so how do we treat plantar warts there are actually several different ways to treat them when there are so many different ways to treat something it usually means that nobody really knows how to get rid of them and that's the nature of viri or viruses i mean we know about the aids virus and the herpes virus and all these different viruses the poliovirus uh... and so viri have an uncanny ability to go into dormancy so you can treat them and then they'll go away and hide in then they'll resurface at a later date the favor treatments that i have in my clinic are two for children or for those that really don't want to have surgery we use two different medications and so one is a prescription one is a over-the-counter medication so they'll apply the medication to the warts once a day each day five days in a row and they'll cover the warts with duct tape and then after five days mom or dad will shave the wart for them and then they will start applying the second medication occluding it with the duct tape five days in a row then they come back into the office every two or three weeks and i shave them because i will always save the wart closer than mom or dad will and then eventually after a month or two the warts will go away sometimes we add orals uh... vitamin a and zinc because by viri do not like vitamin a and zinc so that we can get that uh... from the inside as well as the outside beyond that there are surgical treatments surgical excision of the warts can be done so this is done in the office of the local anesthesia so we numb up the area we scoop it out and then we cauterize it or or burn it if you will with an acid eighty nine percent phenol for instance this now creates a wound that has to heal and it will be a little bit sore for a week or two and you'll want to stay out of public waters lakes rivers etc so that you don't get an infection and there's a laser treatment available uh... as well so we use a ten sixty four YAG laser at a very high setting so that if it's just one wart most adults can tolerate uh... the laser treatment without anesthetic but if it several warts i'd recommend anesthesia because it does get so hot but this is a very nice procedure because there's no wound that's created the laser creates what we call a hematoma or a blood blister uh... and then the wart just kind of falls off so that's a very successful procedure as well