When one thinks of warts they usually visualize a beautiful princess kissing a wart ridden frog. But all is not as it appears...occasionally the Princess is the one infected with those pesky warts.   Where they appear typically depends on what type of wart is raising its ugly head. Warts are non-cancerous skin growths that are caused by a virus (HPV or Human Papillomavirus) that inhabits the top layer of the skin. The virus can invade your skin through small cuts and breaks. This is one of the reasons your Mom told you to always wear your shoes outside. Children, teens, and people with allergies or weakened immune systems are more vulnerable to the wart virus. Each person’s immune system responds to warts differently, meaning not everyone who comes in contact with HPV will develop warts.   

Warts that appear on the feet are known as plantar warts. They not only affect the appearance of the skin but also can cause pain and discomfort. Most plantar warts do not stick up above the skin surface like those found on other parts of the body. The pressure of walking flattens them and pushes them back into the skin. Groups of many small closely set foot plantar warts are called mosaic warts. A foot doctor known as A Podiatrist will make a definitive diagnosis and determine if your wart is truly a wart and that it is not corn or calluses. The following are some of the things to look for if you think you are experiencing Plantar Warts:  

·        Rough round or oval lesions on soles of the feet.

·        May be lighter or darker than the skin

·        Flat to slightly raised and painful to pressure

·        Rough growths around toenails

·        Warts may appear spongy, with tiny red, brown or black spots.

·        They can grow up to an inch across, occurring alone (solitary)

·        They can also grow in clusters (mosaic)

 

There are many ways to treat warts from a medically. The primary options are Medication or surgical removal or the combination of both. Freezing or burning may also be used to treat warts…but even after warts are removed, they may recur. There are also many alternative therapies that have been used to rid warts. My own grandmother placed a grasshopper on my Aunt’s wart and the grasshopper proceeded to eat off the wart. I personally do not recommend this…first of all it seems a little dangerous, especially with the bleeding that may ensue. Also there is something a little creepy about having a grasshopper digesting your wart . Many other natural remedies are listed on the web and if you do a general search on Google you will find thousands of natural remedies and testimonials.  They consist of people who have tried and received remarkable results and those who have not been as lucky. 

I personally have my own testimony regarding Plantar Warts and I would like to share this with you…hopefully you will have the same remarkable results. My 12 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with this condition. I was not one of the Mom’s that said you should always wear you shoes outside. I noticed she wasn’t putting pressure on her right foot one day and I asked her if she was ok. She told me that she had stepped on something about a month ago. Thanks for telling me “A Month Later”! I took a look at it and noticed one central area on her heel that was slightly raised and several areas surrounding the center that looked as though they were spreading outward from the center.   I brought her to the podiatrist and she was diagnosed with the infamous “Plantar Wart”. The doctor gave me the following options; Topical Medication which he said may or may not be effective, in-office removal which could be painful or the final choice which is more effective and a lot less painful, day surgery in an outpatient hospital with laser removal. He is a very nice doctor and if I were not a Naturopath I would have taken one of the options he had presented. But being a Naturopath, I wanted to try something first just to see if I could get results on my own before making my decision. 

I had recently incorporated an ionic foot detox into my practice.  For those not familiar with the ionic foot bath you can read details on my website under gentle detox services.  I had heard many wonderful testimonies regarding this particular unit and I wanted to see for myself how effective it could be.   The whole premise behind the ionic detox is to bring toxins out of the body by ionization so I pondered what a better way to eliminate a viral infection embedded within the foot. I set Sydnie up on a 3 week protocol consisting of 4 foot detox foot baths for 30 minutes and used the following products topically: Colloidal Silver From natures Sunshine, Oil of Oregano from source naturals and GSE from nutribiotic. 

I noticed a slight change in appearance after the first two foot baths. On The third foot bath you could see the little black specks arising to the surface of her foot and amazingly on the fourth foot bath there were nothing left but empty areas where the warts used to reside. Sydnie and I were completely astonished! I was not expecting to get results this quickly and to be honest I was not sure if this technique would work at all. I am continuing to apply Thuja Ointment as a preventative.  

I have posted pics of Sydnie's foot after the last foot bath. You can see where the warts were located within the not so little craters on her heel. I hope this information helps others in there pursuit of ridding themselves of Plantar warts. I cannot guarantee you will get the same results but it is definitely worth trying and always get advice from your primary physician prior to any course of treatment.  

 

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