Skin Problems

Warts

A wart, or verruca, is a small bump on the skin caused by a virus that infects the top layer of skin cells. Warts are believed to be transmitted through direct or indirect contact (via a gym or shower floor) with a person carrying the virus. This virus, called human papilloma virus (HPV), is easier to "catch" if there is a cut or an abrasion on the skin.

Plantar warts occur on the bottoms of the feet. They frequently are studded with pinpoint dark spots, which are tiny, clotted blood vessels. When they occur on portions of the feet that bear weight, they are flattened by the weight placed on them, and can be quite painful. They can be confused with corns; however, corns lack surface pinpoint dark spots.

Symptoms: Rough or "warty" bumps that are skin-colored, white, tan, or pink; typically pea-sized or smaller; pain in warts that occur on weight-bearing portions of the feet.

Treatment: A podiatrist can remove a common wart by freezing it with liquid nitrogen, by using laser vaporization, or by surgically removing it in a procedure called curettage and electrodesiccation. Your doctor should explain that no single treatment is guaranteed to work, and a given form of treatment may need to be repeated several times. Unfortunately, the wart virus can be very resistant to therapy. Even after an apparent complete cure, it may pop up again in the same spot years later.

Warts do not necessarily require treatment. They are neither cancerous nor precancerous. About one-half to two-thirds of all warts disappear spontaneously within 1 to 2 years without any therapy. However, warts can be treated by a doctor to alleviate pain and to prevent them from spreading to other areas of the body and to other individuals.

Prognosis: Because existing warts shed virus, new warts can surface nearby, even as others are vanishing. Unfortunately, warts can be a recurring, chronic problem for some people.

Corns And Callus

WHAT ARE CORNS AND CALLOUSES?
Corns and callouses are both similar in that the extra skin forms in response to pressure on the skin. In the case of corns, the extra skin forms between the toes. In the case of callouses, the extra skin forms on the outside of the foot. Corns are usually from the knuckle joints on one toe pressing on the knuckle joint on the adjacent toe. Usually, a seed or central nucleus is seen when examining the corn. Callouses occur due to many causes but the most common cause is incorrect padding in the shoes, flat feet, a bone spur and hammertoes. In rare instances, the painful callouses is an abnormal sweat gland that has become impacted with hard skin and the small nerve going to the sweat gland becomes painful. The names given to corns and callouses by doctors are numerous based on where the corn is occurring and how the skin is forming the callous or corn.