What kind of doctor plantar warts

Warts and Plantar Warts. Condition Basics What are warts? How do they spread? What are the symptoms? How are they diagnosed? How are warts treated?

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Warts: Should I Treat Warts? Cause A wart is caused by some types of the virus called the human papillomavirus HPV. Prevention The main way to prevent warts is to avoid contact with the human papillomavirus HPV that causes warts. Avoid touching warts on yourself or others. Don't share razors, towels, socks, or shoes with another person. Someone with no visible warts can still be carrying the virus. Avoid walking barefoot on warm, moist surfaces where the wart virus may be alive.

Wear shower shoes when using public showers, locker rooms, or pool areas. Keep your feet dry. If your feet sweat heavily, wear socks that absorb moisture or wick it away from the skin. Avoid irritating the soles of your feet. Warts grow more easily if your skin has been injured or broken in some way.

Symptoms Plantar warts Plantar warts occur on the soles of the feet. Flat warts Flat warts are usually found on the face, arms, or legs. When to Call a Doctor See your doctor if: You aren't sure if a skin growth is a wart. Nonprescription home treatment isn't successful after 2 to 3 months.

Warts are growing or spreading rapidly despite treatment. Signs of infection develop. These may include: Increased pain, swelling, warmth, or redness. Red streaks leading from the area. Pus draining from the area. A fever. A plantar wart becomes too painful to walk on. You have diabetes or peripheral arterial disease and you need treatment for a wart on a leg or foot. This can take several months and up to two years. A podiatrist has the skill and expertise to remove your wart without damaging healthy skin cells and can offer invasive and non-invasive plantar wart treatment options.

Electrocautery: The doctor numbs the foot in the area where the wart is located and uses an electric needle to remove it surgically. Both the virus and the wart are treated. This is the preferred method and the most successful. When the treatment is completed, there is no more pain.

The virus is also much less likely to recur than with other approaches. Cryotherapy: With this method, the doctor usually gives you a local anesthetic to numb the wart area. Liquid nitrogen is applied to the wart, causing a blister to form.

It takes approximately a week for the deadened skin to slough away. Often, it takes a few treatments before the wart is completely gone. Salicylic acid: This is a prescription topical medication. The physician may apply it in the office and then have you continue treatment at home. You also run the risk of the wart returning. You can prevent plantar warts by wearing shoes in public and wet places, such as around the pool or in public showers.

If you have a wart, refrain from touching it. First, avoid contact with other warts, including your own growths. If you touch your wart, you should wash your hands afterward. Purchase shower shoes if you plan to go to public pools, locker rooms, or showers to prevent indirect contact with the virus. Regularly cleaning your bath mats and changing out your socks can prevent the spread of the virus. How do you remove plantar warts?

There are a variety of ways to remove plantar warts. Some people choose to treat them at home with over-the-counter medication. Home remedies to remove plantar warts include nonprescription peeling medicine or freezing medicine. However, there are sterility and effectiveness concerns with any home method. A podiatrist provides a safe, sterile environment and has the tools necessary to assess and safely remove your warts. Your podiatrist may also suggest the following treatments. Cryotherapy is one of the most common ways to treat warts.

The doctor applies liquid nitrogen via a swab or a spray. A blister then forms on the wart, and the dead tissue falls away within a week. You may have to go back to the doctor every two to four weeks to rid yourself of the growth completely. While you can purchase salicylic acid over the counter, the prescription-strength is stronger and can remove a wart layer by layer. With this treatment, you may be treated in the office and follow up with applying medicine at home. A doctor may use medications that stimulate your immune system to fight viral warts.

For this treatment, you may receive an injection with an antigen, or the physician may apply a cream.

HPV is very common, and more than kinds of the virus exist. But only a few of them cause warts on the feet. Other types of HPV are more likely to cause warts on other areas of your skin or on mucous membranes. Each person's immune system responds differently to HPV.

Not everyone who comes in contact with it develops warts. Even people in the same family react to the virus differently. The HPV strains that cause plantar warts aren't highly contagious. So the virus isn't easily transmitted by direct contact from one person to another. But it thrives in warm, moist environments.

Consequently, you may contract the virus by walking barefoot around swimming pools or locker rooms. If the virus spreads from the first site of infection, more warts may appear. When plantar warts cause pain, you may alter your normal posture or gait — perhaps without realizing it.