Plantar Wart

What is it?

A plantar wart is a flat, rough, hard lump on the bottom of your foot. Plantar warts are most common in children and young adults, but anyone can get them. You may have a plantar wart for a few months or years. Even after a plantar wart disappears or is removed, it may come back again.

What causes plantar warts?

Plantar warts are caused by a germ called human papillomavirus or HPV. HPV can enter the skin through cuts or scratches on the plantar area (bottom) of the foot. The virus infects the skin and causes some of the skin cells to grow too fast. This thick overgrowth of skin cells makes a plantar wart. Picking or scratching the wart may cause the virus to spread.

What are the signs and symptoms of plantar warts?

• A plantar wart may be gray, brown, or the same color as your skin. It usually has blood vessels on it that look like tiny dark dots. You may have one plantar wart or a cluster of them. Your plantar wart may start small, but can grow larger.
  
  
• A plantar wart often appears flat on the bottom of your foot. A plantar wart can grow deep into the skin and may cause pain when walking or standing. It may feel like a small rock in your shoe when you stand on it.

How are plantar warts treated?

Since many warts disappear in time, you may wait for your wart to go away. You may try using over-the-counter (OTC) wart medicine bought at a drug or grocery store. Your OTC wart medicine may come as a liquid, gel, or medicine pad. Always read label instructions carefully before using OTC wart medicine. Some people keep their wart covered with duct tape or adhesive tape to try to make it go away. If your wart is painful or does not go away, you may need to receive treatments from a caregiver. Your caregiver may use one or more of the following treatments to help a plantar wart go away:

• Cryotherapy: Cryotherapy is a treatment that kills HPV and removes warts by freezing them. Before cryotherapy, your caregiver may give you skin numbing medicine to keep you from feeling pain during treatment. After cryotherapy, the skin on and around your wart may form a red blister. The dead wart tissue then dries up and falls off in a few weeks. You may need several cryotherapy treatments to get rid of your plantar wart.
  
  
• Electrodesiccation and curettage: Electrodesiccation and curettage (ED&C) is a surgery to remove warts. Before surgery, your caregiver will give you skin numbing medicine. During surgery, your caregiver may cut away the wart tissue with a scalpel (surgery knife). Then your caregiver may burn the wart and its blood vessels with an electric needle. Electricity goes into the needle to heat it, but does not go into your body. Tell your caregiver if you have a pacemaker for your heart before having this surgery. You may grow more plantar warts even after they have been cut out.
  
  
• Immunotherapy: Your immune system helps your body to fight infection. Immunotherapy uses medicine to help your body's immune system fight the HPV infection causing your wart. If your immune system is able to kill the HPV, your wart will go away. You may be given a cream to rub into your wart. You may be given immunotherapy medicine as an injection (shot) into your wart.
  
  
• Keratolytic therapy: Keratolytic therapy uses acid medicine to thin the wart. The medicine causes the outer layer of the skin to get loose and shed. Your caregiver may start keratolytic therapy in his office and tell you to continue using the medicine at home. Your caregiver may put medicine into your wart using iontophoresis. During this treatment, acid medicine is injected (pushed) into your wart using a tiny amount of electric current. Other treatments such as cryotherapy, laser, or surgery may also be used after keratolytic therapy. Keratolytic therapy usually takes many treatments over weeks or months.
  
  
• Laser therapy: These treatments use a narrow beam of light to cut away the wart. There is usually very little skin scarring with laser therapy.

How can I prevent spreading or getting a plantar wart again?

HPV grows and spreads in warm, damp (wet) areas. Do the following to help prevent catching or spreading plantar warts:

• Do not walk barefoot in public places. Wear shower shoes or sandals in warm, damp areas. This includes shower stalls, swimming pools, and locker rooms.
  
  
• Keep your feet clean and dry. Use foot powder between your toes and on your feet after washing and drying them. Change socks often to avoid having damp feet.
  
  
• Your feet may sweat and cause your shoes to become damp during athletic practices or training, If this happens, set your shoes in a place where they can dry out well when you are not wearing them.
  
  
• Do not scratch or pick at your warts. The blood from a plantar wart can spread HPV and cause more warts to form on your skin.
  
  
• Do not share or reuse items that have come in contact with a plantar wart. Examples may include socks, washcloths, or towels. These items may be used again after they have been cleaned with hot water and soap. You can clean these items by hand, or by putting them in a washing machine.

Call your caregiver if:

• You have a plantar wart that is painful.
  
  
• You have more pain or bleeding that has not stopped after treatment.
  
  
• You have redness, swelling, or drainage from the treated area. These may be signs of infection.
  
  
• Your wart is growing larger, or it is spreading and causing new warts.
  
  
• You have problems that may be caused by the medicine you are taking.

Care Agreement

You have the right to help plan your care. Learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. Discuss treatment options with your caregivers to decide what care you want to receive. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

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The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.

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