What are the Warts and What Causes Them?

Warts are generally a small and rough growth that typically happens on human’s hands or on the foot that resembles to a solid blister or a cauliflower. Warts are caused due to a viral infection that is particularly caused by any one of the types from the many human papillomavirus. There are ten different types of warts where the most common wart is considered to be the least harmful. Warts are contagious and they usually enter your body through an area of a broken skin.

They are most likely to disappear in a few months, but in few cases they may last for years and there are chances of recurring as well.

Different Kinds of Warts

There is a variety of warts that have been identified which vary in regard to the shape and the site that it affects. These types of wart include:

• Common Wart
• Flat Wart
• Genital Wart
• Periungual Wart
• Mosaic Wart
• Filiform or Digitate Wart
• Plantar Wart or Planters Warts

Plantar Warts Explained…

Plantar warts are basically caused by the occurrence of human papillomavirus on the sole or the toe of the feet. They are mostly self-limiting, but a treatment is recommended to reduce or lessen the symptoms that result in pain. A treatment is suggested in order to decrease the duration of the wart and reduce its transmission.

Plantar warts can be found near the foot and produce symptoms in the specific areas of friction and pressure. The virus that has caused the wart infects particularly the superficial layer of the skin that produces a thick callus-like growth.

Causes of Planter Warts

Since the disease is caused by a virus which can survive many months without a host, the disease is highly contagious. Normally the infection would spread through moist walking surfaces such as shower or in swimming pools. Demographically it has been estimated that about 7-10% of the US population has been infected by this particular disease of planter warts.

The human papillomavirus types 1, 2, 4 or 63 are typically responsible for this particular infection. These types are considered clinical due to the visible and evident symptoms. Planter wart in actuality is a benign epithelial tumor. The virus penetrates the skin entering possibly through tiny cuts or abrasions in the outer most layers of the skin (stratum corneum).

It is very difficult to identify the wart after infection for it might not be visible for several weeks or months. However, due to pressure on the sole of the foot or the finger, the wart is pushed inwards which results in causing a layer of hard skin to develop onto it. It is advisable to seek cure because if left untreated the wart can also result in being very painful. Sometimes these warts fuse or develop into clusters which are commonly known as mosaic warts.

Symptoms of Planter Warts

Symptoms of planter warts are as follows:
1. Foot pain that is caused by a lump under the foot.
2. Back or leg pain
3. Firm, rough lesions with tiny dark spots inside (not always apparent). These dark spots are minute and contain thrombosed capillaries in the deep layers of the skin.
4. The surface turns grey yellow or brown in color.
5. The warts are usually found on pressure points or bony points for example on the heel or the ball of the foot.
6. Generally planter warts are flat due to the pressure.

Planter Warts Removal & Treatment

There are several types of treatments which include oral medication, surgery, and other such as suffocating the surrounding skin with plastic. Medications involve the treatment of warts by the usage of keratolytic chemicals, immune therapy and chemotherapy.

Keratolytic chemicals are used to peel away the dead skin cells. In this process the patient would be required to apply the prescribed acid daily onto the wart along with a process of rubbing in order to remove the dead skin.

According to the doctor’s prescription the patient would have to apply the acid either as a solution or in a patch. The application procedure may go up to twice a day. In some instances nail file or a cleaning stone (pumice stone has been used in order to rub off the dead skin). The acid usually used is called salicylic acid and exists inside the willow bark.

Immune-therapy involves the injection of similar antigens into the patient’s body in order to create immunity to the virus. This may also help to get rid of the warts that have not yet been injected.

Similar to the salicylic acid, chemotherapy is yet again an old effective form of treatment for planter’s wart removal. Chemotherapy involves the application of a virucidal chemical which is usually diluted. This chemical is used to cold sterilize surgical instruments.

Modern chemotherapy agents that include 5-fluoro-uracil are also thought to be quite effective or are injected intralesionally.

The surgical method of curing includes cryosurgery through the usage of liquid nitrogen. This method results in the formation of a blister right beneath the warts. Other surgical methods are:
-electrodessication
- Surgical excision

The above two methods of planter wart removal leave scars. The downside is, if the wart reoccurs not only would the patient have a wart, but also a permanent scar. Hence it is safe to say that a laser surgery might be more effective in this particular disease.

The most effective treatment of all is the usage of a 585 nm pulse dye laser. Although it is the last resort of treatment due to it being highly expensive, it is considered effective because it does not leave any scars. This method is also considered very painful and time-consuming since it involves multiple laser treatments normally of around four to six repeated sessions that are performed once a month until the wart is cured.

Cauterization is another effective treatment of planter warts with the same problem of time consumption. If treated as a short-term treatment, cauterization can be effective. This occurs only when cauterization of the base is done with an anesthetic, but yet again this method can leave scars or keloids. Due to the problem of scaring and development of keloids surgical removal is not really advisable.

Planters Warts Removal Methods At Home

Apart from the treatments for planters wart removal stated above there are other ways of treatment as well. One can counteract this problem by suffocating the skin around the planter wart. Materials that are usually used include plastic. This method is quite similar to the “Duct-tape” method. In this method the skin is not allowed to breathe over an extended period of time.

Results are usually gained within a span of two weeks and if not so, the method should be discontinued. However, there is excessive moisture of sweat which causes the degeneration of planter wart to speed up due to the lack of oxygen in the surrounding skin.

Miracles of vitamin C to Treat Warts

The winner of two noble prizes Dr.Linus Pauling was the biggest advocate of vitamin C, he advised people not only to take vitamin c, but overdose of vitamin C. There are so many evidence regarding the benefits of vitamin C. A number of studies have shown it a miracle cure for so many diseases.

It has also been found very effective in treating warts quickly. When patients take vitamin C regularly in excess dose than the normal prescribed dose, they cured all types of warts including planter warts.

Removing warts with acid cider vinegar at Home

People should learn a very easy and inexpensive way to treat warts at home by using acid cider vinegar. This is as successful as any other expensive topical medicine. It can be a little painful in the beginning, but the results are really impressive.

There are two ways to apply acid cider vinegar at warts.

a- Put a cup of vinegar in warm water and soak the warts affected area for twenty minutes daily in that water until the wart heals.

b- Another quicker way of removing wart is to directly soak some cotton in acid cider vinegar and place this cotton directly on your wart, then put some tape or rubber band to secure this vinegar dipped cotton on the affected area. Leave it overnight. Repeat the process daily until the full recovery. Acid cider shows such beneficial results because of its acidic nature.

Precaution: Do not use above method on genital warts as this guide was written specifically for Plantar Warts Removal.

Conclusion

Treatment of any kind of warts or planter warts is not difficult. It needs a little consistency and patience whether you choose conventional methods or home treatments. Before choosing any treatments don’t forget to research thoroughly and never start any treatment without the advice of your doctor or proper supervision.

All the above information should not be considered a medical advice. Every person has different results with different medicines. However, awareness of the planter warts removal procedure is very important to avoid any serious complications in the future.