What a Podiatrist Can Do For YOU!
Plantar Wart Vs. Callus Vs. Corn [Plantar Wart Removal & Treatment on Foot]
Do you have a plantar wart? A foot corn or a foot callus? We review a callus vs. wart, a plantar wart vs. callus & wart vs. callus vs. corn!
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Plantar Wart Removal Near Me:
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Plantar Wart Vs. Callus Overview:
Both calluses and warts can develop in the plantar surface of your foot. While callus is developed when your skin attempts to protect itself from repetitive pressure and friction, plantar warts develop because of an infection with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Calluses develop commonly in weight-bearing areas of the foot, such as the heel or the ball in your sole (plantar surface). Plantar warts are small growths that also appear on weight-bearing areas of your foot. Both calluses and plantar what happened to only showing the recommended suggestions (This week I am bombarded with non-actionable suggestions that require 30 or more clicks to make them disappear to get to the actionable corrections). Please bring back the option to only use actionable or top suggestions (not all suggestions- it’s too much and not actionable).rts are not serious conditions. When you prevent repetitive pressure and friction on your feet, calluses can be reduced. Plantar warts also usually go away eventually without treatment. Calluses and warts require different treatments, although they look similar and difficult to tell apart.
Symptoms – Plantar wart VS Callus
- Warts usually appear ‘all of a sudden, while a callus may take months to develop.
- Calluses have a rough, thick area of skin that appears as a hardened patch. It usually doesn’t cause any pain, and there is no tenderness when you press on it. The skin of a callus can be dry, flaky, and waxy. Plantar warts are rough, small, and fleshy. They appear as grainy growths in the sole. They usually appear at the heel, forefoot, or the base of your toes but can appear anywhere on your foot.
- In a callus, the normal lines and ridges in the skin of the foot are preserved, and these lines are seen continuing through the lesion. But a wart is a lesion that interrupts the normal ridges and lines of your foot. In a wart, these lines will diverge around the lesion.
- If you look closely, you may see black pinpoints called ‘wart seeds.’ They are small clotted blood vessels in the wart, and Callus does not have such dots. If warts are trimmed, they can start bleeding because these tiny blood vessels get damaged. They are developed to provide nutrients to the wart. On the other hand, calluses do not bleed when trimming because it is just thickened dead skin, and there is no direct blood supply.
- The margins are usually distinct in a wart, whereas the margin can be irregular in a callus.
- While a callus rarely causes pain, a wart can cause pain and tenderness when standing and walking.
Sometimes a wart grows inward like a hard, thickened, well-defined spot forming a callus.
Causes – Calluses VS warts:
When it comes to causes of developing calluses, repetitive pressure and friction from ill-fitting shoes is the main reason, because your foot can rub against the shoe constantly. Athletic activities, walking barefoot frequently on hard surfaces, and skipping socks can lead to callus formation. Foot deformities like bunions, hammertoes, and bone spurs can also make your feet rub against the shoes causing calluses.
Human Papilloma Virus causes plantar warts. It can enter your body through breaks of skin, tiny cuts, and weak spots in your sole. HPV is a common virus, and it thrives in warm and moist environments. But everyone who comes in contact with the virus does not develop warts. Since the plantar wart causing HPV strains are not highly contagious, it is not easily transmitted from a person to another by direct contact. Viruses can be contracted when walking barefoot around common areas such as locker rooms, communal showers, and swimming pools. It can spread because it is caused by a virus, making more warts appear.
Children and teenagers have a higher risk of developing warts, and they are also common in people with a weakened immune system.
Plantar Wart vs Corn vs Callus:
Plantar Wart vs. Callus vs. Corn Diagnosis & Treatment Video:
🦶 Do you have a Plantar Wart? A Foot Corn, Toe Corn, or Foot Callus? 🦶
We go over the TOP 20 BEST Home Remedies & Home Treatments! Learn the difference between plantar warts vs corns vs calluses.
Learn the BEST Home Remedies & Home Treatments for your plantar wart removal, foot callus, foot corn, toe callus & toe corn pain! The 3 most common lesions on the toes or feet are corns on the feet, warts on the foot, corns on the toes, and foot calluses. We’ve got you covered with all of these!
Plantar warts can also be known as an HPV wart (human papillomavirus wart), a planters wart, or a plantar verruca. There are different types of warts: flat warts, filiform warts, common warts, periungual warts, and warts on feet.
How will a podiatrist diagnose and treat your plantar wart or callus?
Your podiatrist will be able to differentiate a plantar wart from a callus by a complete examination of your foot. Sometimes the lesion will be paired with a scalpel to check for black pinpoints if plantar warts are suspected. A dermatoscopy may be used to check whether there is an interruption to the normal lines and ridges of the skin. In a callus, these will be preserved.
Treatment of a callus is aimed at avoiding repetitive friction and pressure that caused it to form.
A large callus bigger than a dime that is ulcerated or causing pain must be removed by a podiatrist. Your podiatrist will use a scalpel to trim the callus or pare down thickened skin of the callus. This is a painless procedure because there are no nerve cells in thickened dead skin layers of a callus. So you need not worry about the removal of a callus. However, do not try this by yourself because it can hurt your foot and cause infection. Your podiatrist is an expert on any problem related to feet. Therefore this will be done without any bleeding, and the infection risk will be minimal. Pain relief will be given adequately if the procedure involves pain and discomfort.
Callus removal options by a podiatrist:
There are several ways that a podiatrist can attempt callus removal. It depends on your health status, the size, and the severity of your callus, including infection and ulceration.
Total removal or trimming away the excess skin of the callus:
A podiatrist will commonly use a sterile surgical blade for callus removal. Excess skin will be trimmed slowly and methodically by moving the blade across the callus. Dead skin removal will be done layer by layer until all layers of dead skin are removed to expose the live skin. By using a pumice stone, the edges of the callus are smoothed to enhance your comfort. Some podiatrists will use electric razor-like tools for this procedure.
When a callus is cracked open or ulcerated, a scalpel will be used for removal.
The podiatrist will also remove the infection underneath your dead skin. A local anesthetic will be injected to numb the area of the callus before the procedure.
Surgical callus removal – A callus that is large and deep or one with deep-seated infection requires surgery. This procedure is also done in patients with advanced diabetes and poor blood circulation in their feet.
Both Callus surgery and plantar wart removal are done as outpatient procedures. Regular follow-up with frequent checkups is advised with the podiatrist to ensure that the lesion will heal properly without any complications like infection.
Sometimes an oral antibiotic may be prescribed for infected calluses following callus removal surgery, especially for high-risk patients.
Callus removal with medication:
Patches containing 40% salicylic acid (ex: MediPlast, Clear away) will be applied by your podiatrist on the callus. Dead skin must be smoothed away by a nail file or a pumice stone before applying this medicated patch.
You will have to replace this patch while at home from time to time. A prescription may be given for Salicylic acid gel for large calluses to apply on the callused region frequently.
Corrective Callus Removal Surgery:
Surgery will be offered when there is a foot deformity to correct the alignment, preventing further recurrences. Sometimes surgery is done to deal with bony prominences and deformities.
After treating your callus, your podiatrist will advise you on preventing further calluses from occurring on how to select well-fitting shoes and how to use protective coverings like felt pads and bandages to prevent rubbing your foot against your shoe.
Podiatrist Plantar Wart Treatment:
Plantar warts may need treatment if they are spreading or painful, especially if your OTC treatments and home remedies have failed. Your podiatrist will try these treatment methods to treat plantar warts.
Peeling medicine with prescription-strength salicylic acid:
Salicylic acid will peel off and remove the layers of your wart little by little. Your podiatrist will teach you how to apply this regularly at home.
Cryotherapy:
Liquid Nitrogen will be applied as freezing medicine to your wart with a cotton swab or a spray. It may cause pain; therefore, your podiatrist may numb the area first. A blister will form around the wart, and the dead tissue will slough off within a week.
Both cryotherapy and Salicylic acid application will stimulate your immune system to fight viral warts. Your podiatrist does cryo treatment every 2 -4 weeks until your warts disappear.
Other acids like Trichloroacetic acid may be applied with a wooden toothpick after shaving the surface of your wart. Repeat treatments are needed every week, and burning and stinging are common side effects. You will have to apply Salicylic acid to your wart in between treatment sessions.
Plantar Wart Removal Surgery:
- Your podiatrist may cut and destroy your wart by Electrodesiccation and curettage, and it is done by using an electric needle. Since this procedure is painful, the area will be numbed first.
Plantar Wart LASER therapy:
- LASER light is used to burn tiny blood vessels in your wart so that the infected tissue will die, making the wart fall off.
Plantar Wart Immune therapy:
- Medications or solutions are used to stimulate your immune system to fight viral warts. This can be done by injecting (foreign substance) into the wart or regularly applying a cream or a solution to the wart. Ex: Imiquimod
Prevention – Callus VS Foot wart:
You can prevent calluses by wearing shoes with a wide toe box to give room for your toes. Wearing insoles and felt pads could prevent the rubbing of soles which reduces friction. Avoid walking barefoot on hard surfaces and wear socks with footwear to prevent callus formation.
You can prevent plantar warts by keeping your feet clean and dry and changing your shoes and socks daily. You must avoid picking at warts because more can appear due to direct spread. You must not share emery boards, nail clippers, or pumice stones because of the infectious risk. Avoiding walking barefoot in locker rooms and swimming pools can help to prevent getting plantar warts.
Corn VS Callus VS Plantar wart:
Let’s say you have a thickened lesion in your foot that doesn’t go away. It may be a corn, a callus, or even a plantar wart. They may look similar, but they are different, and the treatment for each condition differs. Whatever your foot problem is, a podiatrist is the best medical expert you can seek treatment from.