Certain skin conditions on your feet — like hidden plantar warts — can be difficult to identify and treat properly. There are also skin lesions that often look like warts, but are actually cancerous growths that need immediate treatment before the cancer spreads. Always have skin conditions on your feet and ankles checked by your foot doctor to rule out any fast-growing tumors.

Warts on the surface have a rough, knotty appearance, and are usually less than a quarter inch in size, but they can reach up to half an inch in diameter. They are caused by the human papillomavirus, which is very common in the environment and makes warts easily spread from surfaces and from person to person.

Wart removal methods can be adjusted depending upon the size, quantity, and location of the warts and involves the following procedures:

• High strength acid removal therapy—Prescription-strength salicylic acid is applied to the warts by your foot doctor to melt them away.
• Freezing—A cryotherapy procedure using liquid nitrogen is used to break the wart off in larger pieces.
• Surgery—A cutting tool called a curette is used to carefully excise the warts.

While store-bought treatments using low concentration acids are available for wart removal, they don’t always do a complete job and warts often return. If even a small piece of a wart is left, the warts will grow back.

Wart removal can be difficult, especially for hidden plantar warts that grow under thick tissue on the bottom of your foot. For help with foot wart removal without complications like bleeding, see your foot care professional. Call Syracuse Podiatry located in East Syracuse, New York. Dr. Ryan L. D’Amico, Dr. Kathleen Pyatak-Hugar, and Dr. Donal M. Erickson and their staff will help you diagnose and treat your foot or ankle condition. Call 315-446-3668 or make an appointment online today.