Treating Warts

Are you suffering from a foot wart and are too embarrassed to get it checked out? Do you want to know what you can do to make it better?

If so, then look no further. Your Colorado Springs, CO, podiatrist, Dr. Matthew Hinderland, can help you.

More on Warts

You develop warts when a virus, called human papilloma virus (HPV), infects your foot. Warts are usually small growths on the skin and appear on the plantar side of your foot, which is essentially the bottom.

Plantar warts grow deep into the skin. Wart sizes vary, but they start small and become larger over time.

Types of Warts

The two types of warts are a solitary wart, which is when a single wart starts increasing in size and number, and mosaic wart, which are clusters of warts growing near each other.

Symptoms

There are some basic symptoms to keep an eye out for:

• Walking, standing, or squeezing the wart may cause pain
• Plantar warts sometimes look like calluses, so be on the lookout for thickened skin tissue
• You'll notice tiny black dots on the surface of the wart

Diagnosis Process

While you may familiarize yourself with the symptoms, you still need a doctor in order to confirm what type of wart you have, if it's a wart at all and prescribe proper treatment.

• Your doctor will examine your foot and look for the symptoms mentioned above
• Oral and topical treatments, as well as laser therapy, cryotherapy, which is when your doctor freezes the wart, and acid treatments may be used to remove the wart
• You shouldn't under any circumstance try to remove the wart yourself since more damage may occur
• Be sure to follow your doctor's orders to avoid complications
• Your doctor may also treat your wart by surgically removing it

For more information on removing plantar warts, you should call Foot and Ankle Institute of Colorado in Colorado Springs, CO at (719) 488-4664 today!