A very common question people encounter is they come upon a growth on the bottom of their foot and they cannot tell if it is a callus or a wart. Wart’s and callus each look a lot a like. They cause similar pain and well they kind of look white to the layman’s eye. So how does one tell whether they have a callus or a plantar wart? Well it’s not easy but I have attempted to answer that question by listing five ways you can tell the difference between a plantar wart or callus:
1. This is the easiest way to tell the difference between a plantar wart or callus: Black Dots. Warts have black dots in the middle which is basically a sign of the presences of the virus. If you see black dots in the center that means you have a wart. Now you might have to use a pumice stone to grind down the hypertrophic tissue (white covering) that is over the wart to see the black dots. But if you see black dots you have a plantar wart.
2. Bleeding: If you start to trim off the dead tissue, warts tend to bleed a lot. Calluses, however, do not bleed much. So if the place on your foot tends to bleed a lot then you are probably dealing with a wart and not a callus.
3. Pain: Warts almost always hurt more than callus. Especially if you squeeze the wart that can elicit a lot of pain. So, yes pain is a sign that you are dealing with a callus and not a wart.
4. Location: Warts can basically appear anywhere on the foot, whereas calluses tend to congregate in weight bering areas. For example, do you have a bunion? If you do that would mean you are more likely to have a callus under your big toe. Callus often appear under metatarsal heads. But if the area in question appears on the top of your toes that is almost always a wart.
5. Spreading: Calluses don’t spread. Warts do spread. Warts are viruses. If you have five or so spots then yes you are probably dealing with a wart. You will never see like five small calluses in a spot but with warts all the time that can occur.
By the way if you are still unsure after reading this article, just go with a product that treats warts AND Calluses.