Current Treatments for Warts on the Feet

Posted by The Doctors at Advanced Foot & Ankle Center on December 16, 2010 · Leave a Comment

A plantar wart (verruca plantaris) is a wart caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). It is a small lesion that appears on the sole of the foot and typically resembles a cauliflower.

A plantar wart may have small black specks within it that bleed when the surface is cut or shaved; these are abnormal capillaries or blood vessels feeding the wart.

Though the name plantar wart describes specifically HPV infection on the sole of the foot, infection by the virus is possible anywhere on the body and common especially on the palm of the hand, where the appearance of the wart is often exactly as described above for plantar warts. Because of pressure on the sole of the foot, a layer of hard skin forms over the wart.

A plantar wart may or may not be painful. It can be spread in showers, around swimming pools, by sharing shoes, etc. Plantar warts, can often be differentiated from corns by close observation of the skin lines. Feet, like hands, are covered in skin lines or “fingerprints”. With plantar warts, the skin “fingerprints” go around the lesion. If the lesion is not a plantar wart, the fingerprints continue across the top layer of the skin.

Plantar warts tend to be painful on with pressure from either side of the lesion rather than direct pressure. Corns tend to be painful on direct pressure rather than pressure from either side.  The difference between plantar warts and warts on other parts of the body is that warts are generally outgrowth lesions, but on the bottom of the foot, they are pushed inward by the pressure of walking.

Since the skin on the bottom of the foot tends to be thicker, the treatment of plantar warts is more difficult.When discussing treatments, no treatment in common use is 100% effective.

Podiatrists are considered specialists in the treatment of plantar warts. Although immunization is available for the HPV and strains causing cervical cancer, there is currently no vaccination treatment for plantar warts.

Treatments:

1. Topical Keratolytics

A. Salicylic Acid

B. Canthiridin (Canthacure)