What are Verrucae?

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Verrucae can be painful and embarrassing for many people. They are also notoriously difficult to get rid of with a whole plethora of treatments available, most of which have poor clinical effectiveness. Verrucae or plantar warts to be more correct are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) they are benign and normally pose no risk to health.

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When making any decision regarding a treatment modiality, it will always be depndant on each individual case, plus taking your lifestyle and expectation into consideration. There are no 100% guarantees with any treatment offered, although some have a much better chance of a good outcome.

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HPV infection is not generally considered to be indicative of a weakened immune system in an otherwise healthy person either. The fact is that the HPV virus simply infects the skin cells that form the upper/outer layers of the skin where the immune system cannot recognise its presence, the virus also alters the local immune response within these cells so making itself difficult fo the immune system to detect it. Once the HPV virus becomes established the infected cells multiply forming the typical wart. Verrucae are therefore contagious because the infection can spread through shedding of infected cells which are naturally shed from the surface of the skin.

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What does treatment aim to achieve?

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Most treatments are aimed at causing an inflammatory response in the outer layer of the skin, in the hope that the immune system will respond. The facts are that this doesn't always happen that easily!

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As a rule most verrucae will eventually go on their own, however in some individuals this can take an awful long time and in the mean time the verrucae can be a nuisance and/or painful.

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What is Falknor's Needling?

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Falknor's needling is an innovative and effective treatment for verrucae (plantar warts).

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Needling is a form of soft tissue therapy which is intended to break down the verruca and create a controlled inflammatory response, with the result that the body's own immune system will recognise the virus and destroy it.

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This treatment modality has been around for over 45 years, and has been used with great success by many practitioners internationally.

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Needling is different from most other treatments offered such as caustics, which often entails numerous applications to be made to be effective as it only requires one or occasionally two applications which makes this an ideal treatment for busy people. It is a specialised treatment and is only perfomed by Poditrists who can administer local anaesthetic and have been trained in the technique.

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As with any verrucae treatment modality, it is not suitable for everyone. A full medical history is always carried out prior to any treatment which will reveal any contraindications. Every patient is carefully assessed before any treatment is suggested, with safety always being the most important factor.

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The treatment entails simply puncturing the verruca with an empty sterile needle multiple times. This is completely painless as the area is numbed using local anaesthetic. In the majority of people there is no discomfort felt following the procedure, with a few experiencing some mild soreness the following day.

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Following treatment a dry dressing is applied over the treated verruca which only has to be kept dry and in place for 24 hours. After this time you can shower/bath as normal. Dressings can usually be dispensed with completely after 2 days normally, so there is minimal disruption to your daily life.

 

The verruca is puntured allowing viral particles to reach the fatty tissue beneath the skin where the body's immune regulators are. This leads to the immune system recognising and responding by destroying the virus that causes the verruca.

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If needling is suitable for you the whole procedure will be carefully explained, and on the day of the treatment, if you still wish to go ahead, once the consent form is signed treatment will commence. Of course you can change your mind and not go ahead.

 

Following needling the verrucae you will be booked in for a review one week following the initial treatment, then another appointment is made for approx 6-8 weeks after this and a third one 6-8 weeks hereafter for another review. In many cases the verrucae will have started to regress or may already have gone. In some cases thought, this can take up to 6 months. If there are no signs of any change a second treatment can be undertaken. In the majority of cases there is complete resolution after 6 months has elapsed. Every person is different so no two people have exactly the same response to treatment.

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