Nicholas Campitelli, DPM | Akron Podiatrist | Foot and Ankle Surgeon

The Foot Doc Blog – Leading Blog on foot and ankle pain

Providing information on foot, toes, and ankle pain or deformities. Questions? Please ask them in the comments section below. Check out our Youtube and Instagram sites as well.
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Many people think the black tiny dots on a plantar wart are the “seeds” or viral particles present within the wart. They’re actually blood vessels within the wart. Plantar warts are extremely vascular and contain very tiny blood vessels or capillaries. The end of the capillaries extend to the surface of the wart and will “rupture” and cause micro bleeding which then dries resulting int he brownish or black looking dots on the wart. So, they are not “SEEDS” or “VIRAL” particles as you may have been told!!

Small capillaries seen within the plantar wart


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Plantar warts are viral and sometimes do respond to topical acid therapy if they’re superficial. In this example the patient had plantar warts for 2 years and failed acid therapy and excision was recommended. Excision is simple and performed in the office. If acid therapy fails, this is the simplest treatment method to get rid of plantar warts.


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Here is a short video of a surgical excision of a plantar wart that was located on the back of a patients heel. These typically will not respond to topical acid therapy the way that warts on the sole of the foot do. Surgery is performed in office and the sutures are generally removed in 10-14 days.



Plantars warts are caused by a virus that invades the skin on the bottom of the foot and creates thick callus like lesions that can be very painful.  They are more common in children and adolescents, but can occur in adults.  You can differentiate them from calluses by the interruption of skin tension lines and occasional appearance of tiny black dots which are small ruptured vessels as they are very vascular.


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