WARTS

How Do You Recognize Warts?  Warts are recognized by their round, elevated appearance. Many warts have small black spots that represent small blood vessels which have oozed blood into the wart and have turned black with age. Warts commonly occur on the hands and feet but can occur anywhere. When warts occur on the bottom of the foot, they are referred to as "plantar warts" because the bottom of the foot is known as the plantar surface. Many times warts occur in clusters or groups which are very close together, and are known as "mosaic" warts. The medical term for wart is "verruca".

What Causes Warts?  Warts are caused by a virus that enters the skin through small cuts or scratches, or through the blood stream or lymphatic system. This accounts for the spread of warts from one area of the body to another. Warts, since they are caused by a virus, are contagious (spread from person to person). It is very frequent that we see several members in a family with warts. To prevent the spread of warts from person to person, it is not wise to wear other peoples shoes or socks. Usually, after we have had one to two warts, we develop immunity to the wart virus and therefore we do not develop them again throughout our lifetime. Some individuals however, never develop the immunity or resistance to the virus, and the warts persist or come and go throughout their lifetime. This explains why warts are much more common in young children and teenagers, but less common in young adults and older individuals.

How Are Warts Treated?

• Warts that have been present for six months or more are not likely to go away without treatment.
• For warts on the bottom of the foot, over-the-counter preparations like Compound W are not very successful. The thickness of the skin in this area prevents medication of this type from penetrating to the desired depth.
• Conventional treatment such as cautery (burning with an electrical needle) is painful and warts frequently return.
• Acid therapy, which consists of applying various forms of acid, requires several visits for the acid to be applied, and can be quite painful.
• Curettage, or scraping out the wart is also painful, can leave a painful scar, and recurrence is a frequent problem.
• C02 1aser: In the early 1980's we began using the C02 laser for the treatment of warts. This was a big improvement from the above mentioned conventional methods of treatment since this was essentially a "no touch" type of treatment. In other words no cutting instrument was used that could spread the virus to deeper or adjacent tissue. The CO2 laser requires either a general or local anesthetic and can cause scarring of the tissues. 
• The pulsed dye laser was a popular method of treating warts in the mid 90" but has lost popularity because of it's cost and availability. The pulsed dye laser did not require anesthesia, but was painful and unpredictable in the results unpredictable.
• I have found freezing methods such as Veruuca Freeze to be the most reliable and efficient method of treating warts on the foot.  This method does not scar the tissue like surgical and laser treatments and does not require anesthesia or any recovery time after the procedure.  Warts that have been present for more than a year and warts in adults are more difficult to remove and make take several treatments. 
• The key to the treatment of warts on the foot is to be patient and to not cause scarring of the tissue.

To schedule an appointment, please call (405) 751-6152