You notice that the bottom of your foot hurts. The pain gets worse as you walk or stand for too long. After taking off your shoes, you investigate the sole to check what’s wrong and spot a small rough-looking wart on your skin. This is called a plantar wart.
What are plantar warts?
Plantar warts are a form of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that reveals itself through warts on the bottoms of your feet. While it shares the same virus family as other types of warts, it will not spread to your hands or other body parts.
If you have a fully-functioning immune system, plantar warts will not be a major concern. It can be annoying and painful because of walking, standing and other activities that put pressure on the foot. You should get it removed if it bleeds, changes colour or interferes with your daily activities.
Immuno-compromised people should try to treat their plantar warts immediately. Anyone living with diabetes should see the wart as a risk for a serious foot infection. Ignoring it could send you straight to the hospital.
How do you prevent them from happening?
One of the main reasons you should wear shower shoes in the gym locker room is that your bare feet are at risk of attracting infections like athlete’s foot and plantar warts. The same can be said for public showers, swimming pools and saunas. Anywhere that has a lot of attendees and moisture will have loads of bacteria coating the ground.
As with all forms of HPV, plantar warts are contagious. The virus finds you through small cuts or breaks in the skin on the bottom of your feet. By wearing a pair of shower shoes and keeping your cuts covered with clean bandages, you should be safe.
If you are living with diabetes, you should try hard to avoid foot infections as much as possible. Consider starting a daily footcare routine where you clean your feet carefully and inspect them to catch any catalysts for severe infections like warts and ingrown nails. You should also wear protective footwear in public and private spaces, not just the gym locker room. You can go to Feet First Clinic to find pairs of fantastic indoor and outdoor orthopedic shoes, along with specialized treatments for circulatory and dermatological foot complications.
How do you get rid of a plantar wart?
When it comes to warts, you will find a lot of questionable advice passed down from generation to generation. Strange wart home remedies will tell you to rub the area with the inside of a banana peel or soak the area in pineapple juice for weeks at a time. None of these seem to have many studies testing efficacy.
Instead of looking for answers in your kitchen fruit bowl, you should come to the Feet First clinic because we can remove those plantars warts as soon as possible. There are several techniques available for treating the infected area, like cryotherapy or wart excision. You should make an appointment today to meet with a chiropodist and see what treatment plan works best for you.
Ignoring the problem and waiting for it to go away isn’t always an option with plantar warts. You will irritate the infection and put pressure on it every day from standing, walking and exercising. Instead of enduring the discomfort for months on end, get it dealt with straight away.
