Plantar warts are benign growths that appear on the sole, ball of your foot or heel. Excessive pressure from walking or standing for long periods of time causes them to grow deeper into the skin. These warts should not be ignored and you should work with your physician to determine the best plantars wart treatment for you.



Plantar warts are spongy and rough, and are normally brown or gray in color. The wart under the skin is normally two to three times as big as the part of the wart that has surfaced through the skin. The depth of the wart is the reason for the extensive pain associated with plantars warts. If the wart is large enough you can actually experience a lump on the bottom of your foot when you are standing.

Plantar wart treatment consists of over the counter medications, laser treatments, cryotherapy and surgical removal.

Over the counter medications contain an acid chemical that will destroy the skin cells and could damage healthy tissue that is surrounding the wart. These must be used with extreme caution. Once confirmed that you indeed have a plantars wart seeking the advice of your podiatrist and what treatment options he or she recommends is the best start.

In the beginning your podiatrist typically might treat the plantar wart with a mild acid also known as salicylic acid, cantharidin acid or dichloracetic acid. These treatments normally take multiple applications over the course of weeks to a months and the acid treatment will allow the viral cells to disintegrate and allow healthy cells to replace them.

Laser treatment can also be used to treat plantar warts. Your podiatrist will use laser treatment in their office or at an outpatient surgery center using local anesthesia. If you decided to use the laser treatment you will want to discuss the scarring with your podiatrist. Laser treatments have been very successful.

Cryotherapy is when the podiatrist can freeze the plantar wart with sodium nitride which destroys the virus and causes the wart to turn black and fall off normally within a few days to a week.

Cryotherapy has not been very effective as the solution does not penetrate far enough into the wart to destroy the virus.

Surgical removal usually is not recommended to treat plantar warts because it can cause painful scarring. Debridement is performed using anesthesia and can be used with acid to destroy the virus and prevent the warts from re-growing. This treatment would be as a last resort.

There are many options for plantar wart treatment.

Seek the advice of your podiatrist and see which treatment is best for you!