What is curettage for a plantar wart?
Short answer: Curettage is a direct minor surgical treatment under local anaesthetic in which a confirmed wart is carefully removed from the surrounding skin. It can be particularly useful for a discrete, painful or resistant lesion when prompt physical removal is preferred.
Curettage removes the visible wart tissue in one planned procedure rather than relying on repeated surface applications. It is different from simple debridement, which only reduces the overlying callus. Where diagnosis requires confirmation, removed tissue may also be sent for histopathology.
The procedure is particularly attractive for a well-defined solitary wart that has remained painful or has resisted appropriate conservative care. It gives the patient a clear procedural endpoint and allows the clinician to inspect the base of the lesion directly.
Curettage is selected carefully on the sole because the wound and eventual scar must tolerate weight-bearing. With appropriate lesion selection, surgical technique and aftercare, it provides a practical and decisive option within a complete plantar-wart treatment pathway.
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.