Plantar warts are hard, painful growths that develop on the weight-bearing areas of your feet. At Gateway Foot and Ankle Center, the team of board-certified podiatrists offers outpatient treatment for plantar warts, including prescription-strength peeling medication and cryotherapy. To make an appointment today, call the nearest office in Clarksville, Nashville, or Erin, Tennessee, or Hopkinsville, Kentucky, or book online.
A plantar wart is a small, skin-colored growth that forms on the heels or balls of your feet. They occur when a strain of the human papillomavirus (HPV) enters your body through a cut or break in your skin.
Warts aren’t always a concern, but if you have diabetes or another health problem that affects blood flow to your feet, they may increase your risk of infection, diabetic ulcers, or other slow-healing wounds.
Symptoms of plantar warts include:
Your wart might also bleed or ooze pus, depending on its size and location.
Make an appointment with the team at Gateway Foot and Ankle Center if you have plantar warts and they bleed or change shape and color. That’s especially true if you have an underlying health problem that affects your immune system, such as diabetes or HIV.
To diagnose plantar warts, your Gateway Foot and Ankle Center provider reviews your medical records and asks about your symptoms, including when you noticed the growths, if they’ve changed size or appearance, and if they make it difficult to walk.
Next, your provider completes an exam. They look at the growths on the bottom of your feet and gently press on them to identify sensitive areas. Your provider also removes a small layer of skin from the top of each growth to see if there are tiny clotted blood vessels beneath.
Treatment of plantar warts depends on various things, including your age and the severity of your symptoms. The team at Gateway Foot and Ankle Center might recommend:
Prescription-strength peeling medication, like salicylic acid, causes your skin to peel away one layer at a time. The medicine also boosts your immune system, reducing the risk of warts in the future.
During cryotherapy, your Gateway Foot and Ankle Center provider applies liquid nitrogen to your warts. Liquid nitrogen causes the wart to freeze and die. After treatment, your skin blisters, dies, and peels away, revealing healthy, wart-free skin beneath.
To receive treatment for plantar warts today, call the nearest Gateway Foot and Ankle Center office, or book online.