Shhh! Don't tell anyone! (I have warts - anyone have a cure?)

[Beckingham]

Help! I have plantars warts on my feet that have persisted for several years. I have tried Dr. Scholl's treatments for plantars warts (which didn't work) and I am presently using the duct tape method, but it doesn't appear to be working. Does anyone have any ideas short of going to the doctor to have them burned/frozen/cut out? Thanks.

[mom2-4]

Both my youngest daughter and husband had warts. I bought one of the over the counter type wart "removers" We tried it for both of them for months.

Finally I started putting it on dd's wart immediately after her bath, while her hands were still "pruney" and believe it or not within a month it hers was gone.

Then DH, did the same thing on the wart that was the biggest on his hand, and viola!! His also went away!!

Old wives tale is to rub a cut raw potato on the wart and bury it outside.;-) Not sure if it works!

[Lifestar]

Here is an article from a Podiatry Website.. Hopefully it will answer most of your questions...


Val



Overview
Plantar warts occur on the sole (plantar surface) of the foot. They can be very painful because the entire weight of the body presses against them continuously when standing or walking. Plantar warts are usually rough, bumpy, and spongy, although some may be thick and scaly. Most are gray or brown and have a center with one or more dark pinpoints. These are tiny capillaries that supply blood to the wart. Scraping the wart may cause it to bleed. Untreated, plantar warts may grow up to an inch in circumference and may spread into clusters.

Causes

Warts are benign tumors that can occur anywhere on the skin. The human pappiloma virus (HPV), a common organism, causes warts. The virus is often encountered on contaminated surfaces, typically the tile floors of public locker rooms, showers, and swimming pools and invades the body through tiny cuts or breaks in the skin. Normally, antibodies in the blood kill the virus. Some people are more susceptible to the human pappiloma virus than others, however, and HPV takes refuge in the skin.

A plantar wart is similar in structure to an iceberg. The part on the surface is a small fraction of the entire anomaly. Often, the portion of the wart under the skin is at least twice as big as the part you can see.

Many of these viruses die within a year or two and the warts they produce simply disappear. Many podiatrists recommend having them removed because they are irritating and often painful.

Treatment

There are several different techniques for removing plantar warts:

Acid: One of the most common methods is to burn them off with a mild acid applied topically to the wart. This disintegrates the viral cells and allows healthy skin cells to replace them. Multiple applications over the course of several weeks may be required, but the technique is very successful.

Cryotherapy: Freezing warts with a very cold solution (e.g., sodium nitride) can kill the virus, causing the wart to turn black and fall off within a few days. Cryotherapy is sometimes ineffective on plantar warts because the cold may not penetrate far enough to kill the virus completely.

Laser Treatment: Doctors can use lasers to kill the virus. The procedure can be performed in the physician's office and is effective, clean, and accurate. It also is expensive and some physicians do not use laser treatment for warts because the benefits do not warrant the cost.

Debridement: In this technique, the physician uses a scalpel to remove the warts under anesthetic. This is often the procedure of choice for numerous small warts in a limited area. It also can be used with acid to ensure the virus is killed and prevent the warts from regrowing.

Complications

Warts can regrow, indicating that the virus is still growing in the body. The virus that causes plantar warts is relatively benign and causes few problems, but it can spread to other parts of the body. Blood from a wart contains the virus and can cause a new wart to grow in an area that it touches. Therefore, it is important to treat warts and eliminate them as quickly as possible