How to get rid of plantar warts

The latest research on plantar warts has shown that there are many treatments that work without a doctor’s care, including some home remedies. ^{[1] X Source of Research} These warts appear on the soles of the feet and cause discomfort when walking, however they are benign, so experts believe it is usually possible to start with over-the-counter treatments. such as a salicylic acid gel or patch. If these therapies don’t solve the problem, your doctor can help you find the most appropriate treatment.

Table of Contents

Treatment of plantar warts at home

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Recognize the limitations of ingredients at home. While effective, home treatment can take many months to be effective. If you want your warts to go away faster, it’s best to see a doctor. However, permanent wart removal also takes a long time, even with treatment by a doctor.

Plantar warts usually go away on their own and leave no scars, but it will take a few months. Warts can be painful and make it difficult to walk.

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Prepare before treating plantar warts. Soften the tip of the wart by soaking your feet in warm water for a few minutes. Use a pumice stone or nail file to scrape away the skin on the wart. Be careful not to use a pumice stone or nail file to rub the wart on another location to avoid spreading the virus.

Abrading the top layer of dead skin will help the treatment ingredients penetrate deeper into the wart.

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Try salicylic acid. There are many over-the-counter products that are applied topically (applied to the skin), such as Compound W, that are used to treat plantar warts with salicylic acid. The product is available in liquid, gel or patch form. Follow the instructions on the package for successful wart removal.

The salicylic acid treatment is painless, but it can take several weeks to see results.

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Try using duct tape. ^{[2] X Research Source} Cut the tape to the exact size of the wart and apply it to the wart for up to 6 days. On the 7th day, remove the tape and soak your feet in warm water for 5 minutes to soften the dead skin on the wart. Then, use a pumice stone or nail file to grind away the skin over the wart. Replace the tape with a new one and apply it for another 6 days.

Do not use a pumice stone or a nail file that has been trimmed with warts for other purposes.
The treatment process can take several weeks to see results.
Although the mechanism of action has not been determined, many people say this method gives good results.

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Learn frozen compounds at home. Freezing reduces blood flow to the wart. There are many over-the-counter medications that you can use at home to freeze warts, such as Compound W Freeze Off and Dr. Schpl’s Freeze Away. Follow the instructions for use on the product packaging.

The home wart freezing procedure can be a bit uncomfortable and painful. Your doctor may use a local anesthetic to freeze the wart more deeply.

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Determine if you should see a doctor. Although plantar warts can be successfully treated at home, there are cases where a doctor’s care is needed. ^{[3] X Source of Research} You should see your doctor immediately if you have any of the following complications:

Warts do not go away after home treatment or disappear and then return quickly.
Warts grow larger quickly or appear in clusters. This case could be a Mosaic wart.
Warts start to bleed or feel worse after treatment.
Warts become red or swollen or begin to ooze pus. That is a sign of infection.
If you have diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, or coronary artery disease. If you have these conditions, you cannot treat warts at home , but you must see a podiatrist to monitor the blood supply from the peripheral blood vessels to the leg and treat the wart. These conditions can increase the risk of infection or tissue death due to poor circulation.

Ask a doctor to treat foot warts

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Talk to your doctor about stronger peeling acids. Over-the-counter salicylic acid is a peeling agent used to reduce the size of warts. When home treatments don’t work, your doctor may prescribe a stronger peeling acid such as bichloracetic acid or trichloroacetic acid. ^{[4] X Trusted Source Mayo Clinic Go to Source}

For the treatment to go away, you may need multiple re-treatments, and your doctor may order more salicylic acid at home.

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Talk to your doctor about cryotherapy. Similar to home cryotherapy, cryotherapy uses liquid nitrogen to freeze wart tissue. After treatment, blisters will form, heal, and then fall off the skin and take with them all or part of the wart.

Cryotherapy can be painful and is not usually given to young children. Your doctor may use a local anesthetic, depending on the size of the wart.
During cryotherapy, you may need to see your doctor several times to see results.

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Talk to your doctor about laser treatments. ^{[5] X Source of Research} There are two procedures that use lasers to remove warts. The first is a laser that cuts the wart from the skin, the second is a laser that burns the blood vessels that bring blood to the wart, thereby destroying the wart.

Laser surgery can be painful and takes longer to heal. Patients can be given a local anesthetic and discharged from the hospital immediately after surgery.

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Talk to your doctor about immunotherapy. ^{[6] X Trusted Source American Academy of Family Physicians Go to the source} In this therapy, a doctor injects an antigen shot into the wart. In other words, the doctor will inject a toxin into the wart to stimulate the immune system to fight the virus.

This method is used for warts that are difficult to cure or resistant to other treatments.

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If the wart doesn’t respond to other treatments, you can talk to your doctor about surgical options. ^{[7] X Research Source} Podiatrists may use a wart removal technique. The doctor will use an electric needle to destroy the tissue around the wart and remove the wart completely. This procedure can be painful and leave scar tissue. However, ablation is effective and often provides long-lasting results.

NEVER cut warts yourself at home. Homemade wart removal can cause bleeding and infection if the right tools are not used and in a sterile environment.

Identify and prevent plantar warts

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Determine your risk for plantar warts. Warts are caused by exposure to the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). There are more than 120 different strains of HPV but only 5-6 strains cause plantar warts. ^{[8] X Trusted Source Centers for Disease Contrp and Prevention Go to the source The} virus enters through contact with infected skin flakes. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Athletes who bathe in public are at a higher risk of developing plantar warts because of the large number of people in public places and often failure to protect their feet. For example, swimmers (both indoors and outdoors in the summer) are at increased risk of plantar warts if they use public bathrooms and walk around pools. The risk is also high among people who share locker rooms at gyms, showers, and hot tub areas, where many people walk barefoot.
Cracked or peeling skin on the feet allows the virus to enter the body. Feet that are wet or sweaty throughout the day are also at high risk, as cracked skin from overexposure to moisture increases the risk of viruses entering the body.
People who have had plantar warts in the past have a higher risk of recurrence. ^{[10] X Research Source} For example, squeezing/squeezing a wart can make it easier for the virus to spread to other parts of the body.
People with weakened immune systems due to illnesses such as infectious mononucleosis, Epstein-Barr virus infection, cancer, cancer treatment, people being treated for psoriatic arthritis, or people with HIV/AIDS. ^{[11] X Research Source}

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Observe the suspected site of a plantar wart. It can be small, hard and flat skin, rough surface and bordered. Although they look like calluses, plantar warts are caused by a bacterial infection. There are two types of plantar warts: single or clustered warts (Mosaic plantar warts). ^{[12] X Research Source}

Single warts will increase in size and eventually multiply into multiple single warts that grow around the original wart.
Mosaic warts are clusters of warts that stick together (no skin in between). They do not grow outwards, but grow close together, like a large wart. Mosaic warts are more difficult to treat than single warts.

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Evaluate secondary symptoms. Are warts painful? Although they resemble calluses on the soles of the feet, warts are often painful when you get up and when they are rubbed.

Observe the black dot inside the thick skin. This black dot is called a “wart seed” but is actually the blood vessels that are clotted in the wart. ^{[13] X Trusted Source Mayo Clinic Go to Source}

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Watch out for spreading warts. Warts can be passed from person to person and spread on your own body. 3 small plantar warts can quickly spread into 10 warts and are more difficult to treat.

Like most diseases, warts that are detected and treated early are more successfully removed.

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Prevent new warts. After treatment, you have a higher risk of contracting HPV, which can lead to new warts forming. As a precaution, you should wear waterproof sandals or shoes in public places, bathrooms, changing rooms, saunas, swimming pools or public hot tubs. Also, always keep your feet dry and clean. Change socks every day and use dry foot powder in case your feet sweat a lot.

Apply coconut oil on your feet at night before going to bed to prevent chapping and peeling skin. Wear socks after applying coconut oil to your feet.

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Avoid spreading warts to others. Do not scratch or squeeze/squeeze the wart to avoid infecting others or spreading it to other parts of the body.

Do not touch other people’s warts and do not share socks/shoes.
Wear flip-flops or waterproof shoes when going to the bathroom to avoid spreading warts to other family members.
Do not leave clothes, towels and socks on the floor of public locker rooms and pool areas.

Advice

Change your socks every day and keep your feet dry and clean to treat existing warts and prevent them from coming back.
Wear flip-flops or waterproof shoes when walking around in changing rooms, public baths, or the area around pools, saunas, and hot tubs.

Warning

Do not cut the wart yourself at home to avoid bleeding and infection.
Warts are not caused by infection from toads or clones. ^{[14] X Research Source}
If you have diabetes, coronary artery disease, or peripheral vascular disease, you should see a podiatrist to treat your warts. ^{[15] X Research Source}

Steps

Treatment of plantar warts at home

Ask a doctor to treat foot warts

Identify and prevent plantar warts

Advice

Warning

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