Are plantar warts contagious?

Our Meridian Podiatry Clinic Helps You Stop the Spread of Plantar Warts

A plantar wart is a rough bump that forms on the bottom of your feet. They can be unsightly, unpleasant, and painful—and without the right treatment of the underlying virus that causes them, they remain in place for years. Are plantar warts contagious? In many cases, yes, so don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment at Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle’s Caldwell and Meridian clinics and our podiatrists will advise you on solutions to ensure their rapid removal.

An Overview of Plantar Warts

A plantar wart, or verruca plantaris, is a type of benign and non-cancerous bump caused by direct contact with certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV). They usually appear on the bottom, or plantar, side of your foot, but sometimes emerge in the space between toes or on the heels, too.

There are two types:

A solitary plantar wart often increases in size and may multiply, forming what’s known as “satellite” warts.

When you notice a concentration of many small warts in one area, these are referred to as mosaic warts.

Almost anyone can get plantar warts. However, some people have a higher risk than others, including:

Children and teenagers

People with a weakened autoimmune system

Older adults

Although unsightly, plantar warts are quite common. According to some estimates, up to 10 percent of all people have them at any given time.

Plantar Wart Symptoms

This condition is usually easy to spot with a visual inspection. However, they don’t always present the same characteristics. Our doctors at Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle might also diagnose you with plantar warts if they notice:

Skin that becomes rough and thick

Discoloration around the site of the wart

Small brown or black specks within the bump known as wart seeds

Pain or discomfort

Bleeding

You might also have altered the way you walk to avoid pain from a wart, so we'll check your gait, too.

Are Plantar Warts Contagious?

HPV causes different growths on your skin or in your mucus membrane. As a viral infection, it can easily spread from one person to another, but each individual’s immune system response to it varies. There are more than 100 strains of HPV, and the ones that cause plantar warts are 1, 2, 4, 27, and 57. Not every person develops warts, but the chances of HPV transmission are high if you:

Walk barefoot in environments most conducive to the spread of HPV—such as locker rooms, saunas, and the area around public swimming pools.

Use shoes or socks worn by someone with HPV.

Share nail clippers and other foot care products with someone who has plantar warts.

Share a contaminated towel or sleep on infected bedsheets.

You can also spread the virus to another part of your body if you continually pick at or touch a plantar wart.

Treating Plantar Warts at Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle

Although plantar warts rarely cause serious or life-altering symptoms, they can make everyday life unpleasant. Unfortunately, though plantar warts do eventually disappear, they can take a long time to resolve on their own—sometimes up to two years, and only after your immune system has successfully fought off the virus. Some home remedies can provide limited relief, but might not succeed in preventing warts from reforming, especially if the virus is still in your system.

You don’t have to accept painful, unpleasant, or recurring plantar warts on your feet. Our solution-oriented medical team at Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle can help in various ways.

Provide an Accurate Diagnosis

Do you have a corn, a callus, a plantar wart, or something more serious? We take the guesswork out of your foot condition. In most cases, we can diagnose a plantar wart within minutes, typically through a visual inspection and physical examination.

However, if we believe that your wart could have another cause, we might recommend a biopsy. This is done for your protection, and to ensure that you don’t have a more malignant condition.

Recommend Fast, Cost-Effective, and Convenient Treatment Options

Our Meridian and Caldwell foot doctors provide treatment methods that vary in complexity, depending on the nature of your condition. Here’s what we often recommend:

Prescription medication, including gels and creams, can quickly remove warts and let your podiatrist scrape off any remaining growth within days.
Cryotherapy, which uses an application of an extremely cold substance to encase, freeze, and destroy a plantar wart.
Immunotherapy, a process that treats warts by directing your body’s immune system to fight the HPV responsible for plantar growths.
Laser treatment, which destroys the blood vessels feeding the wart, thereby prompting its rapid demise.

In very rare cases, we might also recommend surgery.

Are plantar warts contagious?

Our Meridian Podiatry Clinic Helps You Stop the Spread of Plantar Warts

An Overview of Plantar Warts

Plantar Wart Symptoms