Plantar Warts

Plantar warts (Verruca Plantaris) are skin infections caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). They are living fleshy lumps that grow in the skin on the sole of the foot (and rest of the body) causing hard and often painful thickened lesions. Warts are quite contagious and as such are very easy to pick up.
 

How Did You Get This Wart?

If you have a wart on your foot, you stepped on a viral particle that has dropped off someone else’s wart and stayed alive long enough to be picked up by you. They are spread when they come in direct contact with broken skin (where the outer protective layer is compromised). Swimming pools, gyms and public showers are often to blame. This is because wart particles survive longer in damp areas and these places have numerous potentially infected feet walking over their surfaces daily. The skin is also more receptive to being infected when it is waterlogged (such as after a swimming session or shower).

Most people like to think they have caught a wart from someone else – however, consider who is most likely to put their foot where yours has been – immediately after you? The number one person most at risk from contracting a wart from you, is you. Rarely do people present with only 1 wart. Often there is a bigger, older wart and several other smaller ones of varying ages. The next most at risk of picking up your wart is your family or others who share the wet areas of your home.

Warts occur anywhere on the feet and can appear as a single lesion or many lesions. Warts are not usually a serious health concern but often spread and make running, jumping, and even walking painful. The large growth feels as if you are walking on a stone.

The term “plantar” means the sole of the foot. These warts are no different to the ones you have elsewhere on your body. They are just not an ideal place to contract one as they can cause pain. If you have warts on your hand or arm they will be raised above the skin. However, on weight bearing areas of the foot, the lump (wart) is pressed into the skin due to pressure. Due to the position of the wart in the skin layers within the foot, the wart disrupts the normal anatomical position of nerves and blood vessels. As such, the nerve endings and blood vessels become integrated with the wart so that with each step the nerves are compressed causing pain. This is also why they bleed profusely if you bump them.

Plantar warts are harmless and can be left untreated, but in many cases they're too painful to ignore and can start spreading (either elsewhere on your feet or other parts of the body or even to other family members). Unfortunately, 'over the counter' preparations are generally unsuccessful in treating plantar warts due to the depth the virus penetrates the skin and the degree of callous formation overlying the wart.

There is no single effective method for treating verruca and many are available. The choice of treatment depends on the pain you are in, the position and the size of the lesion. In the first instance, your podiatrists may apply a mild acid (e.g., salicylic acid) topically to the wart after debriding the lesion. This treatment, which often requires multiple applications over the course of several weeks, removes the viral cells slowly and allows healthy skin cells to replace them.

Cryotherapy is another treatment option and involves freezing warts with a very cold solution that can be effective in conjunction with other treatments. Electrocautery is another method of removing large and stubborn plantar warts and needs to be performed under a local anaesthetic. Surgical removal (excision) is rarely recommended to treat plantar warts because it can cause painful scarring.
 

The following may help to prevent plantar warts:

• Avoid walking barefoot in communal changing or shower rooms
• Change shoes and socks daily
• Keep feet clean and dry
• Check children's feet periodically.
• Avoid direct contact with warts on other persons or on other parts of the body
• Do not ignore growths on, or changes in, your skin

Visit our Podiatrist’s at Eastwest immediately if you notice any lumps or sores on your feet or your children’s.