Warts

Warts are one of the most common skin conditions, and come in all shapes and sizes. While most are harmless and might only require cosmetic removal, some can be serious.

Also known as verruca, warts are generally small rough tumors resembling a head of cauliflower that appear primarily on the hands and feet. Warts are caused by a viral infection known as HPV, and are thus contagious. There are seven types of warts:

• Common wart: While most common on hands, the common wart can grow anywhere on your body. A common wart is characterized by a raised area with a rough surface.

• Plantar wart: Plantar warts are almost entirely exclusive to feet, and tend to appear on pressure points, like those on the sole of your feet. These warts are sometimes painful, and appear with black dots in the center.

• Flat wart: Flat warts are often flesh-colored and appear in a variety of locations, especially the knees, neck, hands, wrist, and face.

• Periungual wart: Warts greatly resembling clusters of cauliflower that appear near finger and toe nails.

• Filiform wart: These warts often appear on eyelids and lips, and sometime have a thread-like appearance.

• Mosaic warts: Groups of tightly clustered warts that resemble plantar warts.

• Genital wart: a wart exclusive to the genital area.

Warts can be transmitted when a person touches another person's wart. It is also quite common to get warts from touching an infected person's belongings, such as his or her towels and wash rags. Warts often go away on their own, but surgery can decrease the chance of them spreading and relieve bleeding and pain.

Treatment of Warts

One very common treatments for warts is salicylic acid application. Warts that are on the hands, feet or knees can be treated with this method. One type of acid that is quite popular is Compound W, an over-the-counter wart removal cream available in most pharmacies. Clean the area and dry it well when treating. You may also use an emery board to file away any dead skin on the surface of the wart and accelerate healing.

Canthardin is another chemical commonly used to remove warts, but it must be applied at a doctor's office. The health professional coats the wart with the specialized treatment and applies a bandage for up to 24 hours. A follow-up appointment to remove the resulting dead skin is often scheduled. Larger warts that do not respond to initial treatment may recieve this treatment multiple times. These procedures are administered with little pain or discomfort.

Liquid nitrogen (literally freezing the wart) is a very popular outpatient procedure that causes little discomfort. A doctor applies liquid nitrogen to the wart to remove it. You may need 2 to 3 weeks of treatment for larger warts.

There are other treatments available, such as burning the wart or removing it with a razor or lancing the wart. Warts can go away on their own, but it can take quite some time, even years.

Some warts do not respond to common treatments. Health professionals, however, have other treatments at their disposal. An immune-stimulator is approved for genital warts, but has been known to be quite effective on common warts too.

Doctors will also inject the yeast candida or the antibiotic blemoycin. Doctors often save these types of treatments for more serious cases that cause pain and constant bleeding.