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Warts

Warts

Warts services offered in Fresno and Madera, CA

If you walk around public places without shoes, you might be at increased risk for painful warts on your heels or balls of your feet. At Advanced Foot Care and Clinical Research Center, foot and ankle specialists Jay Mukker, DPM, FABPM, CWSP, and Gavin Lee, DPM, provide diagnostic evaluations and customized treatment plans for painful plantar warts. They use topical medications, cryotherapy, and wart removal surgery to eliminate painful bumps while protecting the health of your skin. Call the office in Fresno or Madera, California, to schedule a consultation or book an appointment online today.

Warts Q & A

What are warts?

Warts are small, rough bumps that grow on your skin due to a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Warts that grow on your heels and balls of your feet are known as plantar warts.

You can develop plantar warts when HPV enters the skin of your feet through small cuts or cracks in your skin. You might be prone to plantar warts if you share nail clippers or other personal items with an infected person.

However, the most common way people get an HPV infection is by walking barefoot in public pool areas, locker rooms, and other damp environments. Going barefoot can also make you susceptible to toenail fungus infections. 

What are the symptoms of warts?

When you have plantar warts, you can see small, rough bumps on the bottom of your foot. Warts may be the same color as your skin and can also appear as brown or gray bumps.

The center of the wart may have black pinpoints, which are small blood vessels. Your skin near the wart may also harden and turn into a callus.

Some people with multiple plantar warts on the soles of their feet experience pain when walking or standing.

If you have any symptoms of warts, call Advanced Foot Care and Clinical Research Center to schedule an evaluation. The providers physically examine your skin to confirm you have plantar warts. They may also take a sample of the wart for further testing to identify an HPV infection.

How are warts treated?

Not all warts require treatment. Some disappear on their own as your immune system fights the infection.

If you need treatment, your Advanced Foot Care and Clinical Research Center provider can use a topical salicylic acid that removes warts layer by layer.

If the acid isn’t effective, they may recommend cryotherapy. This noninvasive treatment uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and destroy wart tissue.

Laser therapy is also an effective treatment option. Your provider directs laser energy into the wart to destroy the vessels that supply it with blood. In the weeks after treatment, the wart dies and falls off.

To schedule a consultation for painful warts, call the Advanced Foot Care and Clinical Research Center office near you or book an appointment online today.