Benjamin Weaver
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Experienced foot and ankle specialist providing personalized care to patients in the Wichita area.

Our Experienced Wichita Podiatrist Discusses Your Options for Treating Plantar Warts

When you have a plantar wart, you may be dealing with pain and discomfort. Warts are a common foot problem that can cause tenderness and pain that may make walking and running difficult. To ease pressure on the wart, you may end up adjusting your gait so you can move around without pain. This can put additional stress on your feet and ankles. How a podiatrist treats foot warts | Wichita Podiatrist

The skilled podiatry team at Central Kansas Podiatry Associates, P.C. treats hundreds of patients every year for these small, rough growths. Some plantar warts go away on their own; however, it often takes a long time—sometimes a year or more. Here, our experienced foot doctors discuss how to safely remove your wart and relieve your pain.

Understanding Plantar Warts

A plantar wart is a small growth on the skin caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). They’re most often found on the heels or balls of the foot. Although you may have only one wart, it’s possible for them to grow in clusters called mosaic warts.

Where and How You Get a Plantar Wart

The HPV virus usually enters your body through breaks, cracks, or sores on the bottom of your feet. Because the virus loves warm, moist environments, you are most likely to get a plantar wart in or near a public swimming pool, a shower room floor, or in a locker room. If you have a weakened immune system, a history of plantar warts, or tend to walk barefoot in areas where the virus thrives, you are more likely to get a wart.

How You’ll Know if You Have a Plantar Wart

The surface of a plantar wart is thick, rough, and slightly raised. It can sometimes resemble a cauliflower. It can vary in color, but often plantar warts are gray or brown and sometimes dark pink, purple, or yellow. Other signs include the following:

  • The wart may appear as a small, fleshy, grainy growth on the bottom of your foot, usually on your heel or the base of your toes.
  • There may be a callus over a spot where the wart has grown inward.
  • You may see black pinpoints or specs that are as small as seeds, which are tiny clotted blood vessels.
  • The wart may continue to grow, spread, and multiply, causing more pain.

When to See a Wichita Podiatrist

Because it can take a long time for a plantar wart to go away on its own, you may not want to live with the pain until it does. If you’re walking differently because of the pain, you should see our skilled foot doctor right away. He will examine your foot wound, making sure it’s not a corn or callus or some other foot condition. When he confirms that you have a plantar wart, he may need to pare back the thick skin over the wart to look for the black “seeds” common at the center.

How Podiatrists Treat Plantar Warts

The best chance of permanently removing a plantar wart is to have a podiatrist treat it. Dr. Benjamin Weaver at Central Kansas Podiatry Associates uses the latest techniques and technology to deliver the best possible results. Depending on the size and location of your wart, we may recommend the following:

  • Cryotherapy (freezing). This common in-office procedure destroys the wart by freezing it with liquid nitrogen.
  • Electrodesiccation and curettage (burning). This procedure burns off a stubborn plantar wart that hasn’t responded to other treatments. Podiatrists use an electric needle to destroy the wart tissue.
  • Laser therapy. Using a laser, a podiatrist can target and destroy the blood vessels that feed the wart and kill it. This method is helpful when the wart is resistant to other treatments.
  • Surgery. In some cases, a podiatrist may need to use surgery to remove the wart.  Our skilled podiatrist will explain whether this procedure is necessary for your plantar wart.

Treating Your Plantar Wart With OTC Medications

You may be tempted to try over-the-counter wart treatments to get rid of your plantar wart. Many people first use an OTC product, only to find that the wart persists and even spreads. These products are often ineffective for the following reasons:

  • Not enough strength. OTC wart treatments usually fail because they’re not strong enough to fully eliminate the HPV virus causing the wart. Most of these products contain salicylic acid that only peels off the top layers of the wart and aren’t powerful enough to penetrate deep into the skin and destroy the root of the wart. However, podiatrists use medications that typically contain between 55 – 70% acid. At this concentration, it’s easier to kill the virus so the wart doesn’t return.
  • Applied incorrectly. OTC wart treatments are easy to use incorrectly. There may be incomplete instructions or they’re difficult to follow, and the patient may not apply the product properly. To work, the medication has to be applied regularly and directly on the wart. If you miss an application, you may disrupt the treatment process. A podiatrist knows how to apply the medication the right way. They can also monitor your progress and adjust the treatment plan if necessary.
  • Small amount of product. Many OTC products come with a small amount of medication, enough for a week or two of treatment. This short treatment cycle may not be long enough to fully remove the wart.