Most warts are harmless and go away on their own. Foot warts, known as plantar warts, can be painful because they appear on the sole of the foot. Walking with a plantar wart may feel like walking on rocks.
Warts
Warts are a skin infection caused by a virus in the human papillomavirus family. Warts can affect any area of the body but tend to be found on warm, moist places such as small scratches or cuts on the feet, hands and fingers. Warts are normally painless unless they are on the soles of the feet, or another part of the body that is often touched. Plantar warts are found on the soles of the feet. They often develop beneath pressure points, such as the heels or balls of the feet.
Symptoms
Plantar warts can be small, fleshy, grainy bumps on the soles of the feet. They may be hard and flat, with a rough surface and well-defined boundaries. Sometimes a black pinpoint may be seen in a plantar wart. This black pinpoint is actually small, clotted blood vessels.
Causes
Children can pick up the human papillomavirus from touching anything that has been touched by an infected person. According to MayoClinic.com, there are more than 100 types of human papillomavirus; some cause warts on the hand, others on the feet. Your child may contract the virus from a surface such as a bathmat, shower floor or public pool. Any tiny cuts or scratches on the foot make your child more vulnerable to warts. Picking a wart can spread the wart to other parts of the body. The time from exposure to the virus and the wart appearing may be a few weeks or even a month.
Prevention
There is no way to prevent a wart. Washing hands and skin regularly may help avoid an infection. If your child has a scratch or cut, he should wash the area with soap and water because this area is more susceptible to warts and other infections. It's also helpful for your child to wear waterproof sandals or flip-flops in public showers or around public pools.
Treatment
If a wart is painful, like most plantar warts can be, a doctor may prescribe an over-the-counter medication, may burn off the wart using a light electrical current, freeze the wart with liquid nitrogen or use laser treatment to remove it. Several treatments may be necessary.
Considerations
Contact your doctor before trying to remove your child's wart with a store-bought remedy. Although a wart may be a nuisance, it's unlikely a serious problem. Still, it should be looked at by your doctor.
