What is a plantar wart?
Short answer: A plantar wart, also called a verruca, is a benign skin growth caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). On the sole, body weight can press it inward beneath a layer of hard skin, making it painful and easy to confuse with a corn.
HPV enters the outer skin through small breaks and alters infected keratinocytes. Plantar warts are not ‘roots’ growing into the foot. The dark dots sometimes seen after the surface is pared are thrombosed or bleeding capillaries, not seeds.
A solitary wart may be a discrete circular lesion. Mosaic warts form a broader cluster of smaller lesions and may be more difficult to clear. Warts can occur on the heel, forefoot, toes and around nails; location affects pain, treatment choice and scarring risk.
Many warts eventually resolve through immune recognition, particularly in children. Others persist for years, enlarge, spread or remain painful. Persistence does not mean malignancy, but an uncertain or changing lesion should be assessed rather than repeatedly treated on assumption.
When should I seek an assessment?
Consider assessment when the diagnosis is uncertain, the lesion is painful or changing, warts are spreading, self-care is unsafe, or reasonable treatment has failed. Chronic lesions should be re-examined before another destructive course is started.