Our Services / Warts

What are warts?

Warts are small growths on your skin. The most common plantar warts typically appear on your heels or other areas that bear your weight. The two types are:

Solitary plantar warts

Solitary plantar warts are single warts that often grow bigger with time. Solitary plantar warts can multiply, forming satellite warts — lesions around the original wart.

Mosaic plantar warts

Mosaic plantar warts are tight clusters of individual warts. They’re more challenging to treat than solitary warts.

Plantar warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Of the over 100 kinds of HPV, only a few of them cause warts on your feet, while other forms tend to cause warts on other areas of your body.

How would I get infected with plantar warts?

The HPV virus that causes plantar warts can get into your body through breaks in your skin, like cuts on the bottom of your feet. Walking barefoot in places like changing rooms and around swimming pools, where the wart-causing virus lives, can expose you to infection.

Plantar warts most often affect children and young people. If you’ve had plantar warts before, you’re more likely to get them again.

What are the symptoms of plantar warts?

Plantar warts look like small spots on the bottom of your foot. You might experience pain and tenderness while walking, but if the warts are in an area that doesn’t bear weight, they might not hurt.

You might notice black dots on the warts. These are dried blood spots from the tiny blood vessels feeding the wart. Plantar warts sometimes form a callus if they grow inward over a distinct area on your skin.

How are plantar warts treated?

Plantar warts do sometimes disappear without treatment. But if you find them uncomfortable or unsightly, Dr. Hansen offers several treatments for hard to resolve warts. Treating your warts helps prevent the virus from spreading.

After diagnosing plantar warts, Dr. Hansen might try different treatments, depending on your specific case. Possible treatments include:

• Peeling medicines (salicylic acid)
• Freezing medicines (cryotherapy)
• Laser treatment
• Surgery

A vaccine to protect you from plantar warts is available.

These treatments are usually effective in getting rid of warts. If they don’t work,  Dr. Hansen can surgically remove them. This is a minor outpatient surgery where Dr. Hansen either cuts out the wart or destroys it using an electric needle.

Call Hansen Foot & Ankle today or book an appointment online for expert treatment of your troublesome plantar warts.