Surgery for Plantar Wart

No way!!!!! I worked as a CMA for Dermatology times 2 years......we saw plantars warts (mosiac) frequently in children. The warts are quite resilent to treatment, so consistent treatments (Liquid Nitro-in office) with a combination of topical treatments will effectively work and help the body recognize the virus in the long term treatment aspect.

Hope this helps......

I remember having plantars warts when I was 10 or 11. They cut them off and put acid in them when I was totally awake. It was O. of the worst pains I've ever felt, and I have had three kids with no drugs. It needs to get taken care of because they are a virus and they will get worse and spread. "putting him under" is the best option, you should be thankful you found a doctor who is compassionate enough to offer it.

Do it! I wish they put me out for my surgery! In high school I had a plantar's wart... I was scared of the surgery, so opted for the 'blister method.' (They paint this stuff on that makes a blister... you pop it and *poof*- the plantar's wart is gone). That was not the case... within a week I had a golf-ball sized formation on my foot... I walked with my foot at an angle for about a month trying to hide my condition. (too afraid of the surgery)

The in-office procedure WAS seriously painful............it's not the needle that hurts, but the stuff inside the needle to numb the area. (and the foot is about THE most sensitive area on the body) My Dad was holding me back from ripping the needle out of the doctor's hand... After my foot was numb, it was pretty easy........ and the surgery really brought me relief... I just see a tiny bit of raised scar tissue on the bottom of my foot, but nobody would know the difference.

Good luck!

I had a lot (6 on O. foot, 8-9 on the other) of major plantar warts from the time I was 5 until I was 15-16. I had them removed, tried the duct tape trick, freezing them off, the "medication" for them, the medicate pads, EVERYTHING. They would go away for a while, then come back. Finally, I found out that GARLIC will get rid of them for good! I noticed that they left after I started eating a ton of garlic dip (family recipe, but I would say that I was eating 1-2 cloves of garlic worth a week....) after about a month, all my warts just disappeared. Not O. of them has come back since. It makes sense, after I researched it I found out that Garlic is a REALLY strong antioxidant. You might try this route before going for surgery...

I was really nervous when they had to put my daughter out for her tubes in her years when she was 1, but it was over very quickly and the only side effect of the anesthesia was that she was really tired the rest of the day.

I think if my daughter's doctor said that surgery was the best route, I would go that way. It sucks, completely, but it will be over soon and then your son wont have to worry about the terrible wart on his foot.

I wouldn't do it (surgery). We just dealt with a plantar's wart with my 12 year old, and it was a hassle because he runs cross country. Anyway, we did what April M. suggested - Liquid Nitro in the office and topical treatments at home. It took a couple of months for it to work because like your son's, it was "a big O.." It did work, though, and is completely gone now. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Hi Denise. Warts are a drag. I would get the shot and have the doc cut it out.
I had them burned out and cut out when I was a kid-around 10 years old. The shot HURTS but only for a second. The burning method was more uncomfortable afterward (it was two warts together, very deep and took weeks to "fall out" after burning).

The cutting was instant relief for a big O. and gone for good and it was fun watching the doc cut it out (tomboy). I insisted on going straight to soccer practice after according to my mom. I don't think she let me. It was a little sore but just a little according to me. I would personally avoid the anesthesia.

My son has 2 warts. O. on his small toe and O. on his knee. We had our pediatrician do this freeze thing on it in the office which didn't bother my son much and medicine to put on it for 10 days that got rid of it. Try that first.

I would suggest a 2nd opinion from a Dermatologist.

With my son's wart, we did the in office freeze technique followed by eating lots more garlic in our diet and using either an aspirin or Vitamin C based home made paste, kept in place with duct tape. And we did the tape procedures EVERY DAY. Clean and DRY the area, file down with disposable files to clear out the dead cells and expose the new, take a sterilized pin, poke holes into the wart, then apply your paste or fingernail polish, covered with duct tape. I felt like I was treating a cancer, but it worked and it is gone and the skin is beautiful and they are not back.

Would it hurt to get a second opinion or could you bounce the podiatrist's opinion off your pediatrician? O. time a pediatric dentist wanted to put my daughter under to fill cavities (which did not exist but that's a whole another story...). I was not comfortable with it and talked to the pediatrician who asked me a battery of questions that needed to be considered from what kind of anesthesia would be used to did they have the proper sized equipment to resucitate (sp?) a small child. If this was a pediatric podiatrist then I suppose they would but it's something I wanted you to consider. Good luck making your decision!

I did have O. removed with a laser in the dr office. It did require a HUGE needle being put into my ankle to numb my foot. When they did it they must have said 100x's "Do not move while we do this". I doubt that a 7 year old would be able to keep still during that. It does hurt :-(

I've also done the topical acid, that did work, but it took a LONG time. I don't recall any pain with that. It was just annoying!

I would be really apprehensive to put my kiddo under for a planters wart too! Is it bothering him? They can be painful, mine were. Honestly, there really is no harm in not taking care of it right away. It will grow, but if it isn't bothering him I say - "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

I had this surgery done. I had two....O. on the ball of my foot up near my toes and O. on my heel. I was put under anesthesia. That part was no big deal, but the recovery was painful (mostly for the O. on my heel). Since they were so deep, there was basically a couple of holes in the bottom of my foot. Changing the bandages was excrutiating. They did go away, but then I was diagnosed with cancer and went through chemotherapy and they came back because my immune system couldn't fight off the virus. I refuse to go through another surgery (have had several related to the cancer this year), so I'm trying the duct tape thing now. I may eventually have to have it done again, but I just can't go down that road again yet.

All in all, I will say that it is likely the only way to get rid of them. I saw a dermatologist for a year trying to get rid of them and finally just decided to do the surgery. The O. on the ball of my foot didn't hurt bad at all, if that helps.

Also, my daughter had to go under anesthesia to have an endoscopy done once at age 3 and she did fine too. Good luck! It's so hard to put your kids through that kind of thing, isn't it?

I have had in office procedures to have warts removed many times, and it was hard for me to hold still during the pain and I was 16 and older I could only imagine haw hard it would be for a 7 yr old. If he has gotten a wart now he is more prone to them so he will get many in his life time and being put under keeps him from being tramatized from the treatment I would do it in a heart beat.

If your doc is recommending to put him to sleep I would do it. Not the same thing but I had a cortisone shot in my foot 2 wks ago. I actually screamed so loud the receptionist in the waiting room could hear me. I was so embarrassed but the doc said the foot has the most nerve ending... The receptionist said you all scream when getting the shot. I delivered my 3 rd child w/out any drugs and I can tell you I never screamed like that from pain. I certainly would not want him to have a traumatic experience at the hands of a doctor at such a young age. Good luck!

I haven't read through the responses, so forgive me if I repeat but if you believe it is something that needs to be removed, than I would do it. I would go to a children's outpatient surgical center for my child. My son had his tonsils out this past summer, he was 5, and I felt completely confident that he was in very capable hands, I am feeling like that is your worry - the anesthesia?

If he is in pain, having trouble walking etc I would call the nearest children's surgical center and set up an appointment with the appropriate surgeon. Then you also get to ask about the anesthesia too. What kind, how long etc etc.

I had a plantars wart near the ball of my foot for a while when I was in college. First they tried to use dry ice and scoop it out, but it came back even worse. They were going to try surgery and then someone told me to soak it in hot water and tea tree oil (a few drops) 15 minutes at night for a week or two. I did that and then within about 8 weeks it was gone - no surgery! It hasn't come back since. Just a thought on alternatives. I know it can be painful, I hope it gets resolved easily!

I had O. that big (if not bigger) on the heel of my foot and then a smaller O. on the ball of my foot (both at the same time). I was a teen then but I do have small feet. They can be quite painful.

My doctor never recommended surgery. He did the acid on both. The larger O. took multiple treatments before it all was gone. The skin is then very sensitive. With a 7 yr old, you may want to go ahead and go with the method that will take care of it all at once.

My son had to be put under when he was like 9 because of a rock in his ear. No problems. They gave him just enough to put him out for just a few minutes. I am sure they would give your son the least amount as possible to put him under.

How big is a "big O."? I have had Plantar warts on my feet of all sizes on and off since I was 13. I've had them removed with acid and with burning/freezing. Sometimes they would stay gone and sometimes (no matter how painful the treatment, and it was always painful) they grew right back. You might get rid of this O., but it's likely he will get more, as some of us are prone to these and some people aren't. (No O. else in my family has ever had O. despite sharing showers and bathroom floors for decades.)

What I eventually found out, through experience, is that sometimes they go away completely on their own. I've had that happen.

I now have O. on the ball of my foot. It's been there for several years. I will NOT ever go to a Dr. again about a Plantar wart, because of my previous painful experiences. If mine bothers me, I use over-the-counter salicylic acid on it once or twice, then remove the dead skin and it's better.

If your son's wart doesn't cause him pain and is not spreading (creating more new warts) you can choose to leave it alone. If it is causing pain, the cause of the pain is the dead skin on top of the wart, not the wart itself. It feels like you have a small stone in your shoe. You can scrape this dead skin off after a bath quite easily (and also the OTC treatments will loosen this dead skin).

I would not put my child under anesthesia for a Plantar wart. I would use duct tape again, or other OTC treatments.

Give this a shot first. Take the sap from the stem of a dandelion and put it on the wart 2x daily. You'll see the wart turn black, then eventually fall off. Worked for me on a wart that kept returning after doc treatments.

There is a 'wives' tale' of rubbing a raw potato on warts, tossing the potato in the back yard. As the potato rots the warts go away. Sounds crazy...I thought so too. I tried everything under the sun, OTC treatments, dermatologist freezing and medicine and nothing helped. The potato was a last resort and it worked. Here is another interesting link with more home remedies.

http://susangaer.com/studentprojects/warts.htm