4 min read
A plantar wart is a small growth on the bottom of the foot caused by a common virus. They are ordinary, they are not a sign that anything is wrong with your health, and plenty of people have had one without ever knowing what it was called. They are also one of the more frequently searched foot problems in Ohio, usually by someone who has found something on their sole and is not sure what they are looking at.
What a plantar wart actually is
Plantar warts come from human papillomavirus, a family of viruses that includes many strains. The strains involved in plantar warts affect the skin, and they enter through small breaks in the surface of the sole. The virus is common in warm, damp shared spaces — locker room floors, pool decks, communal showers.
"Plantar" simply means the bottom of the foot. It is a location, not a severity. A wart in the same family on a hand would be called a common wart.
Why they can look like a callus
Because a plantar wart sits on a weight-bearing surface, it tends to grow inward rather than outward, and the skin over it thickens. That is what makes it easy to mistake for a callus, and it is the single most common reason people are unsure what they are dealing with.
A few features are often described as distinguishing the two, though none of them is a diagnosis:
- Skin lines. On a callus, the normal lines of the skin usually run across the surface. On a wart, they tend to stop at the edge and go around it.
- Small dark points. Warts often contain tiny dark dots, which are small clotted blood vessels rather than "seeds" or "roots".
- How it hurts. A callus is often sore with direct downward pressure. A wart is frequently more uncomfortable when pinched from the sides.
Why they are sometimes stubborn
A plantar wart is a viral skin condition, not simply a piece of thick skin, so removing the surface does not necessarily resolve what is underneath. Warts also vary a great deal between people: some resolve without any treatment at all, and others persist for a long time.
That variability is why over-the-counter approaches work well for some people and not for others, and why there is no single answer that applies to every wart or every patient.
When it is worth having a foot specialist look
There are situations where it is sensible to have a growth on the foot examined rather than treated at home. Those include:
- You are not certain what it is. Several things can appear on the sole of the foot, and not all of them are warts. Identifying it correctly comes first.
- It is painful enough to change how you walk. Altering your gait to avoid a sore spot can create problems elsewhere in the foot.
- It is changing — in size, colour, shape, or number.
- You have diabetes, neuropathy, or reduced circulation in your feet. Self-treating any lesion on the foot is not advisable in these cases, and that includes over-the-counter wart products.
- It has been treated at home without resolving.
If you have something on the bottom of your foot and you are not sure what it is, having it identified is a reasonable first step. Our office in Chillicothe sees skin and nail conditions of the foot regularly.
This article is general information about a common foot and ankle condition. It is not medical advice and it is not a diagnosis of your own symptoms. If something is wrong with your foot, have it examined.
Care at Bends Foot and Ankle is provided by Eric Storts, DPM, FACFAS, board certified podiatric foot and ankle surgeon.