plantar wart, or toe, looks like a flat, hard-to-touch formation on the skin of the foot, rising slightly above the level of the skin. This type of wart refers to tumors of the epithelium, which are benign in nature and the diagnosis, as a rule, does not cause difficulties: the main method is dermatoscopy. The doctor, using a special device, visually determines the nature of the new formation. Warts can occur anywhere on the foot, but they usually form on the forefoot, heel, that is, at the points of greatest pressure. The photo clearly shows the appearance of a plantar wart, its appearance is quite specific and usually leaves no doubt about the diagnosis. The formation has an unsightly dirty brown or yellow color, the characteristic rough papules that destroy the papillary patterns are visible.
Since the formation is located on the foot, this can cause pain and injury to the wart itself. For these reasons, the thorn needs to be treated, although there is a small chance that a plantar wart will go away on its own without serious treatment.
Unfortunately, it is still not easy to get rid of a wart, so it is recommended to consult a dermatologist to reduce the risk of infecting other people, as well as to reduce the time of treatment of the disease. The use of exclusively folk remedies and independent attempts to get rid of the tumor are undesirable. The plantar wart has a deep root, which is almost impossible to remove on its own, so relapses occur. Folk remedies often severely damage surrounding tissues, which can lead to an increase in the area of damage and unpleasant consequences in the form of burns and scars.
Symptoms
If you suspect a neoplasm, you should not only know what the plantar wart looks like in the photo, but also remember that the disease has characteristic symptoms:
- palpable itching at the site of formation;
- the size of the warts ranges from a few millimeters to 2 centimeters;
- unlike corns, a wart causes pain;
- bleeding when injured;
- pain when walking.
If similar symptoms occur, contact your doctor immediately. It is easier to prevent a disease than to deal with its consequences.
Causes of a plantar wart
A plantar wart is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection on the foot. The main route of transmission is contact, infection occurs through common objects or directly from person to person. A favorable environment is heat and humidity, so it is important to take precautions when visiting a bathroom, swimming pool, sauna, and gym.
The cause of the event can also be a weakened immune system, since in the normal state the human papillomavirus does not give visible manifestations.
This type of wart can also occur with microtrauma of the epidermis, dry skin, wearing tight and uncomfortable shoes, hyperhidrosis. Also, the causes of a wart on the leg can be diseases that lead to deformity of the foot: arthritis of the joints, arthrosis, flat feet, as well as diseases that lead to a violation of the integrity of the skin of the foot: diabetes mellitus, varicose veins. It should be remembered that frequent stress can indirectly affect the occurrence of this disease.
HPV can be acquired by chance during normal barefoot walking on an infected surface, the virus can live for up to several months without a direct carrier. After entering the body, it may not manifest itself for several days or even weeks, which is why it is not always possible to know exactly the time of the infection.
Diagnostics
To determine how to treat plantar warts, a dermatologist conducts a number of studies:
- general inspection;
- dermatoscopy;
- PCR diagnostics;
- histological examination.
How to cure plantar warts
When a plantar wart appears, the question arises of how to cure this neoplasm. When growths cause excessive discomfort and spread quickly, the best way out is to contact a dermatologist as soon as possible, who will select the most appropriate treatment option. There are several ways to solve this problem.
The most radical is operative - the wart and its roots are surgically removed. This method is not the most effective, since the roots of the neoplasm are located in the deep layers of the skin. In some cases, it is not possible to remove them completely.
Removal of warts can be done using a laser and electrocoagulation, as well as using cryotherapy.
In addition to removal in medical institutions, plantar warts can be removed by less radical methods, such as ointments, solutions, special patches and folk remedies. These means of removing plantar warts have a number of advantages and disadvantages, the main of which is the long treatment time.
Removal of plantar warts
One of the most common ways to remove plantar warts is to remove them in specialized medical institutions. The dermatologist at the appointment should tell you in detail how to get rid of plantar warts and, based on the results of the examination, choose the most appropriate method. Despite the fact that the thorns are difficult to care for, there is no specific means of removing them; all relevant methods are used in the treatment of other types of warts. Removal of the plantar wart can be done on an outpatient basis, but your doctor can prescribe remedies to help you remove the growths at home.
Surgical removal of warts
Along with other methods of treatment, surgery is used to remove warts. The wart is scraped with a special scalpel under local anesthesia. After this procedure, if the plantar wart was of considerable size, sutures are placed under the skin, which are removed within one to two weeks. The wound site is treated with a disinfectant solution and an aseptic bandage is applied. There is usually a small scar at the removal site.
The difficulty with this method is that the doctor has to remove all the roots during the operation, otherwise the plantar wart will reappear. Therefore, this method is used today only if all other methods of treatment have been ineffective.
Removal with liquid nitrogen
Removal with liquid nitrogen involves exposing the neoplasm to extremely low temperatures, this is the most common and modern way to treat a plantar wart.
The method is based on freezing the formation tissue itself. Indeed, inside the wart cells, under the influence of an extremely low temperature of -196 degrees Celsius, ruptures occur which lead to the death of the wart.
Cryodestruction is done manually or by hardware. If the wart is large or the procedure is performed on a child, it becomes necessary to use local anesthesia.
The time of exposure directly to liquid nitrogen is up to 30 seconds. After the first cauterization, the doctor should stop to evaluate the effectiveness of the impact and the need for a new cauterization.
After freezing, a bubble with a colorless or reddish liquid forms at the site of the wart, which indicates the onset of the inflammatory process. This is a normal reaction to the cauterization procedure.
Cryosurgery is considered painless, but in the treatment of plantar warts it must be repeated several times to achieve the final effect. After the wart falls off, no scars remain.
The benefits of liquid nitrogen removal are:
- freezing eliminates the further spread of the disease to the nearest skin;
- lack of special training;
- short duration of the procedure;
- the risks of developing scars or scars are minimal.
The disadvantages of cryodestruction of plantar warts are:
- the need for a second course with a large area of damage or for the size of the wart;
- the human factor: the professionalism of the doctor who performs this procedure is a guarantee of success. The doctor must correctly assess the time and degree of exposure to nitrogen in the tissues, otherwise a burn may occur;
- The discomfort that a swollen bladder brings and the need to process it are also considered disadvantages of the method.
In general, the feedback on the treatment of plantar warts by cauterization with liquid nitrogen is positive, since this is the simplest, most effective and economical method.
Laser removal
Laser removal is considered to be one of the most effective and safe methods. After laser treatment, the wart ceases to be infectious. The procedure itself is painless, a special nozzle is built into the laser, which cools the impact site. In addition, one or more injections of anesthetic are administered before the operation. The patient usually feels a slight tingling sensation during the procedure. After the removal of the neoplasm, no traces remain, as the laser directly burns the diseased tissue. The laser method allows maximum control of the depth of exposure, which is individual in each case. Therefore, even with deep tissue injuries, it is possible to completely remove the roots, which means preventing the re-growth of the wart.
The operation takes place in sterile conditions, there is no direct contact with the skin or the wart and the duration of the operation is a few minutes. The positive results of plantar wart removal with a laser also make this method the most attractive.
The main drawback of laser plantar wart removal is the high cost, which usually includes a doctor's consultation, anesthesia, and the operation itself. In addition, the wound after removal heals for a long time and requires compliance with hygiene rules.
Plantar wart treatment
Before treating a plantar wart, you need to make sure that the diagnosis is accurate and then proceed directly to the procedures. In addition to surgery, the doctor may prescribe immunotherapy and topical medications.
The need for immunotherapy, as a rule, is justified, since the disease is caused by a virus, which is actively developing in a weakened state of the body. Topical immunotherapies directly affect the virus in two ways. In the first case, the drug stimulates the immune system, and in the second, an antigen is injected into the body of the wart, which also activates the immune system, so that the wart can disappear faster.
Treatment of a plantar wart takes enough time, it is important not to forget to strengthen the immune system and maintain hygiene. If removal and treatment are not used, the wart can disappear on its own for more than a year, while the person is a source of infection for everyone around. You should carefully consider this unpleasant disease and make sure you contact a dermatologist who will surely tell you how and how to treat a plantar wart.
The treatment of a plantar wart directly depends on compliance with all hygiene rules and doctor's prescriptions; daily training treatment is a guarantee of good recovery.
Home treatment
Any new formations on the skin should not be ignored, as cancer tension is growing around the world. Do not ignore the appointment with a specialist, he can prescribe the treatment of a plantar wart at home. In this case, special solutions, ointments and a warts patch are usually prescribed.
Ointments are one of the most gentle methods of treatment, they act on the wart itself, as a result of which it gradually dies out and disappears. In the treatment, the following types of ointments are used:
- antiviral ointment;
- acid-based ointment;
- various ointments based on herbal remedies.
Any type of ointment is punctually applied to the wart several times a day according to the instructions. When treating a plantar wart, before applying the drug, it must be steamed in warm water beforehand. It is recommended to apply any ointment at night so that you do not have to step on the formation and wash off the ointment.
To get rid of plantar warts at home, you can use a special patch based on salicylic acid. This tool has a low cost and proven effectiveness. The patch is sold in pharmacies without a prescription, the principle of its use is very simple: a wart is sealed with a piece of plaster, and an ordinary medical plaster is fixed on top. You need to change the patch at regular intervals. It may take about two weeks to remove a small wart, and you shouldn't leave the wart without a patch for a long time. As the treatment progresses, the wart area decreases, after 12 hours it becomes covered with a scab, which then disappears. After successful treatment, a small pink spot remains on the skin, which should completely disappear over time.
When applying the patch, care should be taken: during application, healthy areas of the skin should be avoided, otherwise severe irritation may occur. There are contraindications for using this method of removing the wart, so the decision to prescribe the patch should be made by the doctor.
Another way to treat plantar warts at home is hyperthermia. Feet affected by warts are immersed in the hottest water possible. These procedures are repeated several times. In some cases, hyperthermia shows a positive effect. The mechanism of the procedure is based on the excitation of the small blood vessels in the legs and the activation of local immunity.
At home, you can use low-temperature treatment by analogy with the removal of warts with liquid nitrogen. To do this, you can use special applicator pens or sprays. As with cryosurgery, multiple applications may be required.
Treatment with folk remedies
Despite the fact that modern medicines are much more effective, and with their help the process of removing plantar warts is faster, the effectiveness of treatment with folk remedies cannot be denied. Traditional medicine has accumulated extensive experience in the fight against warts, and some methods remain effective.
- Celandine juice is one of the most popular ways to remove thorns. You can use the juice of a fresh plant or buy a drug in a pharmacy that contains, in addition to celandine juice, other herbal extracts. The juice is applied once or twice a day to the affected area.
- Acetic acid, along with various additional products, is also used to remove warts. In addition to acid, onions and flour are used. You can drip directly and the acid itself on the affected area, but this method is quite dangerous due to the high risk of severe burns.
- Apple cider vinegar: a tampon soaked in a solution (important not to use undiluted vinegar) is applied to the affected area of the skin, the skin area is preliminarily treated with an abrasive nail file.
- Garlic is another popular remedy for the treatment of warts. Raw garlic must be rubbed into the formation until it completely disappears, but this method can be used for no more than three weeks.
- The banana peel is applied with the inside on the affected area of the skin, it is believed that it can stretch the wart.
To punctuate the injury site and not affect adjacent tissues, a piece of duct tape can be used. A hole is made based on the size of the neoplasm and the adjacent healthy skin remains intact. This avoids burns and other injuries.
Plantar wart in a child
With age, a person develops immunity to HPV, so children and young people are more susceptible to this infection. Most often, the disease affects children over the age of five. A doctor will help recognize a plantar wart in a child, because in some cases it can resemble old corn.
Although plantar warts in a child disappear on their own, their treatment should not be ignored, it is also worth remembering the possibility of infecting the whole family and those around them. A plantar wart in a child almost always causes severe painful discomfort when walking, therefore, it requires prompt treatment and a visit to a doctor.
Since children are sensitive to pain, it is quite difficult to find therapy. To begin with, it is worth using various ointments - they are convenient, convenient to use and effective. Folk remedies are also widely used, the safety of which cannot be doubtful.
Effective methods of removing plantar warts in children are liquid nitrogen and laser removal. Removing warts with these methods is one of the most radical methods. It is used in the event that solutions and ointments do not have the desired effect.
After treatment, it is important not to forget about the prevention of plantar warts in children. This is strengthening the immune system, careful hygiene and wearing the right and comfortable shoes. It should be remembered that the risk of infection is especially high in public places and by another person, so it is necessary to ensure that the child does not walk in someone else's shoes or barefoot. Everything that has come into direct contact with the formation must be washed thoroughly at a high temperature. All of these actions will help prevent the virus from developing in the future.
Danger
If the procedure for removing plantar warts is not done in time, this can lead to serious consequences, such as:
- the appearance of warts on other areas of the skin;
- skin cancer.
Doctors strongly advise not to self-medicate - cut, perforating or cauterizing warts will worsen the situation and lead to the formation of new warts.
Risk group
The risk group is:
- people with hormonal disorders in the body;
- HIV infected.
Prevention
For the prevention of plantar warts, it is recommended that patients:
- strengthen immunity;
- eat more vitamin-rich foods;
- properly care for the skin of the feet;
- do not wear tight shoes, shoes made of synthetic materials;
- in public places (changing rooms, showers) do not walk barefoot.