What are Plantar Warts and Where Do They Come From?

Hello, and welcome to the first in a series of videos, all about plantar warts. #PlantarWarts are common lesions found on the bottom of your foot and on your toes. You may just have one and there may be many. Sometimes they're painful and sometimes they're not. But even if they're not painful, they can spread to other parts of your foot or to other people. In today's video, I will discuss what plantar warts are and how you get plantar warts. Welcome, I'm #HoustonPodiatrist Dr. Andrew Schneider.

A plantar wart is called a plantar wart because plantar means the bottom surface of your foot. The virus typically enters the foot through a small crack or break in the skin. Plantar warts are somewhat contagious. They're often picked up in locker rooms and pool decks and other public places where you're barefoot. Warts can also spread in your bathroom floors and showers or bathtubs. So after you use them, if you have a wart, make sure you disinfect the surfaces really well. You don't want to spread the wealth to the rest of your family. Like many viruses, like a cold, you don't necessarily treat the virus, you treat the symptoms. For instance, in a cold, you treat coughing and sneezing. With this virus, you treat the wart. Now the wart is a symptom and a manifestation of the virus, but it also contains some virus tissue within it itself.

Technically a plantar wart is considered self-limiting. That means if you do nothing, it should go away on its own. The problem is, how long will it take for that wart to go away? And in the process, how many people will you infect, while waiting for it to go away? How much will your plantar warts spread and multiply instead of going away? This is why a plantar wart should always be treated. Now, there are some people who have more risk factors than others. Plantar warts can affect people of all ages, but I most commonly see them in children and teenagers, and that's because of the hydration of their foot. This virus really likes a nice hydrated area of skin and kids typically have that for them. Plantar warts are also common with people with an a weakened immune system, people who have a history of plantar warts, and also people who do a lot of walking barefoot in public.

You can do your best to prevent developing plantar warts by avoiding direct contact with warts. Even if you touch your own wart, make sure you wash your hands really well afterwards, and that will help to prevent you from transmitting the virus. Make sure you keep your feet clean and dry, change shoes and socks daily, avoid being
barefoot in public places like a locker room. Make sure you wear shower shoes. And if you do have a plantar wart, do not pick at it that will break down and expose the virus and allow it to infect other areas of your foot. In next week's video, we'll discuss how to tell the difference between a corn, a callus, and a plantar wart.

00:00 Introduction
00:43 What a plantar wart is
00:50 How you get a plantar wart
1:37 Why you need to treat a plantar wart
2:05 Risk factors for developing a plantar wart
3:25 How to contact Dr. Andrew Schneider

[hankfacer]

I had a plantar wart like the behind toes that you showed. It was a very very long time ago, eventualled cured, but the pain was incredible, they used some kind of acid I had to paint on nightly, and dig out the roots with twessers, luckily I only had one bout of the warts, interesting video

[jacquilynburks]

Thank you so much Dr. Schneider for the info I have to do something. I’m not sure how I got this thing but it is so painful

[Daron]

This is one of the many reasons I never go barefoot in the gym locker room, the shower, or around the pool.

[soggoscereal]

I’ve had my plantar warts for about 7 - 8 years now so they kinda grew up with me.. I’ve tried literally everything and I’m hoping the laser and duct tape treatment will work.

[yazx]

not sure if this is correlated in any way but as a child i used to get plantar warts often because, like you said, i love walking around barefoot :D. But, after I received the Guardasil shot, i never got one again. I assume the plantar wart hpv is either covered by this, or close enough genetically to prevent it from appearing. I work as a massage therapist, so I'm super thankful! I see people with them all the time and have to educate people to go to the doctor to have them removed.

[lordspyro]

I've had one for years like over a decade at this point no pain what so ever I don't know how long it will take to go away but no one else in my family has it

[Herolsh]

I’m 14 and recently got one, unfortunately I didn’t know what it was at the time and assumed it was corn, so I tried shaving down the skin to see if that would do anything (only did that twice thank god). I have a doctors appointment to get rid of it a month from now, and I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do while I’m waiting to prevent the spread of it on my foot. I take 2 showers a day usually. Aswell as go on walks for 30 minutes to 2 hours a day. The wart is located in between my big toe and the one next to it, on the bottom of my foot. If that has any importance to prevent the spread. If anyone has any advice at all please give me everything you got.🙏🙏🙏🙏

[michaelsernicula]

I have a plantar warts on my foot. Its almost 7months😭

[johnmartinez]

I picked at mine now I have 3 one big one and 2 mini ones gotta get them gone asap making appointment asap