Case Study: Successfully Using The Visit Treatment For Stubborn Plantar Warts
Meet Ralph
- 62 year old retired accountant
- Loves Travelling to the world with his wife
- Is enjoying his golf following retirement
Ralph first came to our clinic desperate for a solution to his plantar wart – and one that actually works! Since being diagnosed with a verruca by his GP back in 2012, the persistent wart had only continued to grow and now new smaller warts were appearing around it. Ralph was frustrated, he felt uncomfortable when he walked, and this was not ideal picture of retirement.
Ralph felt like he had tried everything. He tried:
- Creams from the chemist
- Pads from the chemist
- Freezing it six times
The result? No change.
Ralph’s goal was simple – to finally get rid of the warts.

Wart | Verruca | Verrucae Pedis
Warts, which are clinically known as Verrucae, appear after contact with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
This virus is often contracted from communal areas that combine bare feet and moist surfaces, such as public swimming pools, gyms and saunas. Once contracted, it stays in your system for your lifetime, and may present again with no warning or trigger. It is likely that Ralph contracted this virus in childhood, as many do, and it has now re-appeared all these years later.
Our Assessment
- Each wart assessment starts with one important step – confirming the diagnosis. This is because warts, corns and even foreign bodies embedded in the skin share a similar appearance, as well as similar symptoms – and we see plenty of mix-ups and inaccurate diagnoses every year!
Diagnosis
Yes, we clinically confirmed the presence of two plantar warts, and four satellite warts.
Satellite Warts
Small satellite warts grow around the larger plantar wart because the virus is usually present in a one centimetre radius around the original wart. When you treat the original wart, the satellite warts should also disappear
We debrided the top layer of the skin of the suspected warts and found:
Two large circular lesions under the left big toe with four smaller lessions
Pain on squeezing the lesions
Skin striations were not running through lesions but around them
Cauliflower-like skin appearance in the circumscribed lesion
Callus was overlying the lesions prior to debridement


Treating Warts Effectively
Due to the long-standing nature of the warts, it was highly unlikely that they would spontaneously resolve on their own. We discussed Ralph’s option and decided to go with a VISIT treatment. This particular treatment has over 75% success rate in resolving verruca infections.
The Visit Procedure
Local anaesthetic was applied to the larger two of Ralph’s warts and the multiple puncture technique was used while the toe was anaesthetised. This technique uses a small, fine needle to repeatedly puncture the wart directly, in order to generate a solid immune response to clear the infected tissue. After the treatement was completed, silver nitrate was applied to the warts. The surrounding area was dressed and padded so that ralph could continue to walk comfortably after the anaesthetic wore off.


Success!
At Ralph’s two week review, the four satellite warts had disappeared and the two larger lesions were healing well.
At six weeks, there was complete healing and no sign of any verrucas present.
It has now been four years since we first treated Ralph, and we see him regularly for general podiatry care unrelated to the warts. They have never returned.