Warts Specialist

What are warts?

Warts are fleshy growths that can grow on lots of areas of the body, but one of their most common locations is the soles of your feet. These are called plantar warts, and they can be very uncomfortable or even painful when you stand or walk on them. 

Unfortunately, warts are very contagious because they come from human papillomavirus (HPV). Even though they’ll go away on their own eventually, you should consider getting treatment for plantar warts so you don’t spread them to others or even to other parts of your own feet. 

Like warts in other areas, plantar warts are fleshy and tend to have thick skin around them. They sometimes have clusters of small black dots on the surface, which are actually blood vessels. 

Unlike other warts, plantar warts are flat against your skin because of the pressure they withstand when you stand or walk on them. 

How can I prevent warts?

You get plantar warts when your feet come into direct contact with HPV-infected areas. The HPV can enter the soles of your feet through cuts or other openings in the skin. Often, this happens in shared areas where you’re barefoot, like pools and locker rooms. 

You can also get a plantar wart by touching warts on yourself or on others and then touching a cut on your sole. 

You can prevent plantar warts by:

• Wearing flip flops in public showers, locker rooms, and pools
• Washing and changing your socks daily
• Washing your feet regularly
• Avoiding contact with other people’s warts
• Avoiding touching or scratching your own warts
• Keeping your feet dry at all times

When it comes to preventing warts on any part of your body, including your feet, hygiene is key. 

How are warts treated?

Plantar warts may be both uncomfortable and unsightly, but you don’t have to stand by and wait for them to leave on their own. Before you go to Brandywine Foot and Ankle Associates for professional care, you can explore over-the-counter remedies available at your local pharmacy.

Although your immune system eventually gets rid of the wart, the process can take a long time. The treatments for warts at Brandywine Foot and Ankle Associates reach deep into the skin to get to the base of the wart so the wart doesn’t redevelop after a superficial removal. 

The team at Brandywine Foot and Ankle Associates can also treat warts using cryotherapy to freeze off the wart or laser energy to heat and destroy the virus while also targeting and closing the blood vessels supplying the growth. Most warts only need one treatment, but severe cases may need two. 

If you have a wart and would like to treat it before it spreads, call Brandywine Foot and Ankle Associates to schedule an appointment or book online today.