Although plantar warts are not a serious condition, they can be painful. For this reason alone, you should visit a podiatrist. You are likely to find one or more products at your local drug store that claim to treat plantar warts, but their effectiveness falls far short of the treatment you will receive by visiting a foot doctor. The following are a few reasons you should have a podiatrist look at your plantar wart.
A podiatrist can verify that it is a plantar wart
There are many possibilities for the pain in your foot. This type of condition is located on your heel or the ball of your foot, but so are other conditions such as a pressure sore or simply a callous. The latter can be located over a nerve, and you may have mistaken this for a plantar wart. This is easy to do, especially if you have had plantar wart before. The pain can be similar. Whatever the diagnosis is, the doctor can treat you. Without a medical diagnosis, you may end up chasing your tail with drug store treatments and home remedies. In addition, you can easily kill healthy skin cells when you attempt to kill a plantar wart yourself.
A podiatrist will offer a variety of treatments
This type of foot ailment is caused by a virus; therefore, the virus must be destroyed. Often the first line of treatment will usually be an acid that is applied over the course of several days. Although this is similar to what is available as an over-the-counter treatment, a doctor will prescribe a much stronger version. This type of treatment can be effective for small plantar warts, but unfortunately, larger ones may need a more aggressive treatment. Because they are located on the bottom of your feet, they can grow deep into the foot, especially on the heel. When this happens, the infected area may need to be treated with a dry ice solution to freeze it, then the area can be scraped. This treatment may be needed more than once.
The virus will be destroyed
Treatment from a podiatrist means that your plantar wart will be eliminated. It is true that these are not life threatening, but they can spread. One wart can turn into a cluster, or one small wart can grow into a large one. The result is a lot of pain, but this can be avoided with treatment from a medical doctor.
During treatment, you can also discuss prevention with your foot doctor. Although a podiatrist will seldom be able to pinpoint where you contracted the virus, he or she can give you tips and what to do and what to avoid in the future.
Share16 September 2019
When I started working out every day, I encountered a strange problem. My feet always seemed to hurt, and I didn't know what to do. If it wasn't an ingrown toenail, it was a sore arch or a throbbing heel. Instead of writing off the problem as a simple inconvenience, I decided to meet with a podiatrist who could diagnose the issues. As I talked with the professional, I learned that my foot problems probably stemmed from different issues, and he targeted each one with a different treatment. After a few weeks, my feet felt a lot better. This blog is all about how a podiatrist can help you to solve your foot problems.
