What Is a Plantar Wart?
A plantar wart is a wart on the sole of the foot, caused by a virus that infects the outer layer of skin. Because it sits where body weight presses, it grows inward rather than outward, which is why it can feel like standing on a small stone.
What Causes Plantar Warts?
Plantar warts are caused by a viral infection of the skin. The virus is picked up through contact, and warm damp floors are the usual setting, which is why they are common in households, pools and change rooms and why one wart can become several.
- Contact with the virus on damp communal floors.
- A break or softening in the skin of the sole that lets the virus in.
- Spread from an existing wart to other parts of the same foot.
Symptoms to Look Out For
A plantar wart is often mistaken for a callus, and the two are treated differently, so the distinction matters.
- A rough, grainy patch on the sole, sometimes with small dark dots.
- Pain on standing or walking, more when the wart is squeezed from the sides than pressed straight down.
- Skin lines that run around the lesion rather than across it.
- More than one lesion appearing on the same foot.
How Is a Plantar Wart Diagnosed?
Your podiatrist examines the lesion and distinguishes it from a corn or callus, which look similar and are managed differently. That distinction is the point of the appointment: treating a wart as a callus, or a callus as a wart, wastes weeks.
Treatment Options
At the Manly Foot Clinic we utilise various treatments for plantar warts, including surgical excision. This can be carried out in our premises under local anaesthetic.
Which treatment suits depends on the wart, where it is, how long it has been there and how much it hurts. Manly Foot Clinic has not published clearance rates or a typical number of treatments, so this page states neither; your podiatrist sets out what to expect at your assessment.
When Symptoms Persist
At the Manly Foot Clinic we utilise various treatments for plantar warts, including surgical excision. This can be carried out in our premises under local anaesthetic.
All instruments are sterilised on site to Australian standards, and procedures use aseptic technique.
Plantar Warts in Children and Teenagers
Plantar warts are most common in children and teenagers, and many clear on their own over time without any treatment at all. That makes the decision about whether to treat, and how aggressively, worth having properly: a wart that does not hurt and is not spreading may simply be watched.
Our podiatrists see children of all ages, from toddlers who are learning to walk through to teenagers in competitive sport.
Plantar Warts FAQs
At the Manly Foot Clinic we utilise various treatments for plantar warts, including surgical excision. This can be carried out in our premises under local anaesthetic.
A wart is usually more painful when squeezed from the sides than pressed straight down, often has small dark dots in it, and interrupts the skin lines rather than running with them. Your podiatrist distinguishes the two at examination.
Plantar warts are caused by a viral infection of the skin, picked up through contact, and warm damp floors are the usual setting. One wart can spread to other parts of the same foot.
Many warts in children and teenagers clear on their own over time. A wart that is painful, spreading or long-standing is worth assessing, and your podiatrist will advise whether treating or watching is the better course.
All instruments are sterilised on site to Australian standards, and procedures use aseptic technique.
Serving Manly and the Northern Beaches.
Manly Foot Clinic is at Shop 3/3 Corrie Rd, North Manly, NSW 2100, and treats plantar warts for patients from Manly, Dee Why, Brookvale, Freshwater and Balgowlah. The clinic is open Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:30pm and Saturday from 8:00am to 2:00pm.