If you've ever stepped barefoot into a locker room or shower area after your workout, then you have put yourself at risk to come in direct contact with verruca vulgaris.



Warts that appear on the bottom of your feet are termed ‘plantar warts'. They are both common and contagious. They aren't spread through your blood stream, but you can ‘catch' a wart from just about any surface that you could happen to come in contact with the virus. For the virus, any type of break in your skin can provide an entry point and allow the plantar wart to begin to develop.

Plantar warts do not ‘take seed' on your skin then begin to grow through your skin itself. The small ‘seed like' appearance of the plantar wart perpetuates this misconception, but in reality you are just seeing the small clusters of the wart itself and the wart itself can only live within skin tissue.

Even though, due to their nature they can become painful… they are medically harmless. Initially the plantar wart will appear to be flat but will grow inwardly toward your second layer of the skin.

In reality, completely avoiding coming in contact with the virus isn't really possible, but you should be mindful and not without care just expose yourself to potential areas of contact.

Plantar warts will appear as a thick scaly area on your skin. When walking it may feel painful or like a lump. The area of skin will be off color a bit and will have small dark spots covering the area in question.

As far as treatment is concerned there are a variety of ways to treat warts. Most people opt for an over the counter topical medication first. However, due to the tough, thick skin that accompany plantar warts, topical solutions may have difficulty penetrating the affected area.

If the over the counter topical treatments fail to alleviate the wart, you should move on to professional treatment. Professional treat could involve laser surgery, a freezing technique with liquid nitrogen, or even surgically removing them. No matter the type of treatment, since warts are caused by a virus there is a certain amount of risk that the wart will reoccur; however with the professional treatments this risk is lower.

Wear flip-flops in public locker rooms and showers.

If a family member is affected with plantar warts, make sure you keep the bathroom floors cleaned and disinfected and don't let the kids share or wear each other's shoes and socks.

Also, keeping the skin on your feet hydrated with foot cream can help minimize the risk of infection by keeping the skin from cracking and allowing an easy entry point for the virus.