Plantar warts, part 1

The new year has started and most of us are heading back to the gym, some are starting a new resolution either to shed a few pounds or just to maintain the hard work they have put in their health regime already.

Either we like to blow off steam at kickboxing, running, being creative at dancing or aqua fitness, our feet are more than impacted by the wear and tear of our favorite sports. Today's article is about plantar warts, you know, the HPV kind, the one that likes to spread in locker rooms, around swimming pools and dojos everywhere. Since I've added swimming once a week to my schedule, I dread the change room. I've had a plantar wart as a kid, the first time I felt it, I thought I had stepped unto a thumbtack running through the grass in the back yard. Any sufferer can tell you they can be pretty painful too.

Single plantar wart

First, a plantar wart needs a break or crack in the skin to make itself at home, they appear on the sole of your foot and have a different appearance depending where they are situated. If one is where there is most pressure like your heel or the ball of your foot, it's appearance will have little black dots in it. Where there is less pressure, it will appear more like a cauliflower. The wart itself will disturb the lines/ridges in the skin.

Be assured, they come in many shapes and sizes. Single, mother with daughters (one larger than the others) and the mosaic type where they gather in clusters.

Cluster plantar warts

Did I mention they are contagious? They also love to live in warm and moist environments. Coming up next week in part 2 in the plantar wart saga, prevention and intervention!

Have you checked your feet lately? Make a point to really look at them, maybe you have a visitor on the sole of you foot that's preventing you on putting your best foot forward.