LET’S TALK VERRUCAS!
What is a Verruca? A verruca is a virus, part go the HPV family, they can be very stubborn and difficult to treat. The virus would have had to enter not the skin via an opening such as a cut, the most common places to pick up verrucas are public settings such as swimming pools and gym changing rooms. A verruca will happily sit in the skin until the body recognises the virus is there and internally treats it, which can happen on its own but it often takes many years for that to happen, this is why having a treatment like swift can speed up the process.
What is Swift Microwave Therapy? Swift is a non-invasive treatment for verrucas. It uses microwave therapy to stimulate an immune response within the body. This is vital as a verruca is a virus, so stimulating an immune response within the body will allow the body to fight the virus internally.
How does Swift work? Swift delivers a precise, highly controlled energy dose that rapidly elevates tissue temperature. The microwave energy travels into the tissue and creates a highly accurate zone of treatment. This treated tissue is quickly repaired, replaced and regenerated. Swift activates immune signalling pathways in the body, alerting the immune system to the presence of the verruca, and in turn, the body will fight the virus it has been alerted to. A swift session is very quick, the probe is applied for 2 seconds at a time, for 5-10 times per verruca. It can cause slight discomfort during the appointment as we are trying to generate heat to the verruca, however, once the treatment is over, there is no long lasting side effects such as pain. On average, you will need 3-4 sessions, spread 4 weeks apart. Those with large or long standing verrucas will often need more treatment sessions as they can be very stubborn. If you have multiple verrucas, there isn’t always the need to treat every single verruca, we can focus on the larger / most long standing verruca and when an immune response is triggered, the body is clever enough to recognise all the verrucas as they are all from the same viral infection. One of the benefits to swift is, if you verruca is painful, decrease in pain tends to be the first noticeable change that patients report to us.
What is the success rate of Swift? For a non-invasive treatment, swift has a very high success rate from the clinical evidence. After 3 treatments, the success rate is 74% and after 4 or more treatments, the success rate increases to 82%. If you compare this to acid treatments both over the counter and clinic acids, the success rate sits at 50%.
What happens after the treatment? As Swift is a non invasive treatment (it does not break the skin) once the treatment is finished, you can carry on your day as normal. There is no dressings needed for post treatment, as we are not creating a wound, there is also no need to perform any intervention is between appointments.
Am I a suitable candidate for swift? There is a strict criteria for patients to be able to qualify for swift treatments. This can be discussed with one of HCPC registered podiatrists in your appointment, some points include:
– Immunocompromised individuals
– Patients who have lower limb metal work
– People with a low pain threshold
Benefits of Swift
– Does not break the skin
– No need for bandages or dressings
– After treatment continue your day as normal
– High success rate
If you have a stubborn verruca that you can not get rid of, its time to book an appointment to see one of experienced podiatrists to kick start your journey to verruca free feet, just in time for summer!
Book online www.active-feet.co.uk or by calling us on 0131 629 2029
