Plantar Warts and Verrucas are the result of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) and commonly occur on hands or feet. The virus induces the growth of a small bump or plate. These are harmless but can be unsightly, cause embarrassment, and sometimes cause discomfort.
Warts will normally go away by themselves after a few years, or there are various ways to treat them. Topical applications are available from pharmacies but these are messy and time consuming and often don’t work. Other methods are to freeze them off with liquid nitrogen, known as Cryotherapy. This often needs repeated treatments and recovery time is significant. Another method is minor surgery where they are scraped off using an electrosurgical device. This is fairly aggressive and unpleasant and requires a prolonged recovery period.
Laser offers a very effective alternative to these techniques and is fast and simple with a relatively short recovery time. This treatment is fairly aggressive. A burst of high power Pulsed Nd:YAG laser is used at the 1064 wavelength. This induces a deep thermal effect which kills the virus directly, and also zaps the underlying blood supply to the wart depriving it of further nourishment.
The wart will turn darker, and may go black, before reducing or falling away over the next one to three weeks. Very rarely a blister may form. A powerful vacuum extractor is used at the treatment site to remove any airborne viral bodies released by the treatment, and masks must be worn by both customer and operator to avoid inhalation of HPV.
This is a NEW SERVICE, so we’re lacking before and after pics and video. But we know it works because we’ve tried it on ourselves and a couple of customers who have been in for other treatments. These will be added soon!
Please note that there are lots of different types of HPV. Genital warts or warts on mucous membranes are usually different and not something we offer treamtent for. We recommend you see your GP in the first instance for these complaints and would urge you to get medical advice promptly.
Warts and Verrucas normally respond in 1 to 3 treatments. Please see Prices for a guide to costs.
We use our pulsed Nd:YAG laser in burst mode with a very high energy density setting and a relatively short pulse width to deliver repeating bursts of thermal laser to heat deep into the infected tissue. Only a medical grade pulsed laser can deliver the required power and snap to make this effective.
Clients have told us that other clinics attempt to remove warts using Q-Switch tattoo removal lasers, or RF microwave devices. Despite some eye wateringly high prices for these procedures we don’t believe they work very often, which is why they come to us for definitive treatment.
Probably. Small warts tend to go in one treatment. Large, deep and extensive infected lesions often need more.
Probably not. It’s important that we completely kill all of your infected lesions through repeated treatments if necessary. Partially treated warts or verrucas may re-establish themselves in time so it’s important to maintain momentum and hit them again if required at 4 week intervals. If we treat and kill all of your active lesions we can reduce the likelihood of further breakouts, but further manifestations of the HPV virus may occur again in the future in a fairly unpredictable way.
Yes, this treatment does hurt. It’s probably our most aggressive service. We are essentially inducing a therapeutic thermal injury. An intense focal hot sensation will be felt under the laser, and the site will feel warm, tingly and tender for some time afterwards.
Recovery generally takes 1 to 3 weeks. The treated area may take on a burnt appearance and will be red and swollen.
Infected material will break down over time, scabs may form and some oozing from the site may be seen. Exudate can be messy and is potentially infectious so we recommend the use of some kind of absorbent dressing on the site if it responds in this way.
When large or deep warts dissolve and fall away, a significant hollow or socket may be left in the skin which was previously occupied by the HPV infected material. This may take a number of months to remodel and sort itself out, but this is a result of the infection not the treatment of the infection itself.
Laser is light, clean sterile light amplified to a very high energy. It is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. We have a number of different lasers at our disposal to perform a number of aesthetic procedures. See Technology.
Detailed directions to the Highland Laser Clinic can be found on the Find Us page.
There are 2 designated parking places, one right in front on the clinic, and one up the side of Birchwood house. Please take care not to obstruct access to our neighbour. Please note that our neighbour has a collie dog, who might shout at you a bit (it’s her job), but she's a sweetie really.
The clinic entrance is round to the left hand side of the house near the wooden fence.
We do not have a waiting room facility, so if you’re early or in the rare instance that we have an appointment over running, you may have to wait in your car.
If the blinds are closed in the clinic room, we are probably busy with another customer.
We sit down and discuss the procedure and how it all works. We talk about outcomes, side effects, risk factors and how to achieve the results you want. We aim to be completely transparent and open in these discussions and advise you to the best of or abilities, even if that is to recommend that you do not proceed with treatment with us.
Consultation is free. Once all your questions have been answered you can then choose to proceed with patch testing, or you can go away and think about it, or decide then and there that treatment is not for you. It’s up to you. There is no hard sell.
YES. Patch testing is part of the terms of our insurance and is compulsory before any treatment without exception. Patch testing is normally charged at £30 per site.
Normally we would say yes, but in these pandemic times we are trying to minimise the number of people visiting the clinic. You can bring someone with you if you have a good reason to but please discuss this with us first. For safety reasons, children can not be in the clinic during laser treatment under any circumstances.
Highland Laser Clinic has the facility to take payment from a wide range of debit and credit cards, by using your phone, or using direct transfer to our bank using Bacs. We no longer accept American Express. You can pay as you go for each treatment individually. For some courses of treatment you can pay in advance for a block of 6 sessions for a 10% discount. We do not offer credit terms.
Detailed aftercare instructions are provided after your first treatment and an aftercare document is provided for reference. This is also emailed to you after treatment.
We are always available for post-treatment advice. If you have any issues we may ask you to come in for review. We never charge for any follow up appointments, only for treatment sessions.
Yes. Our clients are really busy people and we fully respect that. We make it it easy to reschedule appointments at short notice so that if something unexpected comes up folk can change their booking. There is a personalised RESCHEDULE link on your confirmation email that is unique to your booking and will take you to an online diary to choose another time and date. If you no longer have the confirmation email for that booking you will need to contact us so that we can arrange it for you.
However, we are really busy people as well and do demand a certain degree of reliability. If customers repeatedly reschedule, particularly with less than 48 hours notice, we may ask for a non-refundable deposit or payment up front to confirm their booking.
Yes. If you need to cancel your appointment because you no longer require treatment with us, or if you do not yet know the date you are able to reschedule to, you can use the personalised CANCEL link on your confirmation email that is unique to your booking. If you no longer have the confirmation email for that booking you will need to contact us so that we can arrange it for you.
If customers repeatedly cancel, particularly with less than 48 hours notice, we may ask for a non-refundable deposit or payment up front to confirm future bookings.
Please contact us with any additional questions you might have.
Do not apply fake tan / self tanning products to the area. We can not treat you if these products are on or next to your wart / verruca
• Wash area well, wear clean socks if applicable
• Avoid swimming in chlorinated water immediately before treatment
• Don’t be hungry, or thirsty, don't be hung-over or just worked a nightshift
• You may choose to take paracetamol an hour before treatment to help mitigate treatment associated pain if that’s a safe drug for you to use, but please do not consume aspirin, ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAID’s)
• Please do not have any kind of product on the area to be treated on the day of treatment, including fake tan
• We will apply aloe vera gel liberally to the treated area immediately after treatment
• Treated areas may be grey or black and swollen
• Some scabbing to the area is possible
• Avoid strenuous activity such as gym sessions and sports following laser treatment
• Do not pick scratch or otherwise irritate the treated area
• Wash the area gently at least daily and apply Savlon
• Avoid all heat treatments including hot baths, saunas, steam rooms and hot showers directly on the treated area
• No swimming in chlorinated water
• Some tenderness may be felt for the first 2 weeks
• Necrotised infected tissue should begin to slough away. Your wart / verruca may ooze slightly and an absorbent dressing may be indicated for this
• All infected material should have finished falling away. A red hollow or socket may remain where the lesion used to be. Your skin should remodel over the next few weeks to heal this
• If you can still feel a firm lump under the skin, the wart / verruca may be still active and require further treatment
• Repeat treatment should be made 4 weeks after previous treatment if required