Do you have a wart on your foot that just won’t go away? Although over-the-counter treatments can be helpful for shallow warts, they may not be strong enough to tackle particularly stubborn skin growths. Luckily, your Torrance, CA, podiatrists at Archstone Foot and Ankle Institute offer treatments designed to finally get rid of your warts.

Wart cause and symptoms

Warts are caused by exposure to a strain of the human papillomavirus (HPV). The virus enters your skin through a cut, scratch, patch of dry skin or another break in the skin. Once inside your body, the virus triggers the rapid growth of skin cells, causing a bumpy growth to appear on your skin. Many people develop warts by going barefoot in locker rooms or around swimming pools, although you can also catch the virus by sharing towels, washcloths or bedding with an infected person.

You may have a single wart or a cluster of them on your foot. Warts on the top of the feet are usually bumpy and rounded, but that’s not the case for skin growths on the bottom of your feet. These growths, called plantar warts, become flat due to the weight of your body on your feet. Plantar warts often appear under the toes or on the balls or soles of the feet and can cause pain when you walk or stand.

Wart treatment options

Your Torrance, CA, foot doctors offer several effective treatments for warts, including:

• Prescription Topical Medications: Topical medications dissolve the wart layer by layer. You’ll need to apply the medication to your wart every night for a few weeks or longer.
• Cryotherapy: Freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen kills the cells in the wart during cryotherapy. Once the cells are dead, the wart falls off.
• Electrodesiccation and Curettage: After using an instrument to scrape off the wart, your doctor kills any lingering wart cells by applying a gentle current with an electric needle.
• Laser Therapy: Energy produced by laser light kills warts by affecting the blood flow to the growths.

Are you ready to say goodbye to your warts? Call (310) 362-5359 to schedule an appointment with your podiatrists in Torrance, CA, at Archstone Foot and Ankle Institute.