Outlook

Regardless of the home treatment or medical treatment used, a cure is not guaranteed. Warts may reappear at any time. Most therapies require several treatments and strict adherence to them. Work with your doctor or dermatologist to determine which therapy is right for you.

• In up to 60% of cases, plantar warts go into "spontaneous remission." The wart subsides and disappears because of the action of the body's immune system. However, plantar warts, left untreated, can (rarely) lead to precancerous lesions.

• Untreated, plantar warts may grow up to an inch across and spread into clusters.

• A painful scar on the sole of the foot can pose an even more severe problem, which is why surgery is not the first choice of treatment.

• Many of these viruses die within 1-2 years, and the warts they produce simply disappear. While they last, though, the warts are ugly, irritating, and often painful. For these reasons, many podiatrists (foot specialists) recommend having plantar warts removed.

• Warts can grow back. This indicates a virus is still in the body and growing. However, this is not cause for undue alarm. The virus that causes plantar warts is relatively harmless and causes few problems. Warts can spread to other parts of the body, particularly if scratching a wart causes it to bleed. Blood from a wart contains the virus and can cause a new wart to grow in an area that it touches. Therefore, it is important that warts be treated so they can be eliminated as quickly as possible.

• Infection, pain, and scarring may result from overly aggressive home therapy penetrating beneath the skin surface or epidermis. Pain can spread to other sites, and warts can be transmitted to others because of ineffective treatment.