A virus causes warts. Limiting your contact with microbes and protecting your feet while using public facilities like showers and gyms can help prevent contracting warts. A particularly painful wart that grows on the foot is a plantar wart. This large wart often grows under thick skin in the ball or heel of the foot, and the only signs are a small bump and the pain the wart causes.

The size and location of warts will indicate the proper course of treatment:

• Cryotherapy (freezing)—Liquid nitrogen is carefully applied to the wart by your foot doctor. Large chunks can then be broken off.
• Acid therapy—Your doctor uses prescription strength acid to peel away layers of the wart. It can be combined with freezing for quick and painless removal.
• Vaccine therapy—Since a virus causes warts, taking the HPV vaccine treats warts from inside your body.
• Laser therapy—After treating the wart area with an anesthetic, your podiatrist will remove warts with a laser.

Store-bought treatments using a low strength acid are available for wart removal, but they often fail to remove the wart altogether, and it grows back. See your foot doctor for comprehensive care that limits bleeding and complications.

If you have a painful hidden plantar wart, see your foot doctor for relief. At Your Next Step, our team of board-certified podiatrists has access to advanced technologies, along with years of experience, to help diagnose and treat a variety of foot and ankle problems, including sports injuries, joint pain, toe deformities, nail fungus, chronic tendon pain, and skin problems. Dr. Eric Ricefield, Dr. Mark Yagodich, and Dr. Aliza V. Eisen provide high-quality foot and ankle care to patients in the greater Philadelphia area at our offices conveniently located in Ardmore, Paoli, and Downingtown, PA. Please contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.