Plantar warts are noncancerous skin growths on the soles of your feet
caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which enters your body
through tiny cuts and breaks in your skin. Plantar warts often develop
beneath pressure points in your feet, such as the heels or balls of your
feet.
Surgery is an option if home treatment and treatment at
your health professional's office has failed. Surgery for warts is
usually quick and effective. No single surgical method is more effective
than another in curing warts. Generally, health professionals start
with the surgical method that is least likely to cause scarring.
Cryotherapy sounds like what they did to Ted Williams, and does involve
freezing. In this case, doctors use liquid nitrogen to "freeze" your
wart. They apply the liquid nitrogen directly onto the plantar wart
using a spray-tip or cotton-tip applicator. If you've never experienced
cryotherapy before, you might be struck by the sci-fi image of unearthly
vapors rising from the nitrogen tank. For children, this method can be
too painful and scary, and at any rate, it guarantees neither more nor
less success than duct tape or acid treatments. If successful, however,
you'll get rid of that plantar wart faster.
It is possible to
remove plantar warts. Some success for removing painful plantar warts
has been reported by the repeated and extended applications
of salicylic acid. The acid, available in drug stores, works by
softening the callus over the wart, exposing the virus. Apply the acid
at night, and rub the whitened skin off in the morning. During the day,
apply a donut-shaped pad over the wart for cushioning and pain relief.
Do not use salicylic acid if you have diabetes or peripheral vascular
disease.
Cantharidin Doctors and healers have used cantharidin —
a substance extracted from the blister beetle — to treat warts for
centuries. Today, this therapy is sometimes paired with salicylic acid.
Your doctor paints this beetle juice onto your wart and covers it with
clear tape. The application is
painless, but it causes the skin under the wart to blister, lifting the
wart off the skin. Your doctor can then clip away the dead part of the
wart in about a week. However, some doctors are hesitant to use
cantharidin because it's not approved by the Food and Drug
Administration for the treatment of warts.
Another very low cost way to remove plantar warts is called hyperthermic treatment. Hyperthermic treatment of plantar is very simple and all you need is warm water and a small tube to soak your feet in. It involves soaking your feet in hot water to remove the warts for 90 minutes a day. This is a no-nonsense method on how to remove warts, especially plantar warts. Also, it can relieve the pressure caused by the infection.
Removal of plantar warts using this method may depend on the size of the wart. Usually, it takes about six weeks for the lesion to heal completely. Another disadvantage of the method, aside from the length it takes for the wound to heal, is the pain associated, even if anesthesia is applied, and the scar that forms around the skin area.
Another very low cost way to remove plantar warts is called hyperthermic treatment. Hyperthermic treatment of plantar is very simple and all you need is warm water and a small tube to soak your feet in. It involves soaking your feet in hot water to remove the warts for 90 minutes a day. This is a no-nonsense method on how to remove warts, especially plantar warts. Also, it can relieve the pressure caused by the infection.