proudAPmom

I’ve struggled for almost 3 years now with a very stuborn plantars wart on my right foot. When I first saw it I wasn’t really sure what it was - I’ve never had a wart before and had no idea what it could be…At first I thought that it was a callous and would go away. It eventually became painful and I asked my husband about it, and he told me what it was. 

I started treating it with OTC medications that I applied topically. I did this for months with no improvement, then I found out I was pregnant and decided that I would stop treatment until after my son was born because I didn’t like smelling the stuff and putting medications into my system while I pregnant. 

After my son was born I started treatment again for the wart that now was very large (about the size of a nickel). I treated in for months on end without any change. The skin around it would peel, but that was about it. 

I finally asked my dermatologist if he could help - he froze the wart(s) every few weeks for up to 4 freezings, plus I also saw one other doctor who froze it 3 times in one visit. It made it very painful to walk, but didn’t make the wart go away. Instead the wart continued to grow and become more painful. Finally out of desperation, I contacted a foot doc who did surgeries. I asked if he could remove a plantars wart. He had me come it, looked over the wart and said that he would do a surgery. It would likely take care of it once and for all, but there was a very small chance that it could return. There was also a chance that I would have a scar, but since it was the bottom of my foot I didn’t really care, I just wanted the stupid wart gone!

I scheduled the surgery. I had to take valium before the visit because of my anxiety. The worst part was the numbing medication that was injected into the bottom of my foot, I thought I was going to scream! He used a scalpel and removed the wart, then stitched up the bottom of my foot. I had to wear a special boot and was supposed to stay up off my feet for weeks. I did as I was told, keeping my foot dry and elevated as much as possible. 

I went back in for him to remove the stitches and I was so relieved that it was done….but not quite yet as a few weeks later I noticed a small white spot where the surgery had been and it was slightly painful. I figured it was a scar that had formed and put it out of my mind.  Later that month my husband saw my foot and was shocked that I had the wart back. He told me that I should call the doc back and find out what I should do. 

I did call back and was scheduled back in. He looked at my foot and said to start treatment again with the OTC medication. I asked about surgery again, and he said he could do it, but that would be up to me. I also could use a cream that is for skin cancer to try to get rid of it that way. I said that I wanted to try the special cream, and skip surgery for now - it was just too painful. He told me that most warts have a life of only about 2-3 years anyhow, so it should go away on it’s own eventually, but I don’t want to wait any longer. I waited to use the cream on my foot because I am still nursing my son and I didn’t trust it (on the web it lists this medication as very dangerous to nursing babies). However, for the past week now I have been using it in very small amounts on the wart. It is looking only slightly better, but I am continuing to do everything I can to make it go away. 

All in all, I’ve tried OTC topical acids, OTC freezing kits, freezing in the doctors office, duct tape, electric tape, surgery, and now Carac cream while using a bandage like instructed by my doctor. I’ve tried filing it down, cutting it out with cutical clippers and anything sharp and I’ve tried leaving it alone. I really hope that something works soon as it is painful again and I am sick of it being there. It is embarassing when I go shoe shopping, to the doctors and when I go swimming. I hate to take my socks off at all, even when home.