Sometimes foot problems can be misidentified causing the wrong treatment to be applied. Plantar warts are one such issue. Often taken for corns or calluses, a plantar wart is a small growth that appears on the heel or other weight-bearing surfaces of your feet.  Plantar warts are caused by the HPV virus or human papillomavirus that enters through cracks in your feet.

Signs of a plantar wart include:

• Small fleshy growth – occurs on the bottom of your feet
• Black pinpoints – actually small blood vessels
• Pain – tenderness in the ball of your foot or another weight-bearing areas
• Hardened area of the skin – may indicate where the wart has grown inward in your foot

Risk Factors for a plantar wart include:

• Children and teenagers
• People that walk barefoot in public places like locker rooms or pools
• Men and women with weakened immune systems
• If you’ve had a plantar wart before

Ways to avoid developing a plantar wart include:

• Wearing sandals in locker rooms or pools
• Avoid touching a wart, if you do, wash your hands thoroughly
• Keep your feet clean and dry
• Alternate shoes and socks

Plantar warts can go away on their own but can take quite a while. You may want to treat the wart yourself or see your podiatrist.

Treating a plantar wart includes:

• Using an over the counter medicine
• Salicylic acid – applied by your podiatrist, it will help peel away the wart
• Cryotherapy – Your podiatrist will freeze it off
• Surgery – Cutting the wart by an electric needle. Requires a pain medicine
• Immune therapy – Strengthening your immune system to fight the plantar wart itself
• Laser therapy – treating the wart with a laser. Must repeated several times to be effective

If you believe you have a plantar wart or any other foot concerns, please make an appointment with Dr. Brandon A. Macy, who is associated with New Jersey Children’s Foot Health Institute. He will assess your feet and find the appropriate treatments to get you back to being active. Call Clark Podiatry at (732) 382-3470.