Causes of Plantar Warts

Video Transcript

"This is Dr. Loretta Ciraldo. Board certified dermatologist and author of "Six Weeks to Sensational Skin." Let's talk about the cause of plantar warts. Basically, when we say plantar wart, that refers to the plantar surface of our foot which is the sole of our foot. So, any wart that's growing on the sole of our foot is called a plantar wart, but what you've gotta remember is that plantar warts have very aggressive roots to them, that they grow inward like an ice cream cone. Now, the cause of it is a virus. All warts are caused by viruses, but the way that it grows with that ice cream cone-like architecture is from a lot of beating down on the foot. So, if you have a wart that's just starting, if you can even go out and get a little pad like a corn pad, and take that wart, and put the wart in the center of the dough nut shaped pad, you're going to have a lot less beating down on the plantar wart, and you're going to really be able to really minimize the amount of root that is growing, and possibly minimize the future problems, 'cos plantar warts can sometimes from, we believe, from all of the traumatization of the plantar surface or sole of the foot, they can go on to even give you something called a mosaic wart where you start with one little numbin' of a wart and then all of a sudden like mosaic tiles, you get a lot more. So, my best advice to you is get that little kind of corn pad, put the wart in the center and walk with that. This is Dr. Loretta Ciraldo. Thank you for watching."