Plantar is a technical term that means "bottom of the feet." Warts are skin cells that join together and form growths. Plantar warts form on the bottom of the feet and they are the direct result of the human papillomavirus (HPV). They appear in areas of pressure like the balls and heels of the feet. Although they are not life-threatening, they can become painful and uncomfortable, especially if they are large. To get rid of plantar warts, there are several approaches you can take.
Step 1
Get them frozen off. Cryotherapy is a procedure that involves liquid nitrogen. Your doctor will apply it to your wart using a spray canister or cotton applicator. A blister forms around it and the tissue in the wart dies and falls off. This may take several treatments for it to be fully effective.
Step 2
Have them cut away. See your doctor about getting a electrodesiccation procedure. You will receive anesthesia on your skin and your doctor will use an electric needle to cut out or destroy the wart.
Step 3
Use salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is a substance you can buy in pharmacies in the form of patches or brush-on liquid. Apply the acid to your wart one to two times a day and leave it on. The skin cells on your wart slowly die and you peel or pare the dead skin off every day. Over the course of a few weeks, your wart gradually shrinks, until it is gone.
Step 4
Get an injection. If the other treatments haven't worked, talk to your doctor about getting a bleomycin injection. Bleomycin is a virus killing medication that is injected into the plantar wart to kill it.
Step 5
Use a home remedy. Duct tape is material used for a lot of home improvement applications, but it can also be used to treat warts. Place duct tape on your warts daily for six days. Remove the duct tape, soak your warts in warm water and then run a pumice stone across the top of them to remove dead skin. Keep following this procedure until the warts are gone.
Things You'll Need
- Duct tape
