Have You Ever Had Warts?

Updated on January 08, 2019
T.K. asks from Seattle, WA
18 answers

My daughter has had warts on the bottom of her feet for about a year. She really wants to get rid of them. We've tried home remedies like freezing them off, used duct tape, used acid on them and they always come back. I'm taking her to the podiatrist to hopefully get rid of them for good next week. In the meantime, she is frustrated and really feels bad about them. I told her almost everyone has warts at sometime in their life. In fact, I had a lot of warts on my hands for a couple years when I was a kid (have not had warts on my feet though). Anyway, anything to help her not feel so alone would be appreciated!

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

My son has had them and the freeze thing usually worked. My daughter got one on her finger. She thought it was a blister and tried to pop it. When she came home from spring break last year, she went to the doctor. Before sending to a dermatologist to have it taken care of, the doc suggested the wart band aid type medication. It worked but did take about a week or so to show that it was working and then another couple weeks to heal. Definitely have her wear flip flops or similar in the shower to prevent spreading. This is a common issue school dorms so she definitely is not alone.

3 moms found this helpful

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

my husband gets 'em. he goes to a doctor to have them removed. home remedies rarely work.
khairete
S.

3 moms found this helpful

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M.G.

answers from Portland on

I've not heard of going to a podiatrist to have them removed. Our child went to a clinic to have them frozen off (nurse).

They are easily transmittable. That's how she got them. You had them yourself. If you do a search here, you'll see, this is a frequent question.

4 moms found this helpful

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Go online with her and read together about the causes and treatment.
And then apologize sincerely to her for waiting an entire year and letting her suffer so long.
Also I don't understand why you are going to a podiatrist, can't your regular family doctor handle this? Even a nurse or PA should be able to take care of it.

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B.A.

answers from Columbus on

They are very common. Its one of the reasons that every summer camp routinely checkd the feet of every camper on their first day. No need to see a podiatrist. Your pediatrician can take care of them.

They are also very contagious. She needs to avoid walking around or showering with bare feet until they are gone.

3 moms found this helpful

W.W.

answers from Washington DC on

Welcome to mamapedia, T..

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOURS~!!

Yeah - I did have warts - on the bottom of my foot. I had it "iced" off. It hurt like an SOB.
Warts are a virus in the system. She could have gotten the virus ANYWHERE!!

Educate her on what warts are
https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/featur...
Education and knowledge is power.

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M.G.

answers from Chicago on

Very hard to get rid off on feet. Pediatrician put my son on Tagamet for 6 month which has off label use for this and we did in conjunction with what Podiatrist friend suggested for feet (not elsewhere on body) get pumic file/stone (you’ll throw out after cleared up & never share!) - grate it down as much as you can stand - as you need medicine to be able to get in to penetrate it - may bleed. Once you have softer skin underneath revealed, dr scholls salacylic acid - use every day not every other as instructed if tolerates & tape up. Comes with bandages. I can’t recall if we use them or use them in combination with duct tape. But it is hard and have to be diligent about staying on top of it and especially hard because it takes so long to get rid of! I’m not sure if it was all the stuff we did or it just finally went away on its own ...

2 moms found this helpful
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M.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Did you use the over the counter liquid every day for 3 weeks and it didn't work? If that is the case, go to the dermatologist. We tried all the OTC stuff without success. The dermatologist gave us a prescription strength liquid that worked in a few weeks. You do have to be diligent and use it every single day for 2-3 weeks! If you miss days, it won't work - that's true with both the over the counter and prescription strength stuff.

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R.K.

answers from Appleton on

Plantar Warts are the warts on the feet. They are very painful and difficult to get rid of. Warts are caused by a virus and can be contagious but it's rare for them to spread to family members. My brother and I got them when we were kids and my mom took us to a podiatrist who numbed the area and cut them out. I don't remember how long it took to get rid of them but I remember it took a few weeks.
Since the are caused by a virus I advise you to disinfect her shoes and boots daily, Bleach water on a rag should work but ask the doctor what to use. I would also recommend she not walk around barefoot until they are gone. I would also use bleach water to rinse out the tub or shower right after she uses it.

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N.Z.

answers from Los Angeles on

Save a trip to the doctor (and copay) and try over-the-counter wart removing strips first. They're sold at drug stores like CVS and Walgreens. They look like bandaids with wart removing medication. It was effective in getting rid of a wart on my knee.

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N.H.

answers from Peoria on

I got them as an kid, from someone at school. We put Compund W wart remover on them. It took a long long time but they finally went away. IMO, I don’t think freezing works all that great. A school mate kept having to go back time after time to get them frozen off but his always came back. Mine never did.Good luck!

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8.L.

answers from San Francisco on

A dermatologist injected something into the bottom of my foot as a teenager- it hurt like heck but went away forever afterwards.

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H.M.

answers from Dallas on

My oldest had a bunch on his hands when he was in elementary school. We tried a lot of OTC stuff. Nothing worked. We had to have the frozen off at the dermatologist. One we had burnt off cause the freezing didn't work. He preferred the burning as the numb it. The freezing hurt a lot he said. I don't know if a podiatrist will deal with them or not.

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J.P.

answers from Chicago on

We just finally got rid of them (plantar warts) from my daughter's feet! She had two, we went to the dr and were advised to use Compound W. We used it every night for months, and one seemed to go away, but then two more popped up. I read about everything I could find about them and stumbled on a site where many people said to use banana peel. I figured there was no way it would work, but I really didn't want to put her through the pain of freezing them off or anything, so we tried them.
I cut a small square of banana peel and used skin tape to tape them on each wart every single night. We saw a difference in days, but it took literally months for them to all disappear. I think it would have taken much less time if we had used banana peel at the beginning, but she had had them for over 6 months by the time we tried this. I was definitely skeptical but ready to try anything in order to avoid repeated dr visits and pain! I know you have a visit scheduled, but just in case they come back in the future, maybe you would try this? Good luck!

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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

You might want to try seeing a dermatologist instead of a podiatrist. The sad thing is, you will probably never get rid of them for good. My doctor said it's more like they go into remission - the virus is always in your body and can reappear at any time, so she will always be susceptible to having them come back on her feet. A lot of times, the at-home treatments may seem like you're getting it all, but even tiny little bits left on the skin can cause it to regrow quickly. By having a dermatologist remove them, you can be 100% sure they are completely taken care of for this cycle, though they will probably reappear at some point in the future.

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B.E.

answers from New York on

Those sound like Plantar warts, as somebody below commented. My son picked one up at the Y a few years back. I tried all kinds of over-the-counter stuff but nothing worked. We were referred to a podiatrist by his pediatrician and that finally did the trick, although we had to go three times for treatment. He shaved the wart down each time and applied some kind of ointment - it didn't hurt my son at all. I remember my sister had them when I was young and she terrified me with stories about how the doctor had to dig them out. Glad they don't do that anymore.

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N.K.

answers from Miami on

I had one on my upper thigh, and my dermatologist burned it off. He poked a needle on it, held it for a bit, then it became swollen like a blister over the next few days, and eventually, it popped on its own, the skin ended up drying up and forming a scab, then the scab fell off and no more warts since. My daughter had a couple on her leg and used the wart remover from the dollar store. It worked for her without issue. I don't know anyone that has had them on their feet, but I do have a friend whose coworker had them on her feet, she apparently caught them from using someone else's towel at the public pool, or maybe at her gym, I cannot remember the specifics. I would assume they are painful or embarrassing for her, I would have taken her to a dermatologist long ago, if the other remedies hadn't worked.

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B.K.

answers from Phoenix on

My step daughter came home one day and had them on her hands belly and even her back I was told by someone to use some apple cider vinegar and it would come off! I use a cotton ball dab of ACV and a bandaid to help stay on left on over night and by day 3 it was gone! It does stink but it worked!

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