Plantar Warts
A wart is an infection caused by a virus which can invade your skin through small cuts or breaks. Over time, the wart develops into a hard rough growth on the surface of the skin. A ‘plantar wart’ is most commonly seen on the bottom of the foot. It can also appear on the top of the foot. Children, teens and people with allergies, or weakened immune systems, are more vulnerable to the wart virus. Symptoms may appear as a spongy type of tissue with tiny red-brown, or black spots. They can grow to an inch or more across, occurring alone or with smaller clusters nearby, commonly called mosaic. Warts are sometimes mistaken for corns and calluses. They could persist for years and re-occur in the same spot. If left untreated, they can spread to other parts of the feet, or even to the hands or other parts of the body.
A qualified podiatrist should examine your wart carefully, determine that it is not a corn or a callus, and then after debridement of the lesion, prescribe the appropriate treatment. Oftentimes, the wart is treated cryosurgically, which is a rather painless procedure to free the deep layers of the wart. A medication will be prescribed for you to apply at home. In certain cases, depending upon size, location and resistance, sometimes surgical removal, using laser or electrocautery, is utilized to remove the wart.
