Debridement

Debridement is the removal of tissue that makes up a verruca as well as any overlying callus

What is debridement?

Debridement is a method of treatment that is used in podiatry to help remove the overlying tissue of a verruca and reduce any associated pain. A podiatrist will use scalpel to take off the top layers of the lesion either as a treatment on its own or prior to other treatments in order to prepare the area.

How does debridement work?

Debriding a verruca can help to treat it in a number of ways. A verruca may be debrided for the following reasons:

Prior to applying other forms of treatment such as salicylic acid. By reducing any overlying build-up of skin, the acid based treatment can penetrate the affected tissues more easily and with greater success
Debriding helps to remove any tissue that has been destroyed by acid treatments allowing further treatment to penetrate deeper into the lesion
If a verruca is surrounded by callus, the increased pressure can cause discomfort and therefore reducing this callus can help to provide relief from painful symptoms
Debriding the verruca so as to cause pinpoint bleeding which can work to stimulate the body's immune response to fight off the virus.

What are the benefits of debridement?

Debriding a verruca has the following benefits as a form of treatment;

It is usually a totally painless procedure
There is no risk of damaging the surrounding healthy tissues
Is a safer option for more at risk patients such as people with diabetes
It can be carried out in clinic
It does not require the use of local anaesthetic

Similar treatments/Services that could help

There are other verruca treatments available which may be offered depending on the outcome of a patient assessment. As with any verruca treatment intervention, nothing is 100% guaranteed to be effective, some treatments may work for some but not others. These alternative treatments include;

Watch and wait: if you have a verruca that is not painful, there is a chance the body kills the virus on its own. In the mean-time, your podiatrist can remove the overlying surface of the verruca. Sometimes the verruca may bleed during this, this is quite normal; it is due to the blood vessels (which appear as black dots) within the verruca bursting.

Salicylic acid

Needling (check with the office if this is available if interested)
SWIFT Microwave Treatment for Verruca (check with the office if this is available if interested)
Verrutop (available at all our clinics)
Debridement (available at all our clinics)
Occlusion
Surgical removal (with a surgeon)