They are pesky little things aren’t they? If you have ever wondered what they are and how to treat them, then here is some information for you.
Verruca or verrucae are a viral wart caused by an infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). A wart is very prominent and sticks out, whereas a verruca tends to become depressed into the foot as it is on a weight bearing surface.
A verruca tends to have a rough feel on the surface of the skin, may have an irregular shape and may have pinpoint blood vessels throughout the lesion. There are many different categories of verruca- some are a single lesion, others may be in a group. We have included the DermNetNZ link for more information for you. https://dermnetnz.org/topics/viral-wart
When treating verruca, we need to activate the immune response. There are several methods that the Podiatrist will discuss with you.
Spirularin Verrucae Serum is our most gentle approach and works extremely well for children and pregnant women. You can locate more information about this product here. 
Another option is the Falknor’s Needling Method. It is a surgical method and the needling technique works by stimulating the body’s immune system to clear the infected viral cells. Because the virus is confined to the top layer of the skin (epidermis), the bodies immune system may not have detected it. We try to push the virus material further into the skin to generate an inflammatory response and kickstart your immune system. The method uses a very thin needle to repeatedly puncture the wart. Over the following week, the plantar wart undergoes a natural deterioration before ultimately disappearing.
The benefits of dry needling include:
- Only one session usually required, unlike cryotherapy, silver nitrate or salicylic acid which requires multiple visits
- It is performed using local anaesthetic
- The procedure is completed simply in-clinic
- No need to take any additional time off work/school
- We monitor your progress to ensure good healing
- The reported success rates of dry needling are around 70%, compared to standard cryotherapy which is around 15%
As stated above, Local Anaesthetic will be administered to numb the region. Please discuss with your podiatrist if you wish to consider this option.
And each time we host a student, we are grateful for our wonderful clients- yes- you- for letting them participate in your foot care. And special mention goes to those that consented to the student assisting with their surgeries. Without willing participants, our students wouldn’t have the absolute immersion experience that we thrust them into.
I attended a seminar with the Auckland branch of Sports Medicine NZ for an evening where practitioners shared their “Clinical Pearls”. 