Warts anywhere on the body can be a difficult, but on the foot they can be a particularly painful problem.
A wart is a lesion on the skin caused by a viral infection – an infection of the Human Papilloma Virus to be exact. There are many different strains of the virus and, as a result there are many different types of warts. Warts can be round and raised or flat. They can be big or small. They can be solitary, appear in clusters, or be spread over different areas. They may look the same for months and months, they can get larger, they can multiply and in rare cases, they can simply disappear.
As podiatrists at Sōl Foot & Ankle Centers we treat some of the most difficult type of warts-those that appear on the bottom of the foot.
Unlike warts on the other parts of the body, plantar warts tend to be painful.
Pain is caused not by the wart itself, but because the pressure of walking on the lesion. As we continue to walk around on a warty lesion dead skin, like a callus, builds up around the wart and causes the pressure and pain to increase.
The reason plantar warts are difficult to treat is that the skin on the bottom of the foot is so much thicker than anywhere else on the body. As a result, the wart remedies that may be effective on other parts of the body do not penetrate enough to eradicate a plantar wart. Over the counter wart medication and even dermatologist-favorite liquid nitrogen are usually ineffective against plantar warts.
At Sōl Foot & Ankle Centers we use a specially compounded medication to treat plantar warts. We can usually get rid of the lesion much faster than other treatments and avoid having to surgically excise the lesions.
If you are having a problem with a wart, or any other type of skin lesion on your foot, you should have it examined as soon as possible. Don’t make the diagnosis yourself as, in rare cases; some lesions look like warts could be a form of skin cancer. Most of the time, however, with a proper diagnosis we can use a conservative treatment to get your plantar wart or other skin lesion under control.
Get safe and effective treatment for your plantar wart by calling 562-433-0478.
