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.

 

         

 

 

     

 

Despite the common myth, there are no deep roots as plantar warts only involve the epidermis and dermis.

Treatment:

Treatment involves removing all of the “warty” tissue.  This can be achieved by using topical therapy such as salicylic acid (a stronger version is used in the office by physician) or by cutting the warts out.  Depending on the severity and number, the warts can be removed in the office or sometimes in an outpatient surgery setting where sedation is used.

The three pictures below demonstrate what one should see after using topical wart solution (salicylic acid) on plantar warts.

   

 

 

The below pictures demonstrate how use of the CO2 LASER ablates the lesions.

        

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