Removing the wart with surgery electrosurgery, curettage, laser surgery. Health Tools Health Tools help you make wise health decisions or take action to improve your health. Decision Points focus on key medical care decisions that are important to many health problems. Warts: Should I Treat Warts? Cause A wart develops when a human papillomavirus HPV infects the outer layer of skin and causes the skin cells to grow rapidly. Can common warts on hands or fingers be spread to the genitals and cause genital warts?
But common warts don't cause the type of genital warts that lead to high-risk cancers. Symptoms Warts occur in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Common warts usually appear singly or in groups on the hands, although they may grow on any part of the body. They usually are rough, gray-brown, dome-shaped growths. Plantar warts can develop on any part of the foot. As the callus and wart get larger, walking can become painful, much like walking with a pebble in your shoe. When pressure from standing or walking pushes a plantar wart beneath the skin's surface, a layer of thick, tough skin similar to a callus develops over it.
Sometimes dark specks are visible beneath the surface of the wart. Flat warts are usually found on the face, arms, or legs. They are small usually smaller than the eraser on the end of a pencil.
There are usually several in one area. They have flat tops and can be pink, light brown, or light yellow. Flat warts are often spread by shaving. Filiform warts , a kind of flat wart, can grow around the mouth, nose, and beard area. The surface of this type of wart has many flesh-colored, finger-shaped growths. Periungual warts are found under and around the toenails and fingernails.
They appear as rough, irregular bumps. What Happens Human papillomaviruses can live on healthy skin without causing infection. A wart can take many months to grow before it becomes visible. Warts, particularly newer ones, are easily spread. They can spread to other parts of the body or to other people. Plantar warts can be pushed beneath the skin's surface by pressure from standing and walking. A thickening of the skin slowly forms over most of the wart and looks and feels like a callus.
Periungual warts can affect nail growth. It may be hard to get rid of warts after they develop. But they generally go away on their own within months or years.
Just before warts disappear on their own, they may turn black. Your age. Warts occur most often in children and young adults. As you get older, you may find that you get fewer warts or that your warts go away. Walking barefoot on moist surfaces, as in public showers and locker rooms and around swimming pool areas. Sharing towels, razors, and other personal items with a person who has warts.
Biting your nails or cuticles. Wearing closed or tight shoes that cause sweaty feet. When To Call See your doctor if: You aren't sure if a skin growth is a wart. If you are older than age 60 and have never had warts, consider seeing your family doctor or other health professional to check for skin cancer. Nonprescription home treatment isn't successful after 2 to 3 months. Warts are growing or spreading rapidly despite treatment. Signs of bacterial infection develop, including: Increased pain, swelling, redness, tenderness, or heat.
Red streaks extending from the area. Discharge of pus. A plantar wart becomes too painful to walk on. You have diabetes or peripheral arterial disease and you need treatment for a wart on a leg or foot. You have warts on your genitals or around the anus. For more information, see the topic Genital Warts.
Watchful waiting Watchful waiting is a period of time during which you and your doctor observe your symptoms or condition without using medical treatment. Who to see Warts can be diagnosed and treated by most health professionals, including: Nurse practitioners. Physician assistants. Family medicine doctors. Exams and Tests Warts are usually diagnosed based only on their appearance.
Treatment Overview Not all warts need to be treated. You may decide to treat a wart if it is: Painful. Easily irritated. Growing or spreading to other parts of your body or to other people. Treating the warts yourself Many people don't treat warts unless they are unsightly or painful. You can treat warts yourself with: Salicylic acid. Duct tape tape occlusion. Getting treatment from your doctor Your doctor can treat warts with: Cryotherapy.
For more information, see Other Treatment. Medicines, such as retinoid cream, cantharidin, or imiquimod. Surgery, such as electrosurgery and curettage and laser surgery. Chemical peels with glycolic acid, tretinoin, or a stronger formula of salicylic acid. What to think about It's important to distinguish a plantar wart from a callus before choosing a treatment.
Before treating your warts, think about: The potential for scarring. Scarring is the most important thing to think about when choosing a wart treatment. Scarring from treatment may be permanent and can be as painful as the wart itself. The bottom of the foot is especially sensitive, a consideration in the case of plantar warts. And scarring changes the way your skin looks.
Treatments that are less likely to leave a scar include salicylic acid, cryotherapy, and laser surgery. The cost. Home treatment is often as effective as treatment by a doctor. And it costs less. But home treatment may take longer. Less expensive home treatments include tape occlusion duct tape and nonprescription salicylic acid.
Your ability to tolerate pain. Quicker but more painful methods include some topical medicines such as cantharidin and cryotherapy. Your risk of infection. Treatment can sometimes cause infection. If you have an impaired immune system or a condition such as diabetes or peripheral arterial disease, discuss your increased risk of infection with your doctor. You may need to take special precautions.
Your history of recurrent warts. If you have a history of warts that come back, you may want to talk with your doctor about more aggressive treatment methods. The location and number of warts. Large areas covered by warts may be better treated with salicylic acid than with more painful, potentially scarring methods. Painful treatments, such as cryotherapy, may not be appropriate for young children. If you are older than age 60 and have never had warts, you may want to see a doctor to check any skin growths for skin cancer.
The time needed for treatment. Topical putting medicine on the wart treatment is often slower than surgical treatment.
Some treatment methods, such as immunotherapy applied by a health professional, require repeated office visits. The virus gets through the skin through any small cut or scratch that you may have. You can come in contact with things like doorknobs, keyboards and remote controls and still contract warts. Common warts affect fingers and toes. They are rough and rounded at the top and are usually a gray color. They will always be a different color than your surrounding skin.
You will notice them right away simply because of where they are located. They can be very painful if left untreated. These warts only grow on the soles of your feet. They differ from other warts because they grow into your skin, versus growing on top of it. A plantar wart will look like a hole in your skin. It will usually be hard to the touch will be surrounded by rough skin. These warts make walking pretty uncomfortable, so you will notice if you have one right away. These warts typically appear on the arms, face and legs.
They are quite small and can be hard to identify. As their name suggests, they have a flat top. They can be a tan or brown color, or they can be pink or yellow as well. These warts appear around your mouth, nose and chin and are very small.
They are also normally the same color as your skin, so if you are prone to warts, you should check yourself for these. These warts only grow around fingernails and toenails. They can be extremely painful and can stunt nail growth. You will notice if you start to develop a periungual wart. The skin on a wart will shed over time, just as normal skin sheds. That skin, when shed, carries the virus with it. If someone touches the shed skin — whether directly through skin-to-skin contact or indirectly, for example, through a towel, the floor of a swimming pool or a carpet, then the virus could spread.
But infection occurs only if, first, the skin can be penetrated through a crack, scrape or some other opening, and, second, the person has not developed immunity to HPV. Once a wart begins to grow, HPV stimulates the skin to attract and grow its own blood supply and nerves, which makes the wart very hearty and less likely to go away on its own.
If left untreated, most warts will persist for one to two years. Eventually, though, the body will recognize the virus and fight it off, causing the wart to disappear. While they remain, however, warts can spread very easily when people pick at them or when they are on the hands, feet or face. Small warts that are not bothersome don't require treatment.
They're harmless and will eventually go away. If you don't want to wait or if a wart is causing discomfort, over-the-counter remedies, such as salicylic acid, are available to treat warts.
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