Warts on Your Feet? We've Got You Covered

While, medically speaking, warts on your feet might not be all that serious, they can make nuisances of themselves, especially when it comes to comfort and aesthetics.

If you’re struggling with plantar warts, you’re far from alone. They affect about 10% of adults and up to 20% of kids and teens. 

Given this large prevalence, it should come as no surprise that there are plenty of treatment options, and we offer the most effective ones here at Aesthetic Podiatry & Sports Medicine Center.

Under the expert guidance of foot health experts Dr. Mariola Rivera and Dr. Lisa Shah, we have the products and tools you need to make quick work of plantar warts. Let’s take a look.

Where plantar warts come from

Plantar warts are outward signs of an internal infection — a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, to be exact. There are more than 100 different types of HPV and a few of them are responsible for warts, which tend to develop on the hands and feet.

We call the ones on your feet plantar warts, and they tend to develop in weight-bearing areas, such as on the balls of your feet or around your heels.

You can develop a solitary plantar wart or several in the same area, which we call mosaic warts. No matter the number, each wart typically features an area of tough skin with a black dot in the middle. That black dot is the wart’s blood source.

The tough skin on the outside is merely the surface, as plantar warts can go deep into your skin. Due to the depth of these warts and their location in weight-bearing areas, plantar warts can be uncomfortable, if not painful.

Getting rid of plantar warts

The reason we provided a little background on plantar warts is to illustrate that it takes a little more than an over-the-counter topical treatment to really get at the heart of plantar warts.

As podiatrists, we offer a number of highly effective plantar wart treatments, including:

Prescription-strength topical salicylic acid

This product breaks down the outer layers of the skin of the plantar wart.

Chemical cantharidin

This medication creates a blister under the wart that cuts off its blood supply.

Cryotherapy

Using liquid nitrogen, we freeze the plantar wart so it dies and breaks apart.

Laser treatments

To get at and cut off the blood source of the plantar wart, we can turn to pulsed-dye laser treatments.

Electrodesiccation and curettage

Using an electric current, we can burn the plantar wart during an in-office procedure.

Since HPV is a virus, we can also prescribe antiviral oral medications to reinforce our plantar wart removal treatments.

As you can see, you’re not without options when it comes to plantar warts. To figure out which approach is best for the warts on your feet, we invite you to contact us at one of our Westchester County offices in White Plains or Purchase, New York, to set up an appointment.