Plantar Warts Treatments Columbus OH

Natural Radiance - Plantar Warts

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Bashful feet beware: Sandal season is here. If you‘‘re hiding your feet because of plantar warts—one of the most common curses of otherwise healthy feet—fret not. A host of treatments for these tenacious and sometimes painful skin growths will have you donning flip-flops in no time.

First, limit your exposure to the culprit: the human papilloma virus, which thrives in warm, moist environments. Wear sandals in locker rooms and near pools, change your socks daily, and resist the urge to pick at warts—that only spreads the virus.

Treat existing warts as early as possible to prevent more from growing. You can easily distinguish them from corns and calluses by searching your soles for small grainy bumps, hard flat growths with well-defined boundaries, or gray or brown lumps with black pinpoints.

Conventional treatments for plantar warts include applying salicylic acid solutions, freezing them with liquid nitrogen (cryotherapy), and surgically removing them. These harsh treatments can affect more than just the warts, so you might want to try these gentler remedies first:
• Apply garlic. A recent study in the International Journal of Dermatology found that applying lipid garlic extract (the fat-soluble portion of garlic) twice a day eradicated the warts within two weeks.
•Load up on zinc. Kimberly Beauchamp, ND, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, suggests supplementing daily with up to 135 mg of zinc to fight warts, but get your doctor‘‘s OK for such high doses.
• Wrap the wart in duct tape. A 2002 study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that covering warts with duct tape cured them more successfully than cryotherapy—eliminating 85 percent of the warts after two months, compared to a 60 percent success rate with the freezing method.

First cover the wart with duct tape for six days, even during bathing. On the seventh day, remove the tape, soak your foot in warm water, and rub off the wart‘‘s exterior surface with a pumice stone. Let your foot air out overnight and then replace the tape for another six days. Repeat these steps for at least four weeks. Researchers hypothesize that the duct tape irritates the warts and skin, stimulating the immune system to attack the growth.
• Try homeopathy. Beauchamp recommends the homeopathic remedies thuja occidentalis, causticum, calcarea carbonica, and silica. Apply thuja to the wart and also take it internally.
• Apply vitamin C. Beauchamp also suggests putting a poultice of vitamin C powder and water on a small slice of banana peel, placing it on the wart, covering it with a Band-Aid, and leaving it on overnight. Do this every night for two weeks, and say good-bye to your wart.

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