Treat Your Plantar Warts ? – Why You Definitely Should
Consider This: Up to 10% of all Americans have warts, and this makes them the most common of all skin infections. When a wart occurs on the underside of the foot -- the plantar area -- it is called a plantar wart.
Warts Are Definitely Viral As they are sometimes called, foot warts are caused by HPV - the Human Papilloma Virus. Only very rarely do the lesions become pre-cancerous. Before the first wart even appears, the virus may incubate from 1 - 20 months. Even in individuals with healthy immune systems, HPV can live for up to two years.
When/Where Were You Exposed? You likely picked up the HPV virus in a public shower, locker room, or around a swimming pool. Simply sharing someone else's sandals or socks may have exposed you. The virus entered your foot thru tiny breaks in the skin that you were likely unaware of.
Why Treat It, If It Might Go Away? For the following reasons:
- To eliminate the accompanying pain: foot pain, back pain, leg pain
- Embarrassment: resume the activities you curtailed because of your embarrassment
- Stop the contagion: don't let it spread to other parts of your body or infect loved ones
Medical Treatments For the above reasons, most medical doctors recommend eliminating the actual lesions, even though the virus itself may live on. Antiviral agents are rarely recommended. Doctors may suggest the following:
- Freezing, or Cryotherapy -- one study suggests that this is less effective than the fabled 'duct-tape' cure
- Topical treatments : usually with salicylic or other acids, which eat away at the wart
- Surgeries -- expensive options for sure; laser surgery being the latest technique
Natural/Home Remedies Many of these can be quite effective at removing warts. Some remedies are just variations of the 'duct tape' treatment. Many are generally safe and inexpensive. However, most will require your patience, persistence, and weeks or months of time.
Before You Self-Treat Be safe. Not sorry. If you have been diagnosed with diabetes or circulatory problems, see your doctor. They can assist you in selecting the best treatment for your situation.
In Summary Eliminating your plantar warts will reduce pain and embarrassment, and keep them from spreading. Once gone, carefully avoid re-exposure to the virus. Your best defense in the long run is to keep your immune system strong.
Related posts:
- Treat Aging Signs With Dermapril When aging skin gets it is the area around the...
- Very Promising Trials For US H1N1 Vaccine Preliminary returns of data from U.S. trials of anti H1N1...
- Ways To Treat Restless Legs This article has information about some of the ways that...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.