DifferentThingsAboutWartsThatYouMightNotHaveKnown

Different Things About Warts That You Might Not Have Known

Plantar warts are common, contagious skin growths that appear on the bottoms of your feet. They're caused by a virus and although they can be painful, they're harmless. You can catch a wart from almost any surface, such as the tile floors of locker rooms, showers, even carpets--anywhere someone who already has warts has stepped and left the virus.

Any tiny cut on the outer surface of your foot's skin (epidermis) could be an entry point. Plantar warts often appear flat, but grow inward toward the dermis (second layer) of the skin, which can be painful. Pain or a lump on the bottom of your foot is the first sign (it may feel like a stone is in your shoe); walking may aggravate the sensation.
Apply salicylic acid to warts daily.

Doing so will help remove infected skin and keep the virus from spreading elsewhere. Use a liquid- or bandage-formula over-the-counter wart remover with at least 40 percent salicylic acid. Try Dr. Scholl's Clear Away Plantar Wart Remover ($9; at drugstores).
If an at-home treatment doesn't remedy your plantar warts after two months of dedicated use, a dermatologist can help.

"It's common practice to freeze warts with liquid nitrogen in a procedure that destroys the infected skin," explains Sandra Johnson, M.D., a dermatologist in Dublin, Ohio. * The bottom line You'll probably come in contact with the virus at some point, but you can prevent warts with good hygiene and, luckily, getting rid of existing ones is relatively easy.

If it wasn't chance, one would need to treat 10 children with duct tape for 6 weeks to remove 1 wart. In 81%, the duct tape would not stick; 32% used extra fixative. A small, flawed study (Arch Pediatr Adol Med 2002; 156:975-977) found duct tape as effective as cryotherapy.


The corn pad was placed overnight, with once-weekly soaks and pumice rubs. Assessment was blinded. The wart disappeared in 16% of the treatment group and 6% of the placebo group. This difference had a 12% probability of being chance, but the power to detect the difference was under 30%.

Warts are very bothersome and do not look very attractive either, so doing something to get rid of them is so very important for some. It is important to know which type of wart you have before deciding which treatment option that you will be purchasing. There are different types of medication for different types of warts.

Warts do not make you nasty or ugly, they can be treated usually so there really is no reason for panic. It is important for you to pay close attention to any markings on your skin to ensure that you are taking the proper steps for treatment, instead of wasting your time and money.

Treating spots that end up not being warts is just a waste of your precious time. Take notice of just what type of wart you are infected with, choose your path of treatment and begin noticing the difference in your warts as they slowly go away.