Warts are fairly common on feet. They're caused by a virus, so if you go barefoot in public places, you can pick up a wart. Since they're so contagious, you can even spread a wart on your foot to other areas of your body. You have to be careful when you have a foot wart that you don't spread it to your family. Wearing sandals indoors helps and so does being careful about touching the wart and then touching something else.
Warts don't necessarily need to be treated. But since it can take months or even years for a wart to go away, you may want to see a foot doctor about your treatment options. Here are some treatments that can get rid of warts.
Freeze The Wart With Liquid Nitrogen
Warts can be on the toes or anywhere else on the foot. When they're on the sole of your foot, they are called plantar warts. Plantar warts may seem small since they're flat, but they grow under your skin and can be quite large. Freezing works on all types of warts. Liquid nitrogen is applied to the area to freeze and kill it. The treatment can be painful, so the area around your wart might be numbed first.
Freezing doesn't get rid of the wart right away. Instead, the dead tissue will slough off in several days. If one treatment doesn't get rid of the wart completely, your foot doctor might repeat the treatment one or two times. The treated area may be painful and grow a blister. Your foot doctor tells you what to expect so you can make an informed decision about removing the wart. However, if the wart causes you pain when walking, you'll probably want to find a way to get rid of it.
Apply Prescription Peeling Medication
You can buy wart removal products at the drugstore without a prescription, but these may not work as well as the treatment you get from a foot doctor. The wart removal products work by causing the wart to peel off. The medication provided by a foot doctor is stronger, so you can expect better results. However, the results aren't fast. It may take weeks of home treatments and visits to your foot doctor before the wart is gone.
Your doctor might also want to try a different type of medication that causes a blister to form under the wart. This kills the wart after several days, and you'll probably need to go back to the podiatrist to have the dead wart removed.
Have Surgery To Remove The Wart
If other treatments fail, your foot doctor might recommend surgery. Cutting out the wart might leave a sore spot on your foot for a long time, so your doctor considers a surgical option carefully. They may try laser surgery instead which removes the wart gradually over a period of several weeks until it dies and falls off. Your podiatrist considers how the wart is affecting you when it comes to pain and the ability to walk. They'll also consider if your wart is in a new condition or if you have warts that come and go. They'll select the best treatment for your condition so you have the best chance of getting rid of the wart permanently.
Speak to a foot doctor today to learn more.
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