How can I deal with a troublesome plantar's wart?

If thine wart offend thee, pluck it off and cast it from thee.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems like surgery may be your only option, at this point. You’ve already tried the treatment, from your dermatologist, and it didn’t work. You can go to a podiatrist and see if there is another option, but when they get to the point where they’re spreading, you’ll probably have to have them cut out.

I had warts on the bottom of my right foot for years. I tried freezing, and acid with no results. I read that using duct tape was as effective as any other treatment. So I covered the area (several warts) with duct tape for a week. Sunday afternoon I took off the tape and used a razor blade to scrape off the dead skin until it hurt and started to get raw. Then I covered it with new duct tape for another week. I did this for about a month and a half. I only stopped when I reallized I could not tell where the warts had been because I had scraped off such a large area of skin.

Eeek okay, @stump, sounds like duct tape isn’t the best option. Thanks. @LunaChick Thanks, good to know what I’m working with. @dpworkin Do you recommend a good magic spell?

@sliceswiththings Sorry, I had to get off line for a moment. What I didn’t add was that the warts never came back and my foot is fine. I think I made it sound worse than it was. I only scraped off the outer layers of skin, just until it was pink and a little raw. I was very happy to be wart free.

We’ve used banana peels to successfully treat other kinds of warts, and I’ve heard they also work on plantar’s warts. You take a piece of banana peel and use a band-aid or surgical tape to hold it in place, skin side out, over the wart. Do this before you go to bed at night, and remove the banana peel in the morning. Keep doing that each night until the wart is gone. I did this for a wart on my son’s finger, and the wart was gone in two weeks. My husband had a wart on his finger for years, and after three weeks it was gone. We’d tried over-the-counter wart treatments with no success.

There are a lot of comments on this site from people who have used banana peels to get rid of warts, along with some other home remedies.

Plus, bananas are cheap!

I had those before when I was a kid…over the counter wart remover, once or twice a day and keep it covered. It’s important not to mess with it for at least a week, except to put on more remover. Eventually you can pick it out and this is the grossest conversation! . (Also, put a wet sponge in a dark place, like your closet, for three years. I heard that works…although it didn’t work for me.)

In my case it took surgery. It wasn’t a bad surgery, just a quick procedure in the office, more than 30 years ago, with quick healing and no recurrence. I had to pay for it myself, but it was worth it. Walking with foot pain is a real misery. Your dermatologist copayments probably would have covered it by now, right?

@MissAusten Cool! I’ll have to try it.
@Jeruba That sounds doable, how much did it cost, if you don’t mind my asking?

My son had the same problem, it just wouldnt go away no matter what we tryed. we even tried a piece of garlic and duct tape. he said that just burned. what finnaly worked was tea tree oil. but you have to get the real stuff. it worked great. just appy it 3 times a day.

I don’t know if they were the same kind of wart, but in the past I’ve found that a walk in the ocean caused some small warts on my feet to clear up. Perhaps not the most viable solution this time of year, but something to consider.

@elocin… lol if nothing else they will freeze it off.

@sliceswiththings, oh, goodness, I don’t remember. I doubt that what a guy I picked out of the phone book in low-rent Dorchester, Mass., charged me in about 1975 would have much relevance now. I’d advise seeing a podiatrist and asking.

Our member scamp works in a podiatrist’s office, and she gave me some great advice a year ago, but she hasn’t been around here in a month.

Just go for the surgery. I had one on my wrist, the doctor numbed it, dug it out, and used a laser to burn the wound shut. The whole process lasted 2–3 minutes!

@Jeruba – I’m glad your surgery was quick and relatively painless. In most cases, removal in the doctor’s office is doable. Unfortunately, for me, I waited too long and I had to have actual surgery, at a hospital (on both feet, at once).

Oh no! I’ve got one like this on my middle finger. (Maybe some kind of karma). I’ve cut it off just for the damn thing to regrow.

I’ve bought the wart remover where you freeze it off at home, but OH MY GOD – THAT WAS PAINFUL! Maybe I’m a wimp and can handle cutting off a wart but not freezing my skin, but maybe you could try that.
Good luck and let me know what happens. My wart has been here for a while but it hasn’t spread.