Plantar warts can be embarrassing, painful, and difficult to treat. If this is your first experience or you’ve had recurring foot warts, we’re pleased to announce a new treatment that’s faster, safer, and more effective for treating warts—Swift.

This treatment replaces painful chemical peels, cryotherapy, or surgery, the only treatments available until now.

What is Swift and How Does It Work?

Warts are stubborn because they hide from your body’s immune system. Swift, is an advanced technology, which identifies and eradicates them. It uses immune therapy to treat your warts. FDA cleared in 2019, we are thrilled to be the first office in Seattle to offer this cutting-edge treatment.

Swift delivers low-powered microwave energy through a special probe to target and destroy the cause of warts—HPV or Human Papilloma Virus. This ingenious system heats up water molecules within the wart exposing the virus to your immune system. This allows your immune system to recognize the virus as foreign and destroy it. Once it’s destroyed, the wart disappears.

Patient Testimonial

 

swift treatment for warts before and after photosWhat To Expect From Treatments With Swift

You’ll receive your first Swift treatment the same day you come in. It takes on average 3 treatments for Swift to work most effectively. These treatments are spaced 4 weeks apart to give your immune system time to do its job.

Is It Painful?

Chemicals and cryotherapy for warts can be very painful. Fortunately, with Swift treatment any pain you feel is sharp and short, like an injection. Some people feel no pain at all. Any pain you might feel typically lasts only 3 or 4 seconds. You might experience some soreness afterwards.

For patients with low tolerance to pain, we offer a TENS unit and/or a local anesthetic.

Will It Leave A Wound or A Scar?

Traditional treatment for plantar warts can be messy, leave a wound, and scar.  The Swift System does not break the skin, so you're unlikely to experience any wounds or damage. However, you may react to the treatment itself which can leave some changes to the skin. 

Is There Downtime?

Another great thing about the Swift system, there is absolutely no downtime. Because we don’t break the skin or use messy peels, once you leave the office you can go about your daily activities with no restrictions.

swift microwave therapy for plantar wartsHow Long Does It Take?

Swift is fast! The treatment takes only takes 2-3 seconds so your visits will be quick, under 15 minutes.

How Safe Are Microwaves?

Very safe. There are no reactions or side effects and the treatment is non-invasive (we don’t break the skin) so there is no risk of infection. The microwaves only travel 3mm into your skin so its localized.

Is It Safe for Kids?

Swift treatment is safe for everyone. It's a great treatment for kids because pain is minimal and doesn't last.

comparison between Swift Wart therapy and old wart therapiesHow Effective is Swift?

Wart treatments that use chemicals or supercooled liquids are imprecise. It’s difficult to know how deep the treatment is going, and so often podiatrists treat too little to prevent tissue damage. That can mean more treatment sessions to get rid of your warts. Swift delivers a much more precise, high-controlled energy dose without damaging tissue. Treated tissue is quickly repaired, replaced, and regenerated. As a result, Swift is a highly effective treatment for warts, with an 85% success rate and less than 1% recurrence rate.

Compare this to older destructive methods (chemicals, freezing, and surgery) that have a 30-40% effectiveness rate with a 20% chance of recurrence. The recurrence rate is much higher because the virus is not destroyed and lingers. 

Who Should Receive Swift Treatment?

Think you have a wart? Don’t wait to get it treated. The longer you wait, the longer your wart will persist. Here are some signs and symptoms of warts:

  • Feeling like you’re walking on pebbles
  • Skin lesions that look rough, grainy, gray or brown with flecks of black in the center
  • The skin lesion is painful or bleeding.
  • Pain when you compress the sides of the skin lesion
  • Discomfort, pain, and burning when you stand, walk, or run
  • You’ve tried over-the-counter medications and they haven’t worked.
  • You’re tired of receiving painful, scarring treatments for warts such as chemicals or freezing.

Ready to get rid of your warts? Call us today at 206-368-7000 or request an appointment online.

Dr. Rion Berg
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A podiatrist in North Seattle treating families for over 40 years.