Warts are the most common infection of the skin caused by a virus. Plantar warts grow on the plantar, or bottom surface of the foot. They tend to be found in areas of pressure such as the heel and ball of the foot. Plantar warts often grow into the deeper layers of skin because of the pressure they receive because of their location.



Plantar wart - Usually found on pressure points on the feet, this can be one of the most painful forms of warts. It is usually in the form of a lump, with black spots in the center. Many people confuse these with dead skin that may build up on the feet due to ill-fitting shoes.

The goal of wart treatment is to destroy or remove the wart without creating scar tissue, which can be more painful than the wart itself. How a wart is treated depends on the type of wart, its location, and its symptoms. Also important is your willingness to follow a weeks- or months-long course of treatment.

Plantar warts usually go away on their own, but most people would rather treat them than wait for them to disappear. Unless you have an impaired immune system or diabetes or are pregnant, there's no reason you can't treat warts with over-the-counter remedies. But you may wish to consult your doctor for help. He or she may suggest a combination of over-the-counter and office treatments for plantar warts.

Although plantar warts may eventually disappear by themselves, you should seek treatment if they are painful. Your physician will carefully trim the wart and apply a chemically treated dressing. The physician will also give you instructions for self-care. Salicylic acid patches, applied on a daily basis, and good foot hygiene, including regular use of a pumice stone, are often all that is needed. However, it may take several weeks for the wart to disappear completely.

Plantar warts usually go away on their own, but most people would rather treat them than wait for them to disappear. Unless you have an impaired immune system or diabetes or are pregnant, there's no reason you can't treat warts with over-the-counter remedies. But you may wish to consult your doctor for help. He or she may suggest a combination of over-the-counter and office treatments. No wart treatment works 100 percent of the time. In general, your doctor will recommend the least painful ? and least destructive ? methods first, especially for children.

No matter what treatment is used, plantar warts occasionally fail to disappear. They may also return weeks or months after an apparent cure. Do not become concerned if a plantar wart recurs. Make an appointment and the treatment will be repeated, or a different method will be used to destroy the plantar wart.

Once a person is infected, there is no evidence that any treatment eliminates HPV infection or decreases infectivity, and warts may recur after treatment because of activation of latent virus present in healthy skin adjacent to the lesion. There is currently no vaccine for these types of the virus. However, treatments are sometimes effective at addressing symptoms and causing remission of the virus.

The treatment that will be effective in a particular case is highly variable. The most comprehensive medical review found that no treatment method was more than 73% effective and using a placebo had a 27% average success rate.