Bruce Willis And The Plantar Warts
plantar wart photo credit: www.clinderm.com
When I thought of writing about plantar warts, Bruce in Die Hard came in to my mind. First, he was walking around bare feet, getting his feet cut left, right an
I am a big Bruce Willis fan. I have watched all the “Die Hard” movies. I still think “Die Hard” the original movie was the best. Probably because I am getting nostalgic and starting to have mild senile dementia, when one tends to remember vividly things that happened twenty years ago and keeps looking for reading glasses sitting on his forehead. When I thought of writing about plantar warts, Bruce in Die Hard came in to my mind. First, he was walking around bare feet, getting his feet cut left, right and center. Second, plantar warts also die hard, like McCain that he portrays.
Now that I have your attention, let’s move on. The real reason that I am writing about plantar warts is to blast my pageviews through the roof. Firstly, many of us have had these some time in our lives. My children used to get these. They in fact gave them as their first self-less gifts to their beloved parents. The same story repeats itself in many households and families. So this will generate universal empathy and be a theme to a great story. Secondly, I happen to still remember what causes them and can share about it, in between my recurrent attacks of amnesia. Thirdly, there are so many quackery websites on treating plantar warts. I might just be able to save you from sore feet, emptied wallets and broken hearts.
Plantar warts are cause by a virus called human papilla-virus (often abbreviated HPV). There are many strains of this virus. One type of these is actually the cause of genital warts and cervical cancer in women. The more common type causes the common warts on hands and feet. The virus gets implanted into the skin from minor trauma. It then stimulates the skin to grow into a hard lump extending from the very surface to the deeper layer. The plantar wart gets pushed into the deepest layer of the skin and hence is the hardest to eradicate.
In case your memory is as poor as mine, these are the three major methods to remember:
- The smallest plantar warts can be treated with local applications including salicylic acid preparations.
- The medium sized ones can be treated with liquid nitrogen (also called cryotherapy or cryosurgery, if you prefer medical words).
- The big ones should be treated with surgical excision (cutting) and cauterization (burning). Unfortunately, this treatment leaves the sufferer a big and deep wound to heal (takes a whole month at times)
If your memory is better than mine (I had to look these up) or if the plantar wart has been resistant to the treatment above. You will need to know about the other methods:
- Immunotherapy (your doctor stimulates your body’s production of antibodies against the virus) by injecting a substance into or prescribing a cream onto the wart.
- Chemotherapy (your doctor injects a toxin called bleomycin into the wart)
- Laser therapy (using a laser to vaporize the wart)
Summary
As plantar warts can be difficult to eradicate, avoid direct contact with warts and picking at them. Always keep your feet dry and clean. Don’t walk about bare foot like Bruce Willis in the "Die Hard" movie.
