PLANTAR WARTS

Plantar warts are a very common ailment of youngsters.  Many adults also self-diagnosis a painful area on their foot as a “plantar wart” but usually it is another ailment, most commonly a plugged sweat pore. We will discuss this later.

The word “plantar” is actually describing the location where the “wart” is located.  Anatomically, the word “plantar” accurately describes the bottom of the foot, or the “plantar” surface of the body.  If a true wart is on the bottom of the foot, it is a “plantar wart”.

Warts are the term used for the body’s reaction to an infection by a virus.  The pain when pinched from side to side, the black “dots” and hard skin in a circular or semi-circular appearance, either singular or multiple, is what the typical “wart” looks like.  The body is making an attempt to force out the virus from the deeper areas of the epidermis, or the outside layer of skin.

Viruses that cause warts infect the tissue at the junction between the epidermis and dermis, thus leading to the misconception that warts have “roots”.  No such phenomenon.  The virus resides at the basal layer of tissue at the bottom of the epidermis where nutrients are located. In the foot, this area is twenty times thicker that in other areas of our body.  And speaking of viruses that cause warts, there are hundreds of them.  Current theories are that if a person gets a wart, it is probable that he or she is lacking the gene to produce an antibody against that particular virus, genetically linked to their parents, grandparents, or family bloodlines.  Therefore, many viruses can cause “warts”.

Most adults usually develop immunity to the viruses that cause warts.  As was mentioned earlier, warts are usually a adolescent disease.  Adults, however, many times develop what they think is a wart, but is usually an entirely different problem.  Most commonly, it is a plugged up sweat pore, a pressure related problem very similar in appearance and pain as a wart, but more related to a small callous.