I had met Jennifer as part of her other work at the estimable Guildford Foot Clinic. I had two large, longstanding and virulent verrucae that simply were not shifting. Other Podiatrists in the City of London had failed to make any impression other than sizable inroads into my bank balance. The ladies of Guildford Foot Clinic certainly started to reverse the growth of the verrucae and in fairness probably were well on the way to killing the smaller of the two. However, the larger verruca was so big that it would have entailed attacking it one quarter at a time and I despaired slightly as to how long this would take and indeed the likelihood of any success.
The larger verruca was the size of a 50p piece – was mosaic in construction and was proud off the surface of the skin by two/three mm. It felt like I was standing on a golf ball – it was sore and unsightly. It looked ANGRY and made me self-conscious – especially if on holiday on a sun lounger. I would make an effort to ensure it was out of sight.
Jennifer suggested to me that I visit her at her own Podiatry Clinic to take a new approach – i.e. laser treatment. Her colleagues at GFC were fine with this switch and were very civilized about the whole process to their enormous credit.
Jennifer explained the treatment very clearly; that it might not work but she was confident that it would. She felt that it might need three or four visits but that it might need more. To be honest I did not really care – I just wanted them both gone. I still remained a little sceptical as I had had so many disappointments over the previous three years, however, Jennifer seemed very positive.
I should point out to the uninitiated that there is pain involved, however, unlike for example freezing which can leave residual pain for a couple of days thereafter – the laser imparts an intense and yet short-lived pain per zap – and in any given session Jennifer may have zapped between 50 and a 100 times – difficult to say how many. In addition as the wart reduces in size and the core comes more to the surface – there is not as much protective hard skin and the pain is worse and at times fleetingly uncomfortable. Jennifer is aware of this; checks regularly to ensure that all is OK and becomes very adept at gauging what level of pain you can cope with. However, keep your eye on the prize – the pain is worth it – especially when these monsters start to disappear.
After the first couple of sessions I did not notice any great change, however, after the third visit – there were two week breaks between visits – the smaller verruca was effectively gone and half the monster on the ball of my foot simply fell off. I think three more visits later – and both were gone and have not come back.
Suffice to say -the whole experience of dealing with Jennifer was fantastic. It had come to the point where I thought they would never leave and the larger verruca was actually starting to impact on the way I walked. Now they are both dead and gone – Jennifer Clayton is a star.
So – if you get bad verrucae – don’t despair – go and visit Jennifer and get them zapped. There is only one winner.
Nick from Guildford
Note from Podiatrist: Nick chose not to have a local anaesthetic as he was driving to and from a fair distance and could handle the discomfort. Local anaesthesia is available and most commonly in the form of a tibial block (numbs the bottom of the foot). All other areas can also be locally anaesthetised to ensure a comfortable treatment.