A plantar wart may take up to 12 weeks to fall off or disappear with the use of salicylic acid. This treatment removes the wart’s outer layers to eventually reach the inner layer, so total length of time will depend on size of the wart.
Plantar Warts
Plantar warts are warts that develop on the soles or bottom of the feet (the plantar surface). Regular activities including standing and walking tend to cause calluses, which protect the warts and make treatment more difficult. The increased pressure from the calluses can make the feet very painful. Like all warts, they are harmless and may go away even without treatment. In many cases, though, they are too painful to ignore and treatment is necessary.
Deciding how to treat your plantar wart may depend on your ability to tolerate the pain that the various treatments may cause. Calluses can be treated with water soaks to soften the callus and a pumice stone or nail file to pare it down. Folk remedies for treating warts abound, and there is no single treatment that works every time. Conventional treatment focuses on removal, while alternative approaches emphasize gradual remission. Whatever you do, do not try to cut off a plantar wart yourself, because you may injure yourself or cause an infection. Plantar warts that grow together in a cluster are known as mosaic warts. Read more about plantar warts.
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Image: Copyright 2007 Interactive Medical Media LLC
Text: “Understanding Plantar Warts – the Basics”, WebMD Medical Reference, “Understanding Plantar Warts – Treatment”, WebMD Medical Reference
Photos of Plantar Warts on Feet
Terence Vanderheiden, DPM, is a podiatrist in Massachusetts with a subspecialty in the area of podiatric sports medicine.
Updated on March 15, 2022
Casey Gallagher, MD, is board-certified in dermatology and works as a practicing dermatologist and clinical professor.
Is that rough circular patch on your foot something you need to worry about? It’s hard to tell sometimes. Thus, it’s important to be able to identify plantar warts. These growths are caused by a virus and usually need some kind of treatment—be it over the counter or from a doctor—to make them go away.
This article includes photos and detailed descriptions of plantar warts. It explains how to tell what’s on your foot and what you can do to get rid of it.
What a Plantar Wart Looks Like
Tim Oram / Getty Images
While warts on your hands and other parts of your body vary widely in appearance, plantar warts on your feet all pretty much look the same. Or, at least, they have the same basic characteristics even though they come in different sizes.
Common traits include:
- Round: Because they are circular, they’re sometimes mistaken for corns or calluses.
- Flat: Other growths on the foot may be more raised.
- Rough, tough outer layer: These warts are covered by the tough skin from the sole of your foot. They might also have a rough, grainy surface texture.
- Little black dots near the center: This characteristic feature is the wart’s blood supply.
Warts can occur singly or in clusters. In some cases they stay small, while other people might develop giant plantar warts. Most often, they appear on the heel or ball of your foot where you place your weight when standing or walking.
Warts vs. Calluses
Plantar warts are commonly mistaken for calluses. Calluses are thickened areas of skin that develop on parts of the foot that bear a lot of pressure or where the skin is constantly rubbing against a shoe or other material.
While at a glance they have similar appearances, warts have a few distinguishing features that calluses do not.
- Breaks up the normal skin lines
- Small black “seed” dot (capillary blood supply)
- Painful when squeezed on the sides
- Skin lines continue through the hard, dead skin
- No dots, no blood supply
- Painful when pushed on directly
If the circular patch is well-defined, interrupts the natural skin lines, and has a black dot at the center, it’s not just a callus; it’s a wart.
What Do Multiple Warts Look Like?
Marionette / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which infects the epidermis (the upper layer of skin). Once the sole of your foot is infected with the virus, you can develop multiple warts.
Can Vaccines Prevent Plantar Warts?
Currently, there are HPV vaccines available to prevent against certain strains of the virus that cause genital warts and cervical cancer. Some researchers have found that some patients with plantar warts see their warts clear up after receiving the existing HPV vaccines.
However, not all people with plantar warts have these same results. More research is needed.
Warts might be scattered around the foot in different spots. However, they can also appear grouped together as a cluster.
A cluster of warts is called a mosaic wart. A large cluster of warts can be very painful and make it uncomfortable to walk or run.
It’s more difficult to treat a larger cluster, and it can take more time to eliminate all of them.
When to Contact Your Doctor
Plantar warts can go away on their own without treatment, or you might use an over-the-counter treatment to get rid of them more quickly. These treatments use salicylic acid to remove the layers of the wart slowly. Most people don’t see a doctor for treatment unless these self-care efforts don’t work.
However, in some instances, it’s best to see your doctor immediately when you realize you have a wart. This is especially true if you have certain underlying conditions:
- Diabetes
- Poor sensation in your feet
- A weakened immune system
If you do try at-home treatments, watch the area for signs that you should see your doctor. If the wart changes appearance or color, if it is bleeding, or if you have multiple warts, you should call your doctor.
Your doctor may use a stronger preparation of salicylic acid to get rid of the wart. You may also receive cryotherapy, which involves applying liquid nitrogen to the wart to freeze it off.
Other treatment options that may be used include immune therapy, minor surgery, and laser treatment.
Summary
Being able to spot the common traits of a wart can help you start the right treatment right away. Look for the characteristic flat, rough circle with black “seeds” in the center.
You can use over-the-counter medication to get rid of the wart as long as you don’t have any serious underlying conditions. However, if the wart spreads or gets worse, see a doctor to have it removed professionally.
A Word from Verywell
Warts are unattractive and painful and sometimes very difficult to get rid of for good. The problem can be made worse if you treat a wart incorrectly, thinking it’s a callus or something else. Check the growth closely to be sure you know how to care for it. When in doubt, see a doctor as soon as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there other types of warts?
- Common warts: Can appear as rough bumps on the fingers, near nails, and back of hands.
- Flat warts: Can show up anywhere, but have a tendency in children to appear on the face. Men usually see them appear around the chin, and women usually see them on the legs.
- Filiform warts: Look like thin, fleshy protrusions that usually appear around the eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Genital warts: These flesh-colored warts can be bumpy or flat and are located in the genital area.
How long does a plantar wart take to fall off after using salicylic acid?
A plantar wart may take up to 12 weeks to fall off or disappear with the use of salicylic acid. This treatment removes the wart’s outer layers to eventually reach the inner layer, so total length of time will depend on size of the wart.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
- Witchey DJ, Witchey NB, Roth-Kauffman MM, Kauffman MK. Plantar warts: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical management. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2018;118(2):92–105. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2018.024
- Al Aboud AM, Nigam PK. Wart (plantar, verruca vulgaris, verrucae). StatPearls.
- Kuan LY, Chua SH, Pan JY, Yew YW, Tan WP. The quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine in recalcitrant acral warts: a retrospective study. Ann Acad Med Singap. 2020;49(10):749-755. doi:10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2020342
- Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care. Warts: Overview.
- American Academy of Dermatology. Warts: Diagnosis and Treatment.
- American Academy of Dermatology. Warts: Tips for Managing.
- American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD). Warts: Signs and Symptoms.
- MedlinePlus. Genital Warts.
- Cockayne S, Hewitt C, Hicks K, Jayakody S, Kang’ombe AR, Stamuli E, Turner G, Thomas K, Curran M, Denby G, Hashmi F, McIntosh C, McLarnon N, Torgerson D, Watt I; EVerT Team. Cryotherapy versus salicylic acid for the treatment of plantar warts (verrucae): a randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2011;342:d3271. doi:10.1136/bmj.d3271
Additional Reading
- American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Plantar Wart (verruca plantaris).
By Terence Vanderheiden, DPM
Terence Vanderheiden, DPM, is a podiatrist in Massachusetts with a subspecialty in the area of podiatric sports medicine.
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