Plantar warts are a nuisance. They are caused by a viral infection(the HPV- human papiloma virus) of the skin. They are often spread in communally shared areas such as locker rooms, swimming pools etc. They often require multiple treatments some of which can be painful. Warts can best be avoided by wearing shoes around swimming pools and locker rooms, changing your socks daily, keeping your feet clean and dry. The HPV virus enters the skin of the foot through cracks in dry skin, cuts or scrapes and thrives in moist areas. Common symptoms of a plantar wart include a small firm outgrowth that resembles a callus, pain when walking or standing or when squeezed from side to side, and or tiny black pinpoint dots. Warts are contagious so don’t pick at it. If you think you have a wart come see Dr. Nejad at the Foot & Ankle Doctors, Inc. Dr. Nejad will best select a treatment option based on the type of plantar wart you have. Plantar warts can present as a solitary wart (a single wart) that may increase in size or as a mosaic of warts – a cluster of several small warts in a local area which are often more difficult to treat. Treatment options include over the counter topical products, acid treatments and bleomycin injections.
Acid Treatments – medications with acids are applied to the wart to remove layers of it at a time. It may stimulate the body’s immune system to fight the wart once the wart is weakened. Multiple applications are commonly required
Bleomycin injection – Bleomycin is a medication that interferes with the growth of the virus destroying it over time. It is directly injected into the wart causing a blood blister to form turning black after a few weeks. The blister can either fall off or is removed by a physician. Injections may be given every 3-4 weeks until clearance is achieved.