Plantar warts are skin lesions on the foot caused by a virus entering the blood stream via small cracks or cuts in the skin. The virus can remain dormant for some time, so it may be difficult to tell how you got plantar warts in the first place. There are some home remedies for treating them, but you should first get diagnosis from a doctor, and you should never use a home remedy if you are a diabetic. Diabetics may be susceptible to extreme foot infections that in the most serious cases may necessitate amputation. They should thus have any lesions on the feet treated by a doctor.

There are several over the counter ways of treating plantar warts. Most are a combination of an adhesive bandage, and salicylic acid that helps to melt down the formation of the skin. Essentially, you can use corn and plantar wart treatments interchangeably since both tend to contain the same ingredients and will dissolve skin lesions. It’s important to make sure you cut the medicated patches to fit the wart, since the acid will take off healthy skin as well as any wart or corn tissue.

One of the tried and true home remedies for plantar warts is applying simple duct tape to the wart area for about a week to two weeks. Many people swear by this treatment, saying it truly reduces the warts. Some suggest adding a cotton ball soaked in apple cider vinegar directly over the wart to accelerate the healing process. If the duct tape comes off, you should replace it quickly. You may also want to soak the skin in hot water every couple of days.

Others suggest that using a patch of banana peel taped to the wart will help remove it. This may be an okay suggestion if you don’t have to fit your foot, banana peel and all into shoes, but it may be a little hard to attempt. Some suggest doing this at night when you’re sleeping and theoretically don’t need shoes.

One theory on removing plantar warts that emerges from time to time is that placing the foot in freezing cold water for 10-15 minutes may kill the virus and make the wart pliable enough to be scraped off with pumice. There’s not a lot of evidence to suggest this works, but it may be worth trying.

Since plantar warts are viral, they can easily spread on your feet and should be treated early. If the results you get from home remedies are not satisfactory, do see a doctor, preferably a podiatrist, who can burn or freeze the wart off, lessening the chance of warts spreading. Further, your warts are contagious to others. If you share a shower with roommates or family members, you should wear shower shoes. Additionally avoid getting a new round of the virus by using shower shoes in public showers, since this is often the source of initial contagion.