Plantar warts might be hidden from view on the bottom of your foot, but your little secret isn’t going away. You can keep your warts under wraps or try home remedies, hoping for them to disappear on their own, or you can opt for an approach rooted in science.
Kelly L. Geoghan, DPM, has over two decades of experience diagnosing and treating a wide range of foot issues, including warts. Here, we cover plantar warts and explain how we can help you get rid of them faster than you may have imagined.
Plantar warts are a symptom of a strain of HPV (human papillomavirus). You may know HPV as a sexually transmitted disease, but there are over 100 strains of the virus and many ways to get it — some are significant health threats, but many others are harmless.
Not everyone who comes into contact with HPV develops warts. Even your own family members react to the virus differently. Still, HPV is highly contagious and can spread easily, especially to children, teenagers, and those with weak immune systems.
The virus also thrives in warm, moist places, like public locker rooms and swimming pools. A small cut or scrape on the bottom of your foot is a wide open door for the virus to gain access.
Is that a new callus on your foot or something more nefarious? Plantar warts develop as small, rough patches on the bottom of your feet, making them easy to mistake for a callus.
If you look closely at the rough patches, you’ll notice a plantar wart:
Unlike regular calluses, plantar warts are often painful as they grow inward into your body. You might feel like you have a pebble or rock in your shoe.
As the condition advances, the pain and discomfort can cause you to alter your normal posture or gait, often without even realizing it, which can trigger a ripple effect of problems. That’s why we recommend seeing us for treatment as soon as you notice a wart developing.
The good news is that you aren’t stuck with plantar warts. Plantar warts can resolve on their own without treatment, but it may take years for them to clear up.
We strongly encourage you not to wait it out but to see us for prompt, effective treatment. Dr. Geoghan offers Swift® Microwave therapy, one of the most advanced wart treatments — and best-kept secrets — available.
The Swift system directs controlled, low-dose microwave energy directly into the plantar wart tissue. As the microwaves penetrate, they create heat that damages the wart and simultaneously stimulates your body’s natural healing and immune response.
Your body gradually processes and eliminates the damaged wart tissue, leaving you with clearer, healthier skin.
Our patients love Swift microwave therapy because treatments are short and virtually painless. There’s also no need for advanced preparation and no downtime after treatment.
You may experience a brief stinging, burning, or scratching sensation during treatment, but otherwise, you shouldn’t feel any pain — we don’t even need to administer anesthesia. The sensation our patients describe most is immediate pain relief following treatment.
Depending on the size of your wart, you may benefit from a series of treatments.
Whether you’ve had your plantar wart for a while or just noticed it, there’s no reason to take the wait-and-see approach — not when you have access to an expert podiatrist and advanced treatment. Contact Kelly L. Geoghan, DPM, in Lutherville, Maryland, today.
