Plantar warts (Verrucae Pedis) are a common, benign soft tissue lesion which occurs underneath the foot. Overall, they are more common in children but can occur at any age. They are often very painful to walk on if they are on a sensitive part of the foot. Unfortunately, plantar warts are contagious and are most likely to be spread in bathrooms and wet public areas such as pools and saunas. A plantar wart is a viral infection which grows between the 2 main layers of skin. Sometimes plantar warts can go away by themselves but often they require intervention for the wart to be resolve.
The first line of treatment involves the podiatrists gently debriding the hard skin around and on the wart. This exposes the wart and allows the acid that is applied around the wart to kill the bad cells. A dressing and felt deflection pad are applied to the foot to reduce pressure on the area and allow healing. Most warts require weekly treatment until they are resolved.
For persistent and stubborn warts, a very minor but successful procedure called curettage is performed. This is where the wart is removed totally and cauterised under local anaesthetic. See page on curettage.