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Verrucas

How you can tell if you have a verruca and what verrucas look like, with pictures of veruccas and treatment advice from Masucci Podiatry.

What causes a verruca on the foot?

A verruca or verrucas (verrucae) is caused by a virus that enters the skin through a cut or scrape. The virus, or infection, is contagious and can be picked up particularly in communal showers at gyms, swimming pools or at exercise classes such as yoga where no training shoes are required.

Verrucas are common in children. As adults we can build some immunity against verrucas; however they are still prevalent in adults. It is possible to have a single verruca or have several verrucas.

Warts can be extremely persistent despite treatment.

What verrucas look like

As you can see from the pictures, verrucas are growths on the soles of the feet. Verrucas often have a black dot or black dots on them. Sometimes verrucas grow together in a cluster, sometimes a callus will grow around the cluster and over the top of the verrucas.

Why is a verruca painful and what happens if it is not treated?

It is painful due to the pressure placed on the foot when walking as the verruca moves further into the foot and is compressed into the foot
It is painful because the surrounding callosity makes the area hard and therefore uncomfortable to walk on
The black dots on the verruca show that it is bleeding into the foot
If left untreated, the pain will continue