Plantar warts occur on the soles of the feet, particularly over pressure points, such as the balls of the feet. Often patients will tell me that they have “seed warts” on their foot. They say this because they see black dots within the wart…which has been referred to in urban culture as seeds. Although this type of wart can be found anywhere on the body, it is most frequently observed in plantar warts. What they actually are is thrombosed blood vessels in the dermal papilla, they are not seeds. Click HERE to see diagrams of the skin showing the papillary tufts.
Human papillomaviruse 1, 2, 27 and 57 are the causes of plantar warts. Sometimes they are solitary, other times they are grouped, or several contiguous warts fuse so that they appear to be one…called a mosaic wart. One thing physicians must keep in mind is the possibility of acral lentigenous melanoma, which at times can be confused with plantar warts. If in doubt…biopsy. TREATMENTS: Again are many and varied. To review treatments click HERE and follow the links. To read more about plantar warts click HERE. To read more about “Seed Warts” click HERE.