Vertigo Causes

    Vertigo can be caused by problems in the brain or the inner ear.

• Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common form of vertigo and is characterized by the sensation of motion initiated by sudden head movements or moving the head in a certain direction. This type of vertigo is rarely serious and can be treated.
• Vertigo may also be caused by inflammation within the inner ear (labyrinthitis or vestibular neuritis), which is characterized by the sudden onset of vertigo and may be associated with hearing loss. The most common cause of labyrinthitis is a viral or bacterial inner ear infection.
• Meniere's disease is composed of a triad of symptoms including: episodes of vertigo, ringing in the ears (tinnitis), and hearing loss. People with this condition have the abrupt onset of severe vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, as well as periods in which they are symptom-free.
• Acoustic neuroma is a type of tumor of the nerve tissue that can cause vertigo. Symptoms include vertigo with one-sided ringing in the ear and hearing loss.

Vertigo Overview

      Vertigo is the feeling that you or your environment is moving or spinning. It differs from dizziness in that vertigo describes an illusion of movement. When you feel as if you yourself are moving, it's called subjective vertigo, and the perception that your surroundings are moving is called objective vertigo.
     Unlike nonspecific lightheadedness or dizziness, vertigo has relatively few causes.

Plantar Warts Overview, Causes and Treatment

Plantar Warts Overview

Plantar Warts Causes

Plantar Warts Symptoms and Signs

Plantar Warts When to Seek Medical Care

Plantar Warts Diagnosis

Plantar Warts Treatment and Self Care

Plantar Warts Medical Treatment

Plantar Warts Prevention and Follow Up

Plantar Warts Prognosis

Plantar Warts Prognosis

      Regardless of the home treatment or medical treatment used, a cure is not guaranteed. Warts may reappear at any time. Most therapies require several treatments and strict adherence to them. Work with your doctor or dermatologist to determine which therapy is right for you.

• In up to 60% of cases, plantar warts exhibit "spontaneous remission." This disappearance of the wart is because of the action of the body's immune system.
• Untreated, plantar warts may grow up to an inch across and spread into clusters. Since certain HPV types are oncogenic (able to produce invasive malignant cancers), it is possible that plantar warts can rarely become invasive malignancies. Any wart-like lesion on the sole of the foot that does not resolve after appropriate therapy and continues to enlarge should be biopsied and examined by a pathologist.
• A painful scar on the sole of the foot can pose an even more severe problem, which is why surgery is not the first choice of treatment.
• Many of these warts resolve within one to two years. While they last, though, the warts are ugly, irritating, and often painful. For these reasons, many podiatrists (foot specialists) recommend having plantar warts treated.
• Warts can grow back. This indicates a virus is still in the body and growing. However, this is not cause for undue alarm. The virus that causes plantar warts is relatively harmless and causes few problems. Warts can spread to other parts of the body, particularly if scratching a wart causes it to bleed. Blood from a wart contains the virus and can cause a new wart to grow in an area that it touches.
• Infection, pain, and scarring may result from overly aggressive home therapy penetrating beneath the skin surface. Pain can spread to other sites, and warts can be transmitted to others because of ineffective treatment.

Plantar Warts Prevention and Follow Up

Follow-up 

      Follow your physician's directions. Overuse of prescribed medicines can lead to damaging results.

Plantar Warts Prevention

• Avoid walking barefoot, except on sandy beaches. Use shower thongs or sandals, particularly in public shower rooms.
• Change shoes and socks daily.
• Keep your feet clean and dry.
• Check children's feet periodically.
• Avoid direct contact with warts from other people or from other parts of the body. Don't touch warts on other people. To keep from spreading warts, don't scratch them. Warts spread readily to small cuts and scratches.
• Do not ignore growths on, or changes in, your skin.
• Avoid sharing socks, shoes, and showering facilities.
• Protect the skin from injury, and wash hands frequently. Warts should be covered with waterproof tape in wet environments such as showers and swimming pools to avoid infecting yourself or others.

Plantar Warts Medical Treatment

     Doctors may choose from several different techniques for removing plantar warts.

• Acid: One of the most common methods is to burn warts off with a mild acid applied topically to the wart. Many applications may be required over the course of several weeks to achieve this, but the technique is highly successful. Salicylic acid and dichloroacetic (or trichloroacetic) acid are useful.

1. Other acid methods may be used.
   1.1.  Upton's paste: A piece of thick adhesive tape (such as Leukoplast), with a hole cut in the middle for the wart, is applied to the sole to isolate the wart. Upton's paste is applied to the wart, and the whole area is covered with a second piece of tape. This is kept dry and intact for one week. The wart is then pared (shaved down) and the paste reapplied until clearance occurs. Upton's paste consists of six parts salicylic acid and one part trichloroacetic acid in glycerin, mixed to a stiff paste (ordered by prescription).
   1.2.  Salicylic acid in white soft paraffin: A mixture of 40%-60% salicylic acid in white soft paraffin is applied daily after showering and covered with waterproof tape. You pare the wart once a week with a sharp blade.
   1.3.  Efudex (5-fluorouracil), although not an acid, is another topical ointment that can destroy wart tissue in a manner similar to chemotherapy for skin cancer.

Plantar Warts Treatment and Self Care

      Since warts generally go away on their own within months or years leaving no scar, treatment ought to be conservative, with destructive approaches being reserved after all else fails.

• For temporary relief of pain, place a doughnut-shaped piece of moleskin around the wart. This can be purchased at a drugstore.
• Since the source of discomfort in most symptomatic plantar warts is the thickened layer of horny skin between the nerve-bearing tissues and the ground, simple nontraumatic removal of this material is a good alternative. This can be accomplished with a pumice stone or some other type of abrasive material after the sole of the foot has been soaked in water for 20 minutes to soften the wart. Since the thickened keratin is identical to the keratin found in any callus, its painless, bloodless removal by carefully paring with a corn or callus trimmer is a reasonable alternative. People with diabetes or peripheral artery disease or individuals who have numbness due to peripheral neuropathy should avoid paring.
• Salicylic acid

1. Another technique to remove the excess keratin is an over-the-counter salicylic acid preparation, available at the pharmacy in liquid, gel, pad, or ointment form. Some familiar brand names are Dr. Scholl's Wart Remover, Compound W, Freezone, and Wart-Off. Be sure to follow package directions because over-application of these products can burn the skin. Periodically sand and retreat the wart. It can take several months to get rid of a large one using these treatments. Warts can spread, so monitor your feet closely and treat warts when they are small.