Plantar Wart

Skin and Nail Conditions· Also known as: verruca, wart, verruca plantaris, foot wartUpdated Oct 2026

Reviewed by Andrew Schox, BSc(Hons) PGradDipPod MPod, October 2026

At a Glance

A plantar wart, also called a verruca, is a thickened patch of skin on the sole of your foot caused by a common virus (human papillomavirus, or HPV). Warts in general are common, affecting about 7 to 12 per cent of people. A plantar wart is usually flat, often has tiny black dots in the middle, and can hurt when you walk. It is usually harmless, and many warts clear up on their own, though this can take a long time. Treatment can help, but no single treatment works for everyone, and warts can come back.

What is it?

A plantar wart is a hard, thickened area of skin on the sole of your foot. It is caused by a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV) infecting the top layer of skin. You may also hear it called a verruca.

Plantar warts are usually harmless and tend to go away eventually. Because they sit on the sole, they can be sore when you stand or walk.

Who does it affect?

Warts can affect people of any age. Warts in general are common, with about 7 to 12 per cent of people having them. That figure is for warts anywhere on the body, not only the sole of the foot.

Signs and symptoms

A plantar wart can appear on the sole, the heel or the toes. Your body weight pushes it into the skin, so it is usually flat rather than raised. It can look like a patch of hard skin.

Look for a white area with one or more tiny black dots in the centre. The dots are small blood vessels. The normal fine lines of your skin are broken up across the wart.

It may be uncomfortable when you walk. Verrucas are more likely than other warts to hurt, and some people say it feels like standing on a needle.

What causes it?

Plantar warts are caused by HPV. Several types of the virus can cause them. You can't tell which type you have by looking at the wart, and this rarely matters for treatment.

The virus spreads through direct skin contact with someone who has it. You can also pick it up from contaminated surfaces, such as around swimming pools or in gyms. It spreads more easily when skin is wet or damaged.

How is it diagnosed?

Your podiatrist will usually diagnose a plantar wart by looking at it. They may gently pare away the hard skin on top, which makes the black dots easier to see. They may also use a small magnifying instrument (a dermatoscope) to look more closely.

Some other skin problems can look like warts, so it is worth having an unclear spot checked rather than guessing. If your podiatrist is unsure about a single wart, they may remove it so it can be examined in a laboratory.

Treatment

No treatment works for every person, and plantar warts respond less well than warts elsewhere on the body. Just over 30 per cent of plantar warts respond to salicylic acid or freezing. Many people need more than one round of treatment.

Looking after it at home

If your wart doesn't hurt, waiting is a reasonable option. Many warts clear up by themselves, but this can take a long time.

The most common home treatment is wart paint: a liquid or gel containing salicylic acid or lactic acid. You usually apply it every day, and it can take many weeks to work. Follow the instructions on the product. Having the hard skin pared back, or filed with a single-use file, helps the treatment work better. Your pharmacist can advise on a suitable product and how to use it safely.

If you have diabetes, poor circulation in your feet or a weakened immune system, see a health professional about a wart on your foot rather than treating it yourself. Some over-the-counter products may not suit you.

Treatment from your podiatrist

Your podiatrist may pare the wart and start or guide a course of salicylic acid. Using salicylic acid together with freezing gave better results than either one alone.

Freezing (cryotherapy) uses extreme cold to destroy the wart. It is often repeated every three weeks, for up to 10 treatments. Freezing wasn't clearly better than a dummy (placebo) treatment, but a firmer freeze worked better than a gentle one. Freezing should be done by someone trained to do it.

Other options

If the first treatments haven't worked after a fair trial, there are other options for stubborn plantar warts. These include:

medicated paints, such as antivirals and chemotherapy-type agents
injections into the wart, such as bleomycin, Candida antigen, vitamin D3 or interleukin-2
laser treatment

Some of these have been reported to work better than freezing for plantar warts. It isn't clear yet which works best. Which ones are offered depends on where you live and what your practitioner is trained and allowed to do, so you may be referred to a specialist. If laser is used, the clinic should use smoke protection, because smoke from some laser treatment could carry the virus.

If you have had a painful wart for at least two years and paints and freezing haven't worked, ask your podiatrist or GP about seeing a specialist.

Recovery

Many warts go away on their own. About half of primary schoolchildren with warts were wart-free within a year. That figure is for warts anywhere on the body, not only the sole.

Plantar warts that have been treated often come back. If yours returns, go back early rather than waiting. In one group of people, the chance of a wart coming back after successful treatment was about 5 times higher in smokers. This shows a link, not a proven cause, but if you smoke, ask for support to quit.

Preventing it

The virus spreads through skin contact and shared wet surfaces, so take extra care to protect broken or wet skin in places like pools and gyms. It isn't clear yet which measures stop a wart coming back.

When to see a podiatrist

Book an appointment if

Your wart keeps coming back, is very large or painful, or hasn't improved with home treatment. Book too if you aren't sure the spot is a wart, or if you have had a painful wart for at least two years despite treatment.

Seek prompt assessment if

See your GP soon if your wart bleeds or changes in how it looks, if it is dark or coloured, if you have had it for years, if the skin around it looks infected, if you have a bad reaction to salicylic acid, or if you are worried about it. See your GP or another doctor today if you have a sore or wound on your foot that isn't healing, or if you have diabetes and have a new wound or spreading redness on your foot. If your GP can't see you today, go to an urgent care clinic or an after-hours GP. If you have a foot wound or infection and you also feel very unwell, with confusion or slurred speech, severe shivering or muscle pain, severe breathlessness, mottled or discoloured skin, or little or no urine, this could be sepsis: call your local emergency number.

Frequently asked questions

How is a plantar wart different from a callus?

A callus is just thickened skin, and the normal fine lines of your skin continue across it. A wart breaks up those lines and often has tiny black dots. A callus is a common, harmless look-alike, but if you can't tell which you have, your podiatrist can check.

Does freezing a plantar wart hurt?

It can. Freezing can cause pain and blisters, and sometimes a change in skin colour, scarring, slow healing or the wart returning. It may be upsetting for young children, so it isn't always the right choice for them. Tell your podiatrist how you are coping so they can adjust the plan.

Do I need to know which type of virus my wart has?

No. Several types of HPV can cause plantar warts, and you can't tell the type by looking. Knowing the type is rarely needed to manage a wart, so treatment doesn't depend on it.