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Plantar warts are a common skin infection on
the bottom of your foot. Using a public shower or walking around the
locker room in your bare feet after a workout increases your risk
for developing plantar warts.
Cause and symptoms
Warts are caused by a virus that enters the body through a break
in the skin. The virus grows in warm, moist environments, such as
those created in a locker room or in your shoes when your feet
perspire and the moisture is trapped. Plantar warts often spread to
other areas of the foot, increase in size, and have "babies,"
resulting in a cluster that resembles a mosaic.
Plantar warts can erupt anywhere on the sole of the foot. They
may be difficult to distinguish from calluses. However, you may be
able to see tiny black dots on the surface layer of a plantar wart.
These are the ends of capillary blood vessels. Calluses have no
blood vessels, usually resemble yellow candle wax and are located
only over weightbearing areas.
Plantar warts can be very painful and tender. Standing and
walking push the warts flat. They grow up into the skin, making it
feel like there's a stone in your shoe.
Treatment
Although plantar warts may eventually disappear by themselves,
you should seek treatment if they are painful. Your physician will
carefully trim the wart and apply a chemically treated dressing. It
may take several weeks for the wart to disappear completely.
If the wart is resistant to treatment, your physician may
recommend an office procedure to remove it. After a local anesthetic
is applied, the physician may use liquid nitrogen to freeze the wart
and dissolve it. To avoid scarring or damaging other tissues, this
method removes only the top portion of the wart. The treatment must
be repeated regularly until the entire wart is dissolved.
Alternatively, the physician can cut out the wart.
Prevention
To reduce your risk for getting plantar warts,
be sure to wear shower thongs or sandals when you use a public
locker room or shower. Use foot powders and change your socks
frequently to keep the feet dry.
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