Chiropody

Our chiropodists offer a full range of treatments for foot problems such as:

• Athletes foot, Corns and calluses, Nail disorders, Bunions, Ingrown nails
• Difficult to cut nails, Diabetic foot care, Flat feet
• Verucca and related problems to name a few

David offers the latest verucca removal treatment that is painless yet effective, unlike, Cyro-surgery which may take 4 or 5 visits and may have the side effect of producing corns. David uses the Dentron Bio-Gun that is entirely pain free. It floods the infected area with a concentrated stream of electrically charged air particles. The result is that the verucca is burst.

Verruca (Wart) identification and the various treatments

Identification
Verrucae or warts can affect any part of the body where there is skin, not just hands and feet. Those on the weight-bearing areas of the foot normally remain flat, whilst those on non weight-bearing areas are usually lumpy and raised.

Warts that are lumpy can quickly be identified as the verruca virus as looking cauliflower-like with small dark spots when viewed under a magnifying glass. Identifying those on weight-bearing areas can be more difficult as people often consider they have a verruca when in fact they have a corn or a corn when it’s a verruca.
There is a simple, but not always conclusive, test that you can apply. When pressed a verruca does not normally give pain (but a corn does) when pinched a verruca will normally be sharply painful (a corn much less so).
A visual check should be made. A verruca will open the dermal ridges (finger print type lines) in the skin, best seen under a magnifying glass. The spots are not always visible. The ultimate test is to let a professional look at the area.

Treatments
This is where it gets tricky!

Because the verruca is a virus it can remain stubbornly in-situ whatever treatment is tried. The present rule of thumb is; if there is only one, and it’s not giving any pain, leave it alone. However if it gets larger, multiplies or is painful then treat it.

If you ask most people they will have an anecdote or two about how they or a relative treated their warts, these range from rubbing the wart with a dead frog and burying it in the garden (when the frog is decomposed the wart will disappear), through to cryosurgery in the GP’s surgery.

It is a fact that warts sometimes disappear with no treatment whatsoever but there are also people who have tried everything and the wart refuses to leave.

Today’s treatments range from topical treatments you can buy from the chemists such as bazooka or occlusal that contains salicylic acid, home cryosurgery kits, professionally applied cryosurgery, other electronic methods such as the Dentron Biogun or Radio therapy.

My own preferred treatment is a combination treatment paring the area to remove the dead skin that is protecting the virus, applying the Dentron Biogun for a few minutes then applying salicylic acid to the area. The patient is then given a treatment plan for continued home treatment until the virus is defeated. I use the word defeated on purpose as I consider it a war that you can’t afford to lose.

Why do I recommend combination treatment?
Any treatment is unlikely to be successful unless the area is pared sufficiently. Secondly, the Dentron Biogun is usually pain free and I have found it to be preferable to cryosurgery, particularly with children. Finally, making sure the patient understands the final stage is the correct application of salicylic acid is more likely to lead to a successful outcome than relying on one type of stand alone treatment.