatment. ... Trichloroacetic acid.
Can you remove plantar warts yourself?
In both cases, it's best to soak the wart in water between applications to soften it, and then gently remove any dead tissue with an emery board or pumice stone to better penetrate through the many layers of skin. Over time, your wart will become crusty and whitish and start to look less well-established.
How long does it take for a plantar wart to go away with treatment?
Many plantar warts will respond in 1–2 months. Over-the-counter freezing medications are available but have not been found to be very effective. Family members should avoid sharing personal items such as towels.
Are plantar warts an STD?
These kinds of HPV are spread during sexual contact. (Other types of HPV cause common warts like hand warts and plantar warts on the feet — but these aren't sexually transmitted.)
Does removing a plantar wart leave a hole?
Stay calm, though, even though the hole looks painful, it usually is not as what you are seeing is clean, new skin that has grown around the dead virus. Within a few days the foot should completely heal and the hole will have faded to a distant, unsettling memory.
What does a planters wart look like when it comes out?
Plantar warts often look like circular spots of thick, callused skin. These spots will typically have tiny black dots on the surface, which are actually bits of dried blood. Plantar warts are usually flat and grow inwards as pressure from walking is applied to them. This often leads to pain.
What is the fastest way to get rid of a plantar wart?
TreatmentFreezing medicine (cryotherapy). Cryotherapy is done in a clinic and involves applying liquid nitrogen to the wart, either with a spray or a cotton swab. ... Stronger peeling medicine (salicylic acid). Prescription-strength wart medications with salicylic acid work by removing a wart a layer at a time.
Do I have to throw away shoes after getting a wart?
During and after treatment for plantar warts it is important to always wear clean, dry shoes, socks, panty hose, and the like. Also remember that old footwear items must either be thoroughly sanitized or discarded or else re-infection is likely to occur.
How long does it take for plantar warts to go away?
Most plantar warts are harmless and go away without treatment, though it may take a year or two. If your warts are painful or spreading, you may want to try treating them with over-the-counter (nonprescription) medications or home remedies. You may need many repeated treatments before the warts go away, and they may return later.
How to get rid of warts on a wart?
Freezing medicine (cryotherapy). Cryotherapy done at a doctor's office involves applying liquid nitrogen to the wart, either with a spray or a cotton swab. This method can be painful, so your doctor may numb the area first.
How to diagnose a plantar wart?
In most cases, your doctor can diagnose a plantar wart with one or more of these techniques: Examining the lesion. Paring the lesion with a scalpel and checking for signs of dark, pinpoint dots — tiny clotted blood vessels. Removing a small section of the lesion (shave biopsy) and sending it to a laboratory for analysis.
How to remove warts from skin?
Usually, you're instructed to wash the site, soak it in warm water, and gently remove the top layer of softened skin with a pumice stone or emery board. Then after the skin has dried, you apply the solution or patch.
What to do if salicylic acid doesn't work?
If salicylic acid and freezing medicine don't work, your doctor may recommend one or more of the following treatments: Other acids. Your doctor shaves the surface of the wart and applies trichloroacetic acid with a wooden toothpick. You'll need to return to the doctor's office for repeat treatments every week or so.
What to do if you have a wart on your foot?
Poor sensation in your feet. Weakened immunity. If pressure on the wart causes pain, try wearing well-cushioned shoes, such as athletic shoes that evenly support the sole and relieve some of the pressure. Avoid wearing uncomfortable shoes.
Can you use duct tape to remove warts?
The Food and Drug Administration cautions that some wart removers are flammable and shouldn't be used around fire, flame, heat sources (such as curling irons) and lit cigarettes. Duct tape. Using duct tape to remove warts is a harmless but unproven approach.
How to get rid of plantar warts?
Plantar Wart Freezing. Freezing a wart using cryotherapy is an effective wart removal option. Liquid nitrogen is applied to the plantar wart with a spray or cotton swab. This destroys the tissue and causes a small blister to form over the spot. In a week or so, the dead skin will be gone.
What is the best way to remove plantar warts?
There are many different types of wart removal surgery. Your provider will choose the best option for your case. Electrosurgery – Using an electric needle, your provider cuts out the infected wart tissue.
How long does it take for plantar warts to go away?
Just leave it alone. Like other warts, most plantar warts eventually go away on their own. It might just take a year or two. If your plantar warts are painful or spreading to other areas of your feet, waiting is not an option. You need immediate relief.
Why do warts appear on my feet?
Then, it forms that ugly, rough bump. Since warts are caused by a viral infection, they are easily spread through contact. Anything that has had contact with a wart — your hand, a towel, a sock, the floor — can spread it. And when warts show up on your feet, they can be as painful as they are unsightly.
What are the warts on the bottom of your feet?
Warts on the bottom of your feet, known as plantar warts, are the most likely type to give you any other trouble or symptoms. Because of their location — the soles, heels, toes and balls of your feet — plantar warts send you a painful reminder of their presence with every single step.
Where are plantar warts most common?
Plantar warts are most common on the parts of the foot that receive the most pressure when you’re standing or walking. Since those are two things you can’t avoid, additional standing and walking increase the pressure on the wart and send it further inward, deep into your skin.
Can you remove plantar warts from your foot?
Plantar warts are too deep in the skin. You may be able to remove the outer layer, but the seed of the wart is deep in the sole of your foot and it will come back again. Over-the counter wart removers can actually do more harm than good. They contain acids and chemicals that destroy the skin they touch.
How to remove plantar warts?
Most MacGyver-ish methods of wart removal involve soaking a cotton ball with a substance such as apple cider vinegar (or urine) and applying it to your plantar wart. The duct tape method uses duct tape to cover the wart completely.
Why are plantar warts so hard to get rid of?
Why plantar warts are hard to get rid of. You’ve probably noticed that the layers of skin on the bottom of your foot are quite thick. That thick skin works well to protect you from things that might pierce the bottom of your foot but, unfortunately, also serves as a protective barrier for the HPV virus. “Because the layers of skin on the bottom of ...
How long does it take for a wart to come out?
And eventually — somewhere between one and six months, depending on the individual — the whole wart will come out. “The trick is irritating your skin enough to get your immune system’s attention without irritating it so much that you’re incapacitated,” says Mahmood.
Where are plantar warts located?
Plantar warts are located on the sole — or plantar surface — of your foot.
Do it yourself warts?
Most of the treatments for warts, especially the do-it-yourself wart treatments, are designed to irritate the skin. “When you attack the wart with an irritant, you create inflammation, which brings that area of your body to your immune system’s attention.
Do plantar warts go away on their own?
Sometimes plantar warts go away on their own, but sometimes they don’t, or not as quickly as you’d like.
How to prevent plantar warts?
To begin with, wear flip flops or other waterproof shoes in public areas, showers, locker rooms, saunas, pools and hot tubs. Also , keep your feet clean and dry.
What is the best treatment for plantar warts?
Treatments come as liquid, gel or patches. Follow the directions on the package to successfully remove your plantar wart.
How many satellite warts are there on the bottom of your foot?
Three small plantar warts on the bottom of your foot can quickly spread to 10 satellite warts, making the situation more difficult to treat. As with most medical conditions, the earlier you find a wart and start treatment the easier it is to experience successful results.
How to get rid of a wart on your foot?
Soften the top of the wart by soaking your foot in warm water for several minutes. Then take the excess skin off the top with a pumice stone or nail file. Be sure that you don't use this stone or file for anything else, ever, as you can transfer the virus to other areas of the body.
How long does it take for plantar warts to go away?
Plantar warts will often disappear on their own and will not leave a scar; however, this can take several months to happen. The warts may be painful and it will be difficult to walk in the meantime.
What is the cause of plantar warts?
Figure out if you are at risk of acquiring plantar warts. The wart is the result of exposure to human papillomavirus (HPV). There are over 120 different strains of HPV, only five to six of which are responsible for plantar warts. [6]
What is the best way to remove warts?
Talk with your doctor about stronger acid peels. Salicylic acids sold over-the-counter are peeling agents used to reduce the size of the wart. When home treatments are not effective, your physician can use stronger acid peels including bichloracetic acid or trichloroacetic acid. [4]
How to treat plantar warts?
There are several different ways to treat plantar warts. These include: 1 Putting a mild acid called salicylic acid on the wart, 2 Putting a strong medicine called cantharidin on the wart, and 3 Having minor surgery to take off the wart.
How to get rid of a wart on a child?
Jude Podiatry Clinic, the doctor usually does cantharidin treatment first. This treatment is inexpensive and usually works. If it does not work, the doctor might do minor surgery to take off your child’s wart.
How long after cantharidin treatment can you bring your child back to the clinic?
Keep the treated area covered with duct tape. Bring your child back to the St. Jude Podiatry Clinic 10 to 14 days after the cantharidin treatment. The doctor will check the foot and do any other treatments your child needs.
What to do after a wart on a child's foot?
After the wart is taken off, your child should: Keep the bandage on all day, Rest with his foot up for the rest of the day, and. Use the medicine given by the doctor if needed.
What is the number to call for plantar warts?
If you have questions plantar warts, please call the St. Jude Podiatry Clinic at 901-595-5372. Adapted for use from Wolf River Family Footcare, by permission. This document is not intended to take the place of the care and attention of your personal physician or other professional medical services.
What to use to disinfect bare feet?
After your child receives the last treatment at the St. Jude Podiatry Clinic, use disinfectant to clean anything your child walks on with bare feet, such as the shower, carpets, and floor. Also, disinfect your child’s shoes. Use Lysol® spray to disinfect carpets and shoes, and use a cleaner with bleach in the shower.
How long after a wart can you take a bath?
Your child can do normal activities after treatment, but should not take a bath or shower for 24 hours or until told to do so. On the third day after the treatment, put a piece of duct tape over the place that was treated.
How long does it take to get rid of a wart?
Getting rid of the wart this way usually takes three or four treatments, one every two to three weeks; any more than that probably won't help.
What is the best treatment for genital warts?
The topical immunotherapy drug imiquimod (Aldara), a standard therapy for genital warts, can also be used to treat skin warts. Imiquimod is thought to work by causing an allergic response and irritation at the site of the wart.
How are warts different from strep throat?
A wart virus infection is different from a bacterial infection such as strep throat, which can be caught, treated, and eradicated because it progresses in a distinct, reliable pattern. The ways of warts are much less predictable.
How long does duct tape stay on warts?
In one study comparing duct tape with cryotherapy, subjects wore duct tape patches over their warts for six days. Then they removed the patches, soaked and filed the warts, left them uncovered overnight, and reapplied the tape in the morning, leaving them in place for another six days.
How do skin warts spread?
Skin warts aren't highly contagious. They can spread from person to person by direct contact, mainly through breaks in the skin. Theoretically, you can also pick up warts from surfaces such as locker room floors or showers, but there's no way to know how often this occurs.
Why do skin warts grow faster?
Warts occur when skin cells grow faster than normal because they are infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Among the 150 strains of HPV, about 10 cause cutaneous (skin) warts, including common, plantar, and flat warts (see "Common types of skin warts," below). Certain other strains cause anal warts and genital warts.
What is the best treatment for a virus that is shed into nearby tissue?
If you prefer not to wait it out, you have several treatment options: Salicylic acid. This is the main ingredient in aspirin, and it should usually be your first choice.
How to get rid of plantar warts?
There are many different methods of getting rid of plantar warts. Salicylic acid – You can purchase salicylic acid over the counter for use at home. It’s a fairly effective treatment for warts with minimal side effects. It can take several weeks of daily use to remove warts completely, however.
What is the best way to cut out a plantar wart?
Cryotherapy – This is a medical term that refers to freezing off warts with liquid nitrogen. It is usually painful and more than one treatment may be required. Surgery – A surgeon can perform surgery to cut out a deep plantar wart.
Why do plantar warts grow inward?
Because simple acts like standing and walking put pressure on a plantar wart, they often look flat, unlike warts on the hands or other parts of the body, which are usually bumpy. Because of the pressure applied to them, plantar warts often grow inward instead of outward.
How do warts on your feet get into your body?
Usually, the virus enters the body through a break in the skin. Sometimes all it takes is for the skin to be softened, the way it is when you get out of a hot tub or swimming pool. That’s why you can get warts on your feet from locker room floors where other people with warts on their feet have walked.
How long does it take for a wart to go away?
It can take several weeks of daily use to remove warts completely, however. Cantharidin – This is a prescription medication, usually applied by a doctor. It can cause some pain and more than one treatment may be required. Cryotherapy – This is a medical term that refers to freezing off warts with liquid nitrogen.
Can you squeeze a plantar wart?
Both are usually flat with tough, thickened skin. Plantar warts may cause pain if you squeeze them, though, while calluses usually do not . You may also see tiny black specks in a wart, which are blood vessels.
Do calluses and plantar warts hurt?
Plantar warts often cause more pain than calluses do, though. Calluses and plantar warts are not treated the same way. If you’re not sure whether you have a callus or a plantar wart, see your doctor or a podiatrist for a diagnosis.
1. Duct Tape
Duct tape is a very effective remedy for plantar warts. Covering the wart with duct tape will cause it to shrink and disappear.
2. Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar works as a great plantar wart treatment. The acetic acid in it helps deal with the abnormal growth of skin tissue.
4. Garlic
The antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties of garlic help in getting rid of plantar warts. Additionally, the caustic effect of the garlic restricts the breeding ground for warts, thus causing them to blister and fall off gradually.
5. Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil is another good home remedy for plantar warts on your feet. Its antiviral and antiseptic properties help fight the virus that causes the warts.
6. Castor Oil
Castor oil is another readily available ingredient that you can use to remove plantar warts. The ricinoleic acid in castor oil has anti-inflammatory and healing properties that help reduce the symptoms and speed up the healing process.
7. Colloidal Silver
Another effective remedy for plantar warts is colloidal silver. Being a potent antimicrobial agent, it helps kill the virus. The remedy works even better when combined with the duct tape method.
8. Aloe Vera
Another natural treatment for plantar warts is aloe vera. Its anti-inflammatory and healing properties can be very effective in treating warts.
Diagnosis
Treatment
Lifestyle and Home Remedies
Preparing For Your Appointment
