by Courtney Alexis Packard

Created on: June 11, 2009   Last Updated: June 22, 2009

Feet are ugly enough as it is, so why continue to suffer with dreaded plantar warts?

Plantar warts are little, unsightly interruptions in the skin pattern on the bottom of the foot, typically on the heel or the pads. Warts can be identified by their rough, cauliflower like appearance or the little black specks that are commonly referred to as "the seeds". Repeated pressure on the area causes the wart to callous and can make walking extremely painful.

So what causes this unfortunate ailment?

To put it simply, a plantar wart is caused by the human papilloma virus (or HPV). This virus can be contracted in many ways, the most common being exposure to moist areas such as locker rooms, showers, or swimming pools (so always wear flip flops in these areas!). Plantar warts can also be contracted by sharing a household with an HPV carrier.

HPV is known to disappear after a couple of years, and the warts may vanish too. However, many patients suffer with plantar warts for several years and have even watched them multiply in size and number! If your plantar warts are becoming painful or you wish to not spread them to loved ones, there are many treatment options available. But please note: not all remedies are created equal!

Going to a podiatrist is a very popular, although pricey option for wart sufferers. A good podiatristcan recommended treatments varying from freezing the wart off, applying topical ointments, or cutting the wart out. While licensed doctors are generally your best bet to rid yourself of a plantar wart, it's important to keep in mind that not all or any of these treatments will work or have permanent results. Cutting or freezing or killing the wart is doing just that ... killing the WART. Just because there is an absence of a foot blemish does not mean that the HPV strand is gone and your warts can return. So it is wise to consider all of your options before committing to expensive doctor visits.

Home remedies and natural medicines can be very effective methods for the treatments of warts and the HPV virus. Some common options are soaking the wart in apple cider vinegar or "suffocating" the wart and forcing the virus to die by cutting off it's oxygen supply. Suffocating the wart can be achieved by sealing a piece of duct tape over the wart and leaving it on for several days, only taking the tape off long enough to shave dead skin from the area and clean it. A good soap for this is any bar soap containing at least 10% sulfur and

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