I was 17 in high school when I discovered I had plantar warts the size of dimes on both of my feet. Our school has a swimming pool (which the students are REQUIRED to take swimming classes). I had contracted plantar warts on my feet from walking around the pool area. Drug-store plantar wart removers didn’t work. Tape didn’t work. The school MD said I HAD to see my family MD about it. I had laser surgery to remove all 5 plantar warts. I had to throw away my shoes, soak my feet in lukewarm water and vinegar and buy new sneakers. But the surgery did not do the trick! Weeks later I still had the warts! So my mother scheduled me to have the warts surgically cut out.

On the night before my surgery, I sat in my livingroom chair with alcohol, tweezers and toenail clippers. I cleaned my skin and my instruments with the alcohol, cut away the dead skin surrounding the wart. Then I used the tweezers to pluck out the splinter-like shards of the wart that protruded from the warts. It was painful when I yanked them out! I saw some blood on the ends of them. But I removed them and the next day, the surgeon looked at my feet and told me I didn’t have to have surgery! He was surprised that I did such “nice work” even though I was just 17! He even suggested that I become a surgeon

My advice is don’t go barefoot in public places and don’t wear other people’s shoes (bowling, borrowing shoes…)And don’t let the warts spread. Get rid of them as soon as you spot them, and get rid of those shoes. Sanitize your floors, too. I never wear anyone else’s shoes or go barefoot other than my own home. It’s been 21 years since I had the warts and they haven’t come back. GOOD LUCK!