Help with Plantar Warts

My daughter had one as a teen and we took her to a special doctor who took it off. My son has had repeated plantar warts and had had a difficult time getting them to not come back. He is now an adult and they still come back now and then. Lots of pain and lots of treatments.
F.

Hi H.~ I know this is going to sound reaaly odd but put duct tape over them. They cant breathe therefore they just die off. It will take a few weeks just keep applying, after shower dry and re-apply. Wierd but it works. Good Luck!

Hi H.,

I had plantar warts too. Contracted from playing sports in high school. I didn't think anything of it. At the time, my doctor told me the same thing. It is very painful. Especially as you get older.

I am in my mid 30's and it was still there. My doctor at Kaiser wanted to do foot surgery on me. But, I declined.

I decided to do home treatment from over the counter wart treatment. There is a wart freezer you can buy from drug stores. Use it everyday for 2 months and it will go away.

I did it and it worked. Don't ignore it. Treat it. Good luck!!

Duct tape works!! Freezing sometimes works but may involve several (painful) treatments. Duct tape has worked for me successfully, but you have to keep it covered for a few weeks. Replace the tape occasionally.

My older son had a wart on his foot as well. I agree w/the others...buy the OTC wart remover & be diligient about using it. If you don't want to use the medicine (it can sting ever so slightly) you can also 'suffocate' it by covering it up w/duct tape. Cut a small piece of tape to cover the wart. It may not work as well on the toe cuz it's kind of an awkward spot. Sorry, I don't remember the specifics now but you can google it for more info. I used this method for a while on my son but saw faster results w/the OTC medicince.

I used to have warts on my feet in highschool and played soccer on them, it hurt! There was nothing that worked, except doc said to change socks frequently. Eventually, they dissapeared. I guess that was my teenage 'acne', made up for not getting it I guess. By the way, I am interested in tutoring...can you shed some light on your training etc....thanks! H.

My daughter and I tried for over a year following OTC wart remover directions to get rid of plantar warts on our feet (toes for both of us and on my heel for me) The OTC remedies did NOT work for us - this was after 18 months of "leave them alone and they'll go away" not working either.

Thankfully one visit to the pediatrician freezing it worked for her, I had 2 visits to paint them with prescription level meds and 3 visits to the podiatrist to freeze mine before they finally were "gone". I do still have some problems with the one on my toe seeming to come back, but pumicing it helps keep it in check. A friend tried the duct tape on her son's foot and that worked for her. I did try that myself on my heel and it did NOT work for me. I will NEVER wait again.

$120 in copays and untold $$ spent in OTC to get rid of them. First sign and I'm going to the doctor! We are now fastidious about wearing flip flops in public showers and around public pools! And pedicures at strip mall places are a thing of the past for me...

hi, see a Podiatrist! Warts are cause from a microscopic virus. You can find that info at webmd, HPV virus, same as cervical cancer. My daughter picked one up at a gymnastic's school. The over the counter stuff didn't work, we got better stuff from the foot doc. It worked much better, then, and he warned us about this, it iritated it and made it spread. So my daughter had to have it removed by surgery. Which included a skin graft and no walking for three weeks. I am not trying to scare you, we are thrilled with the results. He also had us giving her vitamin A. But you have to get the dose instructions from a doc because to much for kids is toxic. Freezing them is not a 100% cure rate. I have heard leaving them alone they can go away, but the doc said they can grow deeper and then be much harder to treat. Our doctor has offices in the Ukiah and Healdsburg area. If you would like his name please ask. I hope you have great results.

I had them as a kid and they grew so deep the Dr. was afraid they would mess up the bones in my feet. My regular Dr. was a bit of an idiot and tried to dig them out - I am terrified of needles to this day thanks to him. My mom took me to her dermatologist and she froze them off with liquid hydrogen - it was painless until the numb wore off and then it hurt enough to make me limp for a few days and they never came back.

Go to a good homeopath. I believe the remedy that my brother needed was thuja, but they're not expensive so I recommend going in person and getting the full evaluation. My husband got rid of warts on his toe by taping a piece of garlic to it, but that could burn your sons skin, so maybe not. Do not let anyone dig at his feet. That is barbaric and wont work.

I've had quite a bit of experience with plantar warts. I am a certified homeopath, and I have used Thuja successfully in a large percentage of plantar warts. There is a cream for warts that you can pick up at the health food store that has thuja in it. You can also take the remedy internally. If it doesn't help, then it isn't the right remedy for your son, so discontinue as there are about 20 remedies for plantar warts, and thuja isn't the right one.

Another folk remedy to try is tape the inside of a banana peel to the plantar wart each night before bed, until the wart starts to go away. The natural chemicals in the banana peel help the wart to go away. Reading the other messages, the tape loots like it will help too.

Good luck and feel free to contact me, if you need more help.

Dear H.,

I had plantar warts when I was a child, but when my dad was stationed in Hawaii for a few months and I spent a lot of time in salt water they cleared right up! I highly recommend evening soaks in warm water with epsom salts. Even if they take awhile to go away, the soaking is a good way to make them subside.

Do not ignore it is the truth! I have had 3 of them in my teens on my feet and still have scars. IT feels like you have a shard of glass in your foot that you can't get out, if you have a true "Plantar Wart". I had tried everything my dr told me to try before surgery, I tried over the counter stuff, i even went as far as getting wet/dry sand paper to rub it down in the bath at night and it still never went away!! i was in so much pain as a teen and couldn't walk flat footed because it was on the outside ball of my foot, then spread to under my toe...it got nasty. I wish i tried duct tape just so i knew if it helped. I am sure technology is much better today and the specialist can help him with something less evasive then cutting it out like mine did but i'd definitely see a doctor before it gets worse and spreads. Since mine were cut out at age 17 I have not had one since.

The virus thing that others mentioned below could be a factor but i am not certain. Just thought you should know to not let it go untreated for too long because those people who have had TRUE Plantar Warts know they are painful like walking on glass.

I hope this helps!

My daughter had one on her thumb (the doc said probably caused by a splinter) but it never went away. I ended up using the Dr. Schools treatment and had to do it two or three times. It was painless and didnt scare her as much as having it frozen off by the doctor.

My now 8 year old had three plantar warts on her feet last summer. We used the over the counter wart removers, and it took about 2 months for them to go away. What worked very well when they stayed on, were the small wart remover pads that you stick on the wart and wear for 48 hours. Very effective, but tricky to keep on the soles of feet.

Hi H.:
This may sound weired, but it works, as my niece used it on her daughter, and I use it on my little finger. Cut a piece of grey duct tape to fit over the wort, change it after each bath it will go away and should not come back.

My daughter had a bunch of warts on her hands and legs and I got really concerned when one appeared on her face. She had them from age 2-4 and then when I made an appointment to have them removed with laser treatments, they went away within a week or two. My doctor told me the same, that they would go away on their own I just had to give it time. I was amazed when they did. It did take 2 years. But she is wart free so unless it bothers him I would just give it time. I am glad I did and I didn't have to put her through the trauma of having them removed.
L.

Hi there H.,
I had plantar warts as a child which did not respond to the very painful excavation-style removal methods the doctor did (kept coming back). Then they subsided on their own. However,hey came back when i was in my 30's...I had several on one foot and they became extremely painful. I finally went to a doctor who used the same painful removal method, and told me to come back for additional treatments. I had a total of three, the plantar warts stayed, and I was very sad and frustrated! After about a year or so they suddenly and spontaneously went away on their own, along with one regular wart I had on my hand.! That was years ago. I think the warts are caused by a virus so it makes sense that just digging them out would not remove the virus, and it makes sense that one's body will eventually overcome the virus. I have heard that homeopathic doctors are good with warts. I am sorry not to have more specific advice, but I think it good to be skeptical about the doctors and their promises to remove them..good luck but don't worry since they aren't bothering him at this point.

I had one that was on a nerve and one that wasn't. One hurt and the other didn't. If it doesn't hurt, I wouldn't go cutting on it. That duct tape thing sounds like a good thing to try especially if it doesn't hurt, also the homeopathy is a good solution. I would combine the 2. Very inexpensive to do it this way. And since your son is so young, I would do the less invasive methods rather than mentally scar him by having that freeze put on.

Back when I was a kid the Doctor gave me a little bottle of acid and I used a toothpick to drip it on to the wart. That was the painful wart. They won't give you this anymore, and the 2nd one I had, which was uncomfortable but not anything like the first, took FOREVER for it to go away.

It is true that it's from a virus, so the Oil of Oregano on the wart itself and taken internally would be a great solution. I would ALWAYS take Oil of Oregano rather than an antibiotic as it is antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral. It will burn anything out of you that is not good. It's usually about $25 a bottle. Much less than those $300 bottle versions of antibiotics they had me on which never worked. I was very sick at one time and without healthcare insurance. The doctor had me broke with all this medicine that didn't work. Then I went to the health food store, learned how to do Quantum Touch and Reconnective Healing and I've not been back to the Doctor since. It's been 5 years that I've been healthy. The doctors don't tell you that a lot of people are chronically sick because of Milk and Gluten products. It's true.

Love, L.

Dear H.,
I know it sounds crazy, but duct tape really does work.
I don't know if it's because the wart can't get any air or if it's something in the adhesive.
My son got some warts on his foot and my brother in law told me to put duct tape on them. He swears by it, so I thought I'd give it a try. It took a little over a week of keeping the warts covered, but they did go away.
Since your doctor isn't in any hurry to intervene and it's summer time, you might as well give it a whirl. It really can't hurt anything.
Just watch for any redness or itching on the skin that the duct tape touches in case your son has an allergy to the adhesive. It's not very common, but I'm allergic to certain adhesives so I thought I'd mention that part.

Best wishes!

I had one in my teens on the ball of my foot and it was very painful. I had our family dr. treat it and that was a mistake. He couldn't get rid of it all the way and it came back. I ended up seeing a podiatrist and he was able to treat it in a painless manner and it never came back again. So, my only advice is to see a specialist if you want it professionally treated. Good luck!

Hi there,
I've had these before. They never went away. And they are painful. I had them burned off, cut off, etc. I gave up on trying to get rid of them.
I started a new vitamin a couple years ago and to my surprise a few months later they were gone. I've taken a lot of different vitamins (our family owned a health food store) and none of them have ever worked like these.
My girls have had them too. It's so easy to pick up, gymnastics, pools, etc. The vitamins helped them as well. In the meantime I've also found an Oregano oil that works too.
The oil is more of a treatment but the vitamins are keeping the body strong enough to fight them off and resist them in the future.
Hope this helps. :)

Hi. I had a plantar wart above my eyelid. I read up on these and found that salicylic acid makes them go away so I bought the Neutrogena Deep Clean facial cleanser and used that full strength. I put put some on with a Q-tip and let it sit a minute or so and wash it off. It went away quickly after being there for some time with no changes. I don't know if you can use it on his foot, but it might be worth a try.