Plantar Warts (Foot Warts): Causes and Treatment

Medically Reviewed by Poonam Sachdev on June 27, 2024
Written by Matt McMillen
7 min read

Plantar warts are warts that develop on plantar surfaces -- that is, the soles (or bottom) of the feet. Normal standing and walking tends to force them into the skin, and the pressure causes pain to the affected area. Calluses formed by the body’s attempt to prevent spread of warts can also cause pain when walking. Plantar warts are harmless and may go away even without treatment, but in many cases they are too painful to ignore. Plantar warts that grow together in a cluster are known as mosaic warts.

If you develop plantar warts, here’s what you can expect to see and feel.

What they look like

Plantar warts have a thick, rough, and slightly raised surface that can resemble cauliflower. Often, they’ll be gray or brown, but they come in other colors as well. Yours may be dark pink, yellow, or purple. If you have brown or black skin, your plantar warts may be lighter than the skin around it.

Other visual cues include:

  • You’ll see dark specks, which are clots of dried blood called wart seeds.
  • Your warts may grow in clusters called mosaic warts.
  • Your warts may bleed.

What they feel like

Plantar warts can cause both pain and tenderness. You’ll feel this when you walk or stand. The pain can make walking and running difficult. You may find yourself adjusting how you walk, run, and stand in order to ease your discomfort. That can put stress on your feet and ankles, causing them pain.

You may not only experience physical discomfort. You may feel emotional discomfort if people see your feet or the warts.

Plantar warts, like all warts, are caused by certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which invades the skin through tiny cuts or scrapes. The warts may not appear for weeks or months after the initial exposure. They often go away on their own after a year or two -- or much faster with treatment -- but once you have the virus that causes them, they can return.  

Who is at risk for developing plantar warts?

While anyone can develop plantar warts, some people have a higher risk, including:

  • Children and teenagers
  • People with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS
  • People who take medications that suppress the immune system, such as those with an autoimmune disease 
  • People over 65
  • White people
  • People who have had plantar warts in the past

You can raise your risk of plantar warts by going barefoot in places where wart-causing viruses tend to linger, such as locker rooms and swimming pools. Epidemics of plantar warts sometimes break out among people who share gym or athletic facilities or who engage in group activities where bare feet are the rule, such as yoga and martial arts. Even your shower at home could harbor the virus.

Yes. You can get them from touching them or by wearing socks, shoes, or towels that have been in contact with them and harbor the virus. If you have plantar warts, they can spread to other parts of your body that touch them. Some good news: the strain of the virus is not highly contagious, so it does not spread easily from person to person via direct contact. But the virus thrives in warm, wet environments, like gyms, public pools, saunas, steam rooms, and locker rooms. You can pick it up in such places by walking barefoot.

Plantar warts typically go away on their own, but this can take a year or two. You don’t have to live with them that long. Several treatments exist, including:

Cryotherapy. This uses liquid nitrogen to freeze your wart, destroying it. You’ll get a numbing agent first so that you don’t feel the extreme cold when your doctor sprays or brushes the treatment on your wart. After about a week, the dead skin will fall off on its own.

Immunotherapy. This enlists your immune system. Your doctor will spread a topical treatment on your wart. DCP triggers an allergic response that engages your immune system to attack the wart.

Laser treatment. Using lasers, your doctor heats the tiny blood vessels in your wart, which destroys them. That cuts off the wart’s blood supply, killing the wart.

Electrocautery. This treatment uses electricity to burn off your warts.

Cantharidin. This topical medicine causes a blister to form beneath your wart. It cuts off the wart’s blood supply so that it dies. A week after treatment, your doctor will cut off the dead wart.

Salicylic acid. This prescription-strength topical medicine removes your wart layer by layer over a few weeks. It also may trigger an immune response that helps fight your wart.

Vaccine. The HPV vaccine, though not developed to treat warts, may be helpful.

Surgery. Usually an option only after other treatments have failed, surgery involves either cutting away your wart or using an electric needle to destroy it. The procedure can cause scars, which may be painful for years afterward.

You also have some treatment options that you can try on your own. They include:

Duct tape. Though unproven, it’s harmless and worth a try. Put a piece of duct tape on your wart and leave it for a few days. Remove the tape and soak your wart, then rub away dead layers with a pumice stone or emery board. Wait a few hours, then cover it with more tape and repeat the process.

Over-the-counter salicylic acid. This "peeling medication" comes in patches, gels, and liquids. After washing, drying, and removing the top layer of skin with a pumice stone or emery board, apply the medication, following the instructions on the label. It can take a few weeks to be fully effective.

Over-the-counter freezing medicine. This is an OTC version of cryotherapy. Some of these can be flammable and should not be used around fire, lit cigarettes, or hot devices such as curling irons.

Apple cider vinegar. This contains two types of acid. One, acetic acid, kills bacteria. The other, malic acid, exfoliates your skin. Use it twice a day for a few weeks, then scrub out your wart.

Not all experts recommend home remedies, however, because of concerns that the acids or chemicals in OTC medications will kill healthy skin as well as the abnormal skin that makes up the wart. Also, salicylic acid should not be used by people with:

  • Diabetes
  • Heart disease
  • Circulatory problems

Whatever treatment you try, make sure to cover the wart to prevent it from spreading elsewhere. Also, wash your hands right away whenever you touch the wart.

Should you pull out a plantar wart root?

Don’t try to pull out, cut away, tear, burn, pick, or other method of removing the plantar wart yourself. This can lead to infection and other health problems.

You can help ease the discomfort caused by plantar warts by doing the following:

  • Avoid uncomfortable shoes that put pressure on your plantar warts, including high heels, pointy-toe shoes, and flip flops.
  • Opt for comfortable shoes and socks.
  • Put a soft, doughnut-shaped pad, made of moleskin or felt, on your wart to relieve pressure.
  • Take out your shoe inserts and cut holes in them in the areas that touch your warts.
  • Relieve discomfort with over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which can reduce pain and inflammation. These drugs include aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen.
  • Soaking and then scraping your wart with a pumice stone or emery board can help with home treatments like salicylic acid.

Plantar warts can be painful. Fortunately, they are harmless and frequently go away on their own. If you don’t want to wait, both medical treatments and home remedies can help get rid of them.

What is the fastest way to get rid of a plantar wart?

Treatment can be slow going. Two common treatments -- cryotherapy and salicylic acid -- can require several visits to the doctor. Surgery may require less time, but it will take time to heal and could leave painful scars.

How do I know when a plantar wart is completely killed?

One sign that your treatment has been successful is to look at the lines on your feet. If they cross the area where the wart had been, the wart is likely gone.

Is it OK to pick at a plantar wart?

No! Picking at a wart can cause an infection and cause the wart to spread.

What happens if you have a plantar wart for too long?

If you ignore a plantar wart, it will likely go away on its own. But the longer you have it, the longer you have to live with the discomfort it causes.