It is certainly possible to treat plantar warts at home. In fact, there are several treatment options available to you. Several treatment solutions are explained below.
First, in order for pharmacy treatments to be effective, the plantar wart must not be older than one year, and for optimal healing the wart must have appeared less than 6 months before beginning home treatment.
Follow these steps below on how to treat plantar warts at home.
Apply salicylic acid to your plantar wart
Applied regularly, salicylic acid burns the wart until it eventually disappears. Ask your pharmacist for a supply of salicylic acid. Although this product is available without prescription, it is usually stocked behind the counter at pharmacies.
Tip: Use precaution when applying salicylic acid. If the product gets on any skin surface not affected by a wart, it can burn the surrounding skin.
Perform a mechanical treatment on the wart
Mechanical treatment of the wart (or filing your wart) can also be an effective solution.
To do this, simply use a file or pumice stone, taking care not to make the wart bleed. Also be careful not to damage the skin surrounding the wart, which might make your wart grow or spread the virus, which is obviously not the goal!
Also remember to use the file or pumice stone to file or buff the wart only, otherwise you might see warts appear on other areas of your body.
Cryotherapy treatment
Cryotherapy is a cold treatment that “burns” warts away. This technique is particularly effective for combating a wart with a deep root. Simply protect the area of the foot around the wart before starting treatment.
Some cryotherapy products are available over the counter at your pharmacy. However, we advise you to check with your pharmacist before beginning this type of treatment.
In particular, you must be careful not to burn the surrounding skin when administering this treatment. Otherwise you risk creating a permanent scar on the sole of your foot. And that’s not the ultimate goal of treatment.
CONCLUSION
Although many of these treatments can be very effective in helping many people, you need to be rigorous and diligent. If you feel that you may be unable to apply the product regularly as indicated, your well-intended efforts to treat your plantar warts yourself may be in vain.
Podiatry clinics use highly effective treatments that may require application every 2 weeks, or even one application every 6 weeks. In addition, the number of treatments required will vary from 1 to 3 on average, depending on the therapy chosen.
Moreover, you must always consult a pharmacist if treatment involves:
- A young child
- Someone with diabetes
- A person with HIV
- Cancer patients
If you see no visible results, do not hesitate to contact a podiatrist. You can visit the PiedRéseau website for more information.