Plantar warts are skin disease, that especially affects the feet. Warts mean small thick growth of the skin.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a causative factor for a plantar wart. Plantar wart presents on the ball of toes or hill area. It affects the area which bears the pressure more.
It is described as a thick growth of the skin on the skin of the sole region. Because of pressure, they grow inside the skin of the feet.
It is a viral skin disease and is contagious. But it is not a direct contagious disease like human to human. HPV virus presents near cold damp areas or wet areas. If a person has cracks on the skin, and he walks with bare foot in such an area, then he may get infected by HPV. It causes plantar warts.
It is not a life-threatening disease. Plantar warts remain for months to years in children if left untreated. It is an infectious disease. If a person has warts on the feet, they may spread towards other skin areas if he does not maintain proper care.
Types of Plantar Warts:
Plantar warts are divided into two types, depending on the number of warts. Solitary warts and mosaic warts are two types. A solitary wart is a single wart while mosaic warts are a cluster of multiple small warts.
1. Solitary Warts:
It is a single wart present on the skin of the sole region of the feet. It is a thick growth of the skin. If not treated on time, it slowly increases in size.
In the chronic case of plantar warts, you may observe the overgrowth of a single wart with its multiple branches.
Solitary plantar warts are easy to treat as compared to mosaic plantar warts.
2. Mosaic Plantar Warts:
Mosaic plantar warts are the growth of small multiple warts on the heel region. Multiple warts affect the same area of the feet like the heel region at the same time.
If not treated on time, skin becomes thick, and warts grow in numbers. It is difficult to treat if not treated in the primary stage.
Plantar Warts Causes:
The human papillomavirus is responsible for plantar warts. Along with HPV, immunity and trauma conditions are responsible for plantar warts.
Human Papilloma Virus:
HPV is a common virus that has 100 kinds of virus types. Some specific HPV viruses cause plantar warts on the feet region.
It enters through the cracks on the skin of the sole region. Warts appear below the great toe region or on the heel area of the sole part of the feet.
If you left untreated warts, they may remain on the skin for months or years. Not every individual has plantar warts on the sole region after infection with HPV. It depends on the immunity and tendency of a person.
Some HPV virus affects the mucus membrane and skin of the other parts of the body. Plantar warts from the HPV do not have a connection with STD, a sexually transmitted disease.
Immunity:
Every person reacts differently to infection. Not every person of the same family has plantar warts after infection with an HPV virus.
Some individuals who have low immunity may show plantar warts on their feet.
Trauma:
Trauma to the skin of the feet is a route of infection for a plantar wart. If a person has cracks on the sole region and he walks barefoot near water, it is a high chance of HPV infection.
Trauma is one of the causative factors in the pathogenesis of plantar warts.
Plantar Warts Symptoms:
Plantar warts are skin diseases, the causative factor is the HPV virus. It presents small overgrowth of the skin which has black or brown discoloration.
The overgrowth skin has a thickness and pinpoints heads. It may appear as a single wart or multiple small warts in one place.
Plantar warts affect the base of the toes at the big ball area and the heel region of the sole of the feet. In the primary stage, plantar warts look like a black pinpoint eruption in the sole skin. Small, clotted blood vessels cause black pinpoint eruptions, which are known as wart seeds.
You can easily differentiate the wart skin from the normal skin of the feet. It is darker than the sole skin. The overgrowth of the plantar wart is lighter in a color than the main wart.
Some warts grow inwards because of the pressure of the body on the heel and base of the toe’s regions. Patients may feel pain or tenderness during walking and in a standing position.
Sometimes patients need extra help from the doctor to cure plantar warts. Such as, bleeding from the sight of plantar warts, an increase in size or change in color of wart, and the patient complains of severe pain at the wart site.
Plantar warts are not a direct contagious viral disease, but they can spread from feet to other parts of the body; if a patient touches warts and the same hand he uses to wash his hands, then the HPV virus affects the hands also.
The HPV virus grows and sustains in warm moisture areas or damp areas. If a patient has cracks on the sole and uses such area with bare feet, then it is a high chance that he will be infected with the HPV.
Risk Factors for Plantar Warts:
Age, immunity, trauma to the sole skin, environment, and family or personal history are responsible for the growth of plantar warts.
Age:
Children or any age group person can get infected with the HPV and shows signs of plantar warts.
Environment:
The HPV virus is responsible for plantar warts. This virus is present in a warm damp area or near the water area. If a person or a child walk in such an area barefoot, then they are susceptible to infection of an HPV and plantar warts.
Trauma:
Trauma to the sole skin is an important risk factor for plantar warts. If a person has cracks on the skin and walks barefoot near a watery area, then the chances of the HPV infection increase.
Underlying Disease:
The patient suffers from Tuberculosis, AIDS, ulcerative colitis, and other chronic diseases, and has low immunity. The low immunity makes the individual susceptible to the HPV virus and plantar warts.
Infections:
The HPV virus presents near the swimming pool area or locker is the main causative factor and a risk factor for a plantar wart.
Family and Personal History:
If a patient has a family history or personal history of plantar warts, then the person is susceptible to recurrent infection of plantar warts.
Diagnosis:
A plantar wart is a skin disease. The diagnosis depends on the clinical features, signs, symptoms, and personal history of a patient.
A patient may have a history of plantar warts, or he may visit the swimming pool area or damp areas in the past weeks or months. A patient has cracks on the sole region.
A patient presents with black head points in the sole skin or skin growth in the heel area or base of the toes. A patient complains of pain during walking or in a standing position.
On observation, the physician can notice a patient is not walking properly because of warts on the feet. A physician can find one single wart on the base of the big toe region or cluster of a small warts on the heel area.
The look of skin growth and personal history will help to diagnose a plantar wart. But sometimes a doctor can order a skin biopsy of a wart to rule out other reasons for plantar warts.
Plantar Warts Management:
Plantar warts are a self-limiting skin condition. But in some cases, it requires treatment like the application of the ointment, laser therapy, cryotherapy, and acid therapy.
The HPV is responsible for a plantar wart. It causes pain and tenderness. Sometimes patient complains of bleeding from the plantar wart. In such cases, topical application with oral medicines is necessary.
Some patients complain of recurrence of plantar warts after mechanical removal from the foot. In such cases, repeated cryotherapy or acid therapy is required to burn down the root of plantar warts from the skin of the sole.
Freezing therapy means cryotherapy is used to destroy plantar warts. In this procedure, liquid nitrogen is applied to plantar warts with help of a spray or cotton swab.
Salicylic acid is used for acid therapy, to peel out a layer of the plantar wart. These are both procedures performed in a clinic. If these procedures are not helpful, then surgery or laser therapy are options to remove plantar warts.
If a patient is prone to plantar warts. There are some preventive measures present to avoid plantar warts. Like, wash your hands after touching plantar warts, do not use the same gloves or nail cutter for the hands that you use for plantar warts, use proper shoes or feet protection while using the gym bathroom, walking in the swimming pool area, and do not scratch your warts.
Best Homeopathic Medicine for Plantar Warts:
Homeopathy remedies are useful to cure plantar warts without any side effects. Homeopathy remedies are useful to apply externally and internally also. There are some ointments like Thuja, Silicea, and Sulphur that can use for external applications.
Homeopathy treatment depends on the clinical features, the patient’s symptoms, and the history of the patient. It helps to reduce the tendency of a patient for plantar warts.
There are acute remedies and chronic remedies which are helpful to reduce the pain of plantar warts and the tendency for recurrence of plantar warts, respectively.
The following remedies are helpful for Plantar Warts:
Benzoic acid
Bismuth
Borax
Graphites
Hypericum
Iodum
Lachesis
Lycopodium
Petroleum
Silicea
Thuja
Sulphur
1. Antim crud: For acute inflammation of plantar warts
It is suitable for the inflammation of a wart. It is indicated for multiple small warts present near the base of the toes. The patient complains of pain while standing.
The patient complains of pricking pain in the soles after walking on a stone pavement.
Dose and Potency: Antim crud 30 and 200 are useful potencies in an acute case of plantar warts. Give 4 globules of Antim crud, 3-4 times a day for 4-5 days.
2. Benzoic acid: Plantar warts present at base of the great toe
It is good for acute pain of plantar warts. The plantar wart is present at the base of the great toe. The patient complains of pain and itching at the spot of the wart.
Dose and Potency: Benzoic acid 30 is useful for pain. Give 4 globules of Benzoic acid 4 times a day for 4 days.
3. Bismuth: Dryness of skin, primary stage of plantar warts.
Especially suited for dryness of skin and warts at the base of the middle toes of the feet. The patient complains of tearing pain, which is ameliorated during motion.
Dose and Potency:
Bismuth 30 is useful for pain. Take 4 globules of Bismuth 30, 3 times a day for 5 days.
4. Borax: useful for old plantar warts with stitching pain in the heel.
This is a remedy for old warts and stitching pain in the sole region. The patient complains of burning pain in the great toe and in the heel region.
It is indicated for unhealthy skin, which suppurates slight injury.
Dose and Potency:
Borax 30 is useful for pain of the plantar wart. Give 4 globules of Borax 30, 3 times a day for 7 days.
5. Graphites: As a constitutional remedy, useful to reduce tendency for a plantar wart.
It is a wonderful medicine for dry and cracked skin. It is indicated for the plantar wart, which is thick, black, and rough in nature.
It is a good remedy to reduce the tendency of plantar warts in a person.
Dose and Potency:
Graphites are useful in 30 and 200 potencies. Use 4 globules of Graphites 30, 2 times a day for 7 days for acute cases of plantar warts. Use Graphites 200, 4 globules 2 times a day 3 times a week for 1 month.
6. Hypericum: Useful for injury to the sole skin.
It is useful for injury to the sole skin. It is indicated for plantar warts which grow inside the skin. The patient complains of constant pain in the region of warts.
Dose and Potency:
Hypericum 30 and 200 are useful for acute pain of a plantar wart. Give 4 globules of Hypericum 200, 3 times a day for pain for 4 days.
7. Iodum: Good remedy for a plantar warts with brownish discoloration.
This remedy acts best for a plantar wart. The patient complains of pain with cold feet and hands.
It is indicated for nodosities in the skin and brown spots on the skin of the sole.
Dose and Potency: Iodum 30 is useful potency. Give 4 globules of Iodum 30, 3 times a day for 7 days.
8. Lachesis: It is indicated for plantar warts on the sole region.
It is indicated as a bluish dark swelling on the skin of the sole region. This is a constitutional remedy that helps to reduce the tendency of plantar warts in a person.
Dose and Potency:
Lachesis 30, 4 globules 3 times a day for a painful swelling wart on the sole skin, for 5 days. Lachesis 200, 4 globules once a week for 1 month to reduce the tendency of a plantar wart.
9. Lycopodium: Help to reduce plantar warts tendency.
It works wonderfully to reduce the tendency of plantar warts. It is indicated for painful hard swellings on the sole region at the heel and at the toes. The patient complains of sweat on their feet and tearing pain.
It affects the right foot. It is indicated for plantar warts which grow inside the skin due to pressure.
Dose and Potency:
Lycopodium is used in 30 and 200 potencies. Take 4 globules of Lycopodium 30, 3 times a day for 4 days in acute cases of plantar warts. Lycopodium 200, 4 globules 3 times a week for 1 month for chronic plantar warts.
10.Petroleum: Useful for plantar warts on the heel region.
It is indicated for plantar warts with stitching pain in the heel region. The patient complains of shooting and burning pain in the plantar wart.
It is useful for thick, dry, and leathery skin. The skin is susceptible to easy bleeding and sensitive to any infection.
Dose and Potency:
Petroleum lotion, apply it externally on the wart. Petroleum 30, 4 globules 3 times a day for 7 days.
11.Silicea: Useful for an old chronic plantar wart.
Silicea is useful for old plantar warts. It is indicated for chronic plantar warts. The patient complains of painful warts which ameliorate after heat application.
This is a remedy for recurrent plantar warts.
Dose and Potency:
Silicea is useful in 3X and 6C potencies. Take 4 globules of Silicea 3X, 3 times a day for 1 month. Use Silicea ointment for external applications.
12.Thuja: It is indicated for single plantar wart with multiple branches.
Thuja is a wart remedy. It is indicated for dry skin and brownish spots on the skin. The skin is sensitive to the touch.
It is indicated for a single old wart that is large and has multiple branches. The patient complains of a painful tender sole region with profuse sweating.
Dose and Potency: Thuja is useful as oral medication and for external use also. Apply Thuja mother tincture externally on warts and use 5 drops of mother tincture mix with ½ glass of water, 2 times a day for 10 days.
13. Sulphur: It helps to cure tendency of a plantar warts.
It is indicated for old warts on the sole part of the feet. The patient complains of aching pain. The patient experiences cramps in the sole and calves with the coldness of the sole.
It is useful for dry, scaly, and unhealthy skin. It helps to cure the tendency for a plantar wart.
Dose and Potency: Sulphur is useful in 6c and 30 potencies. Give 4 globules of Sulphur 30, once a day for 5 days.
Remember that homeopathic remedies are prescribed based on individual symptoms and characteristics. It’s crucial to consult with a qualified homeopath for proper evaluation and personalized treatment. Homeopathy focuses on treating the whole person, so a detailed case study is necessary to select the most appropriate remedy.
Homeopathic medicines should be taken only when prescribed by a homeopathic physician. Self-medication may aggravate the original conditions.