How to remove warts on feet

Plantar warts are caused by an infection with HPV in the outer layer of skin on the soles of your feet. They develop when the virus enters your body through tiny cuts, breaks or other weak spots on the bottoms of your feet. HPV is very common, and more than 100 kinds of the virus exist.

Plantar Wart Freezing

Freezing a wart using cryotherapy is an effective wart removal option. Liquid nitrogen is applied to the plantar wart with a spray or cotton swab. This destroys the tissue and causes a small blister to form over the spot. In a week or so, the deceased skin will be gone.

Whatever you do, do not try to cut off a plantar wart yourself because you may injure yourself and cuts in your skin allow the warts to spread.

Home Treatments for Warts

Any object used (tweezers, file, etc.) should not be used on any other body part after touching the wart. Those with diabetes should not treat warts on the feet.

Don’t rub, scratch, or pick at the wart. Doing so could spread the virus to another part of your body or cause the wart to become infected. Don’t share towels or other personal items with others.

Using super glue on warts turns out to be a patented method that works much the same as duct tape, except that when the glue is removed every 6 days, some of the wart is removed with it.

Peeling medicine (salicylic acid).

For common warts, look for a 17 percent salicylic acid solution. These products (Compound W, Dr. Scholl’s Clear Away Wart Remover, others) are usually used daily, often for a few weeks. For best results, soak your wart in warm water for a few minutes before applying the product.

If you choose to let a wart heal on its own, try not to touch it. This may spread the virus to other parts of your body or to other people. No matter how they‘re removed, warts may reoccur after they have gone away.

Don’t pick at warts or try to peel them off, as this will only spread the virus. Have separate nail clippers for healthy and infected areas. Try not to shave over warts.

Also try to keep it off the normal skin. The acid will turn the wart into deceased skin (it will turn white).

A: A common wart should not bleed unless it is scraped, scratched or injured in some way. If a wart bleeds without a clear cause or bleeds profusely after injury, it is important to consult a doctor without delay.

It is observed that toothpaste can make warts slowly dry out by cutting off the oxygen supply. Though toothpaste is one of the popular home remedies for getting rid of warts, it is advised to not use toothpaste on your warts because it can do more harm than good by irritating your skin.

Weakened Defenses

Some people are at increased risk for warts due to weakened immune systems. Teenagers and people who have conditions that weaken their immune systems, like HIV, are at increased risk for warts.

The wart may swell or throb. The skin on the wart may turn black in the first 1 to 2 days, which might signal that the skin cells in the wart are dying. The wart might fall off within 1 to 2 weeks.

By “suffocating” the wart, the duct tape makes it more likely that the skin cells will die. The process of applying and removing the duct tape may also remove additional skin cells, which can make the wart less bulky and noticeable.

Vinegar is an acid (acetic acid), so it can eliminate some types of bacteria and viruses on contact. The vinegar burns and slowly destroys the infected skin, causing the wart to fall off, similar to how salicylic acid works.