Plantar warts are noncancerous growths that can form on the soles of your feet---also called the plantar surfaces---as well as on your feet's heels or balls. They are caused by local infections with the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Typically, plantar warts do not pose a serious threat to your health.
Understanding HPV Infection
There are more than 100 varieties of HPV, according to the Mayo Clinic. Plantar warts formation begins when certain types of the virus enter your feet through tiny cracks or breaks in your skin, according to the Mayo Clinic. In many cases, warts appear on spots on your feet that experience significant downward pressure during daily activities. While the types of HPV associated with plantar warts are not especially contagious, they flourish in locker rooms, public showers, swimming pools and other moist, warm environments. However, not all people who come in contact with foot-related HPV develop plantar warts.
Plantar Wart Characteristics
Plantar warts typically have a spongy, rough texture and come in colors that include yellow, gray and brown, according to HealthCommunities.com. In addition, the capillaries that supply the warts with blood form distinctive dark pinpoints within the wart tissue. In many cases, the part of a plantar wart that you can see represents only a fraction of its entire size, with most of the wart remaining hidden below your skin's surface. In some cases, the downward pressure on a plantar wart can stop it from rising above your skin's surface at all.
Symptoms
Plantar warts frequently cause pain, as well as a sensation on the bottom of your foot similar to that associated with the presence of a rock in your shoe, HealthCommunities.com reports. If you don't seek treatment for a developing wart, it may grow as large as an inch in circumference or form additional nearby wart clusters. These clusters, also known as mosaic warts, can sometimes produce severe symptoms that include alterations of your normal posture or gait. In turn, these alterations can trigger the onset of significant back or leg pain.
Treatment
You can potentially eliminate a plantar wart with repeated applications of a nonprescription solution or patch than contains 40 percent salicylic acid, the Mayo Clinic reports. You can also use nonprescription cryotherapy products that freeze your wart, as well as "duct tape therapy." In this latter approach, you cover your wart with duct tape for a period of roughly one week, then soak it in water and rub it with a pumice stone or an emery board. Potential medical options for plantar wart treatment include doctor-administered cryotherapy, conventional or laser surgery, immunotherapy and use of the medications imiquimod or bleomycin. In some cases, your doctor may also use a blister beetle extract called cantharidin.
Considerations
If a plantar wart isn't bothering you, you don't need to treat it, the Mayo Clinic notes. However, consult your doctor if you have a wart that resists home treatment, causes pain, changes color or shape, interferes with your quality of life, multiplies or reappears after treatment. Don't treat a plantar wart at home if you have diabetes or a deficient immune system.
