What is verrucae plantar?

Plantar warts (verrucae plantar) are benign skin lesions usually occur in areas of pressure areas. They are whitish in colour and usually have a rough appearance.

The plantar wart is caused by infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). Benign and common biotypes are VPH1, VPH2 and VPH4. The incubation period can vary between 2-18 months.

At the clinical diagnosis the following symptoms are observed:

• Painful pinch
• Haemorrhagic stippling (small darker spots inside)
• Bleeding while delaminate with a scalpell

However, for a completely accurate diagnosis, a PCR Test (Polymerase Chain Reaction), which analyses the presence of viral DNA and the sequence thereof, will be made. The specificity of the PCR Test is 99.9%.

The sampling for the PCR is completely painless and the results are available in about 10 days. We recommend this analysis in the case of recalcitrant warts resistant to a conservative treatment.

Conservative treatment of plantar warts

Cryotherapy : with liquid nitrogen by Cryopen® -89º. This is our first choice of treatment as it is painless for the patient and very effective. On average, an isolated wart will need about 3-4 sessions for removal.

Chemical treatment: In addition to the Cryotherapy, chemical treatments with acids of different strengths are combined.

All conservative treatments are complemented by a series of hygienic measures the patient shall apply at home.

Surgical treatment of plantar warts

This is applied for recurrent warts, with unusual biotypes, at appearance of a multitude of warts or if the first-line conservative treatment failed. There will be a resection of the wart(s) under a local anaesthesia.