Plantar warts are one of the most notoriously pesky skin conditions occurring on the feet. 

Although they are often relatively harmless, the rough bumps of plantar warts can be unsightly and distracting. If they develop in a particularly sensitive area of the feet, they can also be very painful.

On top of all that, plantar warts are extremely stubborn and difficult to get rid of. Some treatments even put you at risk of having warts spread instead of going away and can burn the skin around the wart. 

However, we now have an amazing new treatment that can not only get rid of your plantar warts completely but also prevent them from coming back! 

Before we get into this great new treatment, we should learn more about plantar warts.

What Are Plantar Warts?

Plantar warts come from certain strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV. There are more than 100 strains of HPV we are currently aware of, but only a few of them will cause warts.

The virus tends to get into the skin through small cuts, sores, or any other weak points. The tiniest of openings can be enough. People are most likely to pick up the virus while walking barefoot through areas that are warm and damp: locker rooms, public showers, and gyms tend to be common areas of transmission.

Wart on the foot. Plantar wart on the foot
Warts and corns on a womans foot. dermatology disease. plantar warts. at the appointment with a dermatologist. female foot with warts on a light background.

What Are the Symptoms of Plantar Warts

Plantar warts frequently take the shape of small, grainy growths along the bottom of the foot. They can be just about anywhere but tend to appear most often around the base of the toes, the forefoot, and the heel.

If you take a closer look at these lesions, you might see that they interrupt the natural lines that run along your foot. You might see tiny dark specks in the bumps as well. Folklore sometimes refers to these as “seeds,” but they are actually tiny blood vessels. Do not pick at them!

Sometimes, hard, thick calluses will grow over areas of warts. These are signs that the wart might have grown inward.

Treating Plantar Warts

If left alone, plantar warts may eventually go away on their own. The problem is that this may take a year, 2 years, or even longer! And in the meantime, warts may continue to spread along your feet and even to other people.

Taking charge and getting rid of your warts sooner as opposed to later tends to be a better option. Some folks turn to home remedies, but they do not have much research backing their effectiveness. 

You can try a home remedy as long as it doesn’t tell you to harm your skin or cause pain. The resolution rate is extremely low with plantar warts because most of their surface area is below the layer of the skin.

Treatments we have used in the past for plantar warts involve the use of topical medications to slowly peel the verrucous tissue away one layer at a time. For the more stubborn cases, surgical excision was required.

The aforementioned treatments involve chemicals or surgery, which burn and possibly scar the skin around the wart. These treatments also could take an average of three months to work, and in some cases, they will not entirely resolve the wart allowing it to spread or come back.

The great news is, if you want to treat your plantar warts completely, you should turn to us at InStride Crystal Coast Podiatry because we now have Swift Microwave Therapy!

The Swift treatment is so effective it even prevents warts from coming back or spreading. Swift treatments are also very quick, as the wart only needs to be exposed to a small dose of targeted microwaves for 2-3 seconds. The microwave technology is completely safe as it is directed only into the wart. 

This treatment signals your immune system to the presence of the wart, which has been able to fly under the radar up to this point. The rest of the treatment is done by your own immune system targeting the virus that caused the wart and defeating it from the inside out.  Because your immune system is actively involved in fighting and resolving the virus, with Swift therapy, it will now recognize this virus in the future making it easier to fight off recurrent infections.

Wipe Out Your Plantar Warts

If you or a loved one has plantar warts and wants to get rid of them sooner than later, schedule an appointment at our New Bern office by calling (252) 638-4700 or by filling out our online contact form.