Most warts are painless and will disappear over time. Plantar warts may cause a little discomfort because they are found on the bottom of the foot. This may agitate your child when wearing shoes or walking around barefoot. Your doctor will usually only treat plantar warts if they are causing pain or discomfort.
Plantar Warts
Warts are skin infections that are caused by a virus in the human papillomavirus (HPV) family. Plantar warts are found on the bottom of your child's foot and may be very uncomfortable. These warts often develop under pressure points on your child's foot, such as the heels or balls of the feet. Signs of plantar warts include small and grainy bumps on the soles of the feet, hard and flat growths with a round surface and gray or brown lumps with black pinpoints.
Causes
Children may pick up the HPV virus and get a wart from touching anything that has been touched by someone with a wart, including a bathmat or shower floor. The warts themselves are not contagious, but the virus that causes warts are passed from person to person. Children who pick at their toenails may get warts more often because there is less protective skin, which creates an open area for the virus to enter and cause a wart. Picking at a wart may spread the wart to other body parts. Warts can grow very slowly and sometimes take weeks or even months to develop.
Types of Treatment
According to MayoClinic.com, it is not always necessary to remove your child's warts if they are not causing any problems. Warts may take anywhere from six months to two years to disappear. If your child's plantar wart is causing discomfort, your doctor may prescribe medication to put on the wart or have you use an over-the-counter medication. Over-the-counter medication may take several weeks or months to show results. Other options include burning the wart off with a light electrical current, freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen or using laser treatment. Doctors normally will not cut off warts because it may cause scarring and the wart may return. Your child's wart may fall off within a few days after treatment or it may take several treatments. It is important for your child to keep the wart covered and avoid rubbing or scratching the area after treatment.
Prevention
According to Kids Health, there is no way to prevent warts. It is important for your child to wash his hands and skin regularly. If you child has a scratch or cut he should use soap and water to clean the area. To avoid plantar warts, your child should wear some type of shoe in public showers, locker rooms and around public pools.
Considerations
You should contact your doctor if the skin around your child's wart is bleeding, swollen, red or painful before using an over-the-counter medication to remove the wart.
