Do you think you have a wart or multiple warts on the bottom part of your foot? Does the area give you pain while you are running? Verruca plantaris, or plantar warts, is a viral infection caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). The most common causes of transmission of plantar warts are due to barefoot walking in high-risk areas such as communal showers, locker rooms, and/or indoor swimming pools. Plantar warts typically present as small calloused areas with circular black dots on the surface of your skin. These black dots represent the capillaries or blood source supplying the wart underneath your skin.
Symptoms:
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Pain with lateral compression is the hallmark of a plantar wart, but direct pressure upon ambulation and running can cause a great deal of pain as well.
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Thickened skin on top of and surrounding the wart. You may initially think the wart is actually a callus due to the increase in soft tissue around the wart.
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Pin point bleeding. When the wart is being treated, you will notice small dots of bleeding which represent the blood source supplying the wart.
Prevention:
Some simple things you can do to reduce your risk at getting plantar warts is to wear shower shoes or sandals in public areas such as showers, pools, and locker rooms. It is important to clean and dry your feet after exercising. Also, it’s a good idea to change out of your running sneakers to casual sneakers after a run if possible. It is also highly recommended to never run barefoot.
Treatment:
You can attempt to offload the wart and apply padding all you want, but if you don’t address the underlying problem and remove the wart, you will never be able to run without pain. Initial treatment may involve various over-the-counter wart treatments. If these treatments are unsuccessful, a podiatry appointment is recommended. Plantar warts prove to be very difficult to eradicate which is why early detection and treatment is key.
Clinic treatments may involve debridement (trimming of the warts), application of a strong acid to disrupt and destroy the wart, or possibly use of prescription medications to eradicate the wart. When warts are resistant to various treatments, sometimes surgical excision is necessary.
If you have problems with warts, please give us a call so we may help you.