What are plantar warts and palmar warts.What do they look like.How do you get them.What are the treatments for plantar warts and palmar warts.

Understanding Plantar Warts and Palmar Warts

Plantar warts and palmar warts are common, especially in children. These warts are named for where they appear on the body – palmar warts occur on the hands, and plantar warts on the bottom of the foot. Virtually everyone will have a wart (or several) at some point in their lives.

What Are Plantar Warts and Palmar Warts?

Plantar warts and palmar warts are noncancerous skin growths, caused by a viral infection in the top layer of the skin. The culprit is a strain of virus called human papillomavirus or HPV. Many strains of the virus exist, and those that cause common warts on the hands and feet are not the same strains of HPV that cause genital warts.

Some people mistakenly think plantar warts or palmar warts are malignant. In fact, they are not harmful. Eventually, in about two years, most warts go away without treatment. Warts can, however, cause irritation or minor pain, depending on their location.

What Do Plantar Warts and Palmar Warts Look Like?

On average, plantar warts and palmar warts are small, about the size of a pencil eraser. But some warts grow bigger. Sometimes plantar warts can grow in clusters; those are called mosaic warts.

Sometimes corns or calluses are mistaken for a palmar or plantar wart. In some warts, little black dots appear, leading people to call them “seed” warts. Actually the black dots are little blood vessels that have grown up into the wart. Warts don’t really have “seeds.”

Plantar warts usually don’t stick up above the skin as much as warts on the hand, partly because of the pressure of walking and its flattening effect.

How Do You Get a Plantar Wart or Palmar Wart?

Warts are spread from person to person. The transmission can be indirect. For instance, a child with a wart on their hand may touch a playground surface that is then touched by another child and the wart spreads. Or a person with a plantar wart uses a shower without wearing shower shoes and another person then uses it and develops a wart. The risk of getting a hand or foot wart from another person is small.

A person’s risk of getting a wart varies. Those with a weakened immune system are more susceptible. But those with healthy immune systems can also develop warts.

Treatments for Plantar Warts and Palmar Warts

Plantar warts and palmar warts will often eventually go away without treatment. If they bother you, however, you can treat common skin warts in a variety of ways.

Duct tape is one home remedy. Put a small strip over the wart and leave it on for six days. Then, remove the tape, soak the wart in water, and then gently debride it with a pumice stone or emory board. Repeat the process many times until the wart is gone. This may take a couple of months. Don’t expect miracles with this type of treatment since it probably does not work any better than a placebo.

Over-the-counter wart treatments include a medication that is applied topically (gel, ointment, lotion) and usually includes salicylic acid which works by peeling the wart. Another option is a freezing spray that kills the tissue. These remedies work about 50% of the time.

Doctor’s treatments are generally more effective. They include freezing the wart off with liquid nitrogen, removing the wart with laser or surgery, or applying or injecting medicines to strengthen the immune system so it can clear your body of the virus.

Treatment, however, is not fast and easy. Home treatment for hand warts, for instance, can take a few weeks up to a few months. Foot warts are challenging to treat because most of the wart lies below the skin surface.

Even if a treatment is successful, the wart can reappear.

If a wart is not bothersome, doctors say it can be left alone. Given time, the wart may disappear on its own, thanks to the immune system.

How to Get Rid of Warts

Ugly and annoying, warts never seem to go away fast enough. Treating them may help speed their departure.

Warts are generally harmless and often disappear on their own over time, but they’re unsightly, and some, like those found on the soles of the feet, can make walking and exercise painful. Wart removal can be a challenge, but fortunately, the most effective treatments are the least invasive.

Wart Anatomy

Warts grow only in the epidermis, the upper skin layer. A typical wart has a raised, rough surface. (Some, like those on the face, may be smooth and flat.) The center of a wart may be flecked with dark dots; these are capillaries that supply it with blood.

What Are Warts Anyway?

Warts occur when skin cells grow faster than normal because they are infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Among the 150 strains of HPV, about 10 cause cutaneous (skin) warts, including common, plantar, and flat warts (see “Common types of skin warts,” below). Certain

Plantar Warts and Palmar Warts: Treatments and Causes

Plantar warts and palmar warts are common, especially in children. These warts are named for where they appear on the body. Palmar warts occur on the hands, and plantar warts on the bottom of the foot.

Virtually everyone will have a wart (or several) someplace at some time in their lives.

What Are Plantar Warts and Palmar Warts?

Plantar warts and palmar warts are noncancerous skin growths, caused by a viral infection in the top layer of the skin. The culprit is a strain of virus called human papillomavirus or HPV. Many strains of the virus exist, and those that cause common warts on the hands and feet are not the same strains of HPV that cause genital warts.

Some people mistakenly think plantar warts or palmar warts are malignant. In fact, they are not harmful. Eventually, in about two years, most warts go away without treatment. Warts can, however, cause irritation or minor pain, depending on their location. 

What Do Plantar Warts and Palmar Warts Look Like?

On average plantar warts and palmar warts are small, about the size of a pencil eraser. But some warts grow bigger. Sometimes plantar warts can grow in clusters; those are called mosaic warts.

Continued

Sometimes corns or calluses are mistaken for a palmar or plantar wart. In some warts, little black dots appear, leading people to call them “seed” warts. Actually the black dots are little blood vessels that have grown up into the wart. Warts don’t really have “seeds.”

Plantar warts usually don’t stick up above the skin as much as warts on the hand, partly because of the pressure of walking and its flattening effect.

How Do You Get a Plantar Wart or Palmar Wart?

Warts are spread from person to person. The transmission can be indirect. For instance, a child with a wart on their hand may touch a playground surface that is then touched by another child and the wart spreads. Or a person with a plantar wart uses a shower without wearing shower shoes and another person then uses it and develops a wart. The risk of getting a hand or foot wart from another person is small.

A person’s risk of getting a wart varies. Those with a weakened immune system are more susceptible. But those with healthy immune systems can also develop warts.

What Are Treatments for Plantar Warts and Palmar Warts?

Plantar warts and palmar warts will often eventually go away without treatment. If they bother you, however, you can treat common skin warts in a variety of ways.

• Duct tape is one home remedy. Put a small strip over the wart and leave it on for six days. Then, remove the tape, soak the wart in water, and then gently debride it with a pumice stone or emory board. Repeat the process many times until the wart is gone. This may take a couple of months. Don’t expect miracles with this type of treatment since it probably does not work any better than a placebo.
• Over-the-counter wart treatments include a medication that is applied topically (gel, ointment, lotion) and usually includes salicylic acid which works by peeling the wart. Another option is a freezing spray that kills the tissue. These remedies work about 50% of the time.
• Doctor’s treatments are generally more effective. They include freezing the wart off with liquid nitrogen, removing the wart with laser or surgery, or applying or injecting medicines to strengthen the immune system so it can clear your body of the virus.

Continued

Treatment, however, is not fast and easy. Home treatment for hand warts, for instance, can take a few weeks up to a few months. Foot warts are challenging to treat because most of the wart lies below the skin surface.

Even if a treatment is successful, the wart can reappear.

If a wart is not bothersome, doctors say it can be left alone. Given time, the wart may disappear on its own, thanks to the immune system.

How to get rid of warts

Ugly and annoying, warts never seem to go away fast enough. Treating them may help speed their departure.

Warts are generally harmless and often disappear on their own over time, but they’re unsightly, and some, like those found on the soles of the feet, can make walking and exercise painful. Wart removal can be a challenge, but fortunately, the most effective treatments are the least invasive.

What are warts anyway?

Warts occur when skin cells grow faster than normal because they are infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Among the 150 strains of HPV, about 10 cause cutaneous (skin) warts, including common, plantar, and flat warts (see “Common types of skin warts,” below). Certain other strains cause anal warts and genital warts. Some sexually transmitted types of HPV are implicated in cervical and other genital cancers, but the strains that cause skin warts have rarely been linked to cancer.

All of us come into contact with HPV repeatedly — when we shake hands or touch a doorknob, for example — but only some of us develop warts, and that’s hard to explain. Children and people with immune system abnormalities are particularly vulnerable. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, so are people in certain occupations, such as meat, fish, and poultry handlers. But the most likely explanation is that some people are simply more prone to warts than others.

Skin warts aren’t highly contagious. They can spread from person to person by direct contact, mainly through breaks in the skin. Theoretically, you can also pick up warts from surfaces such as locker room floors or showers, but there’s no way to know how often this occurs. Warts on one part of the body can be spread to other areas, so it’s important to wash your hands and anything that touches your warts, such as nail files or pumice stones.

A wart virus infection is different from a bacterial infection such as strep throat, which can be caught, treated, and eradicated because it progresses in a distinct, reliable pattern. The ways of warts are much less predictable. According to dermatologist Dr. Suzanne Olbricht, “The wart virus resides in the upper layer of the skin, and who knows where or when you picked it up? The virus could have been there for years. Then it makes a wart for reasons we don’t understand. And when the wart goes away, you can still find the virus in the epidermis.”

Treating warts

Studies indicate that about half of warts go away on their own within a year, and two-thirds within two years, so “watchful waiting” is definitely an option for new warts. But some experts recommend immediate treatment to reduce the amount of virus shed into nearby tissue and possibly lower the risk of recurrence. If you prefer not to wait it out, you have several treatment options:

1. Salicylic acid. This is the main ingredient in aspirin, and it should usually be your first choice. According to one study, salicylic acid is the only topical treatment (treatment applied directly to the skin) that clearly outperforms a placebo. (The study, in the August 2011 issue of the British Journal of Dermatology, combined and reanalyzed data from a number of previous studies.) Salicylic acid costs little, has minimal side effects, and comes in various over-the-counter preparations, including liquids, gels, and patches. Concentrations range from 17% to 40% (stronger concentrations should be used only for warts on thicker skin). To treat a wart, soak it for 10 to 15 minutes (you can do this in the shower or bath), file away the dead warty skin with an emery board or pumice stone, and apply the salicylic acid. Do this once or twice a day for 12 weeks. Warts in thick skin, like the bottom of the foot, may respond best to a patch that stays in place for several days. Continuing treatment for a week or two after the wart goes away may help prevent recurrence.
2. Freezing. In this treatment, also called cryotherapy, a clinician swabs or sprays liquid nitrogen onto the wart and a small surrounding area. The extreme cold (which may be as low as –321 F) burns the skin, causing pain, redness, and usually a blister. Getting rid of the wart this way usually takes three or four treatments, one every two to three weeks; any more than that probably won’t help. After the skin has healed, apply salicylic acid to encourage more skin to peel off. Some individual trials have found salicylic acid and cryotherapy to be equally effective, with cure rates of 50% to 70%, but there is some evidence that cryotherapy is particularly effective for hand warts.
3. Duct tape. Although findings have been mixed, anecdotal evidence suggests that this low-risk, low-tech approach may be worth a try. In one study comparing duct tape with cryotherapy, subjects wore duct tape patches over their warts for six days. Then they removed the patches, soaked and filed the warts, left them uncovered overnight, and reapplied the tape in the morning, leaving them in place for another six days. They followed this regimen for two months or until the wart disappeared. In this study, duct tape was about 45% more effective than cryotherapy. Two other studies found no benefit, but those studies used clear duct tape rather than the standard silver type, which is stickier and has a different kind of adhesive. Given this limited evidence, if you plan to try duct tape, it makes sense to use the silver kind. Why duct tape works isn’t clear — it may deprive the wart of oxygen, or perhaps dead skin and viral particles are removed along with the tape. Some people apply salicylic acid before covering the wart with duct tape.
4. Other agents. Warts that don’t respond to standard therapies may be treated with prescription drugs. The topical immunotherapy drug imiquimod (Aldara), a standard therapy for genital warts, can also be used to treat skin warts. Imiquimod is thought to work by causing an allergic response and irritation at the site of the wart. In an approach called intralesional immunotherapy, the wart is injected with a skin-test antigen (such as for mumps or Candida) in people who have demonstrated an immune response to the antigen. Other agents that may be used to treat recalcitrant warts are the chemotherapy drugs fluorouracil (5-FU), applied as a cream, and bleomycin, which is injected into the wart. All these treatments have side effects, and the evidence for their effectiveness is limited.
5. Zapping and cutting. The technical name for this treatment is electrodesiccation (or cautery) and curettage. Using local anesthesia, the clinician dries the wart with an electric needle and scrapes it away with a scoop-like instrument called a curette. This usually causes scarring (so does removing the wart with a scalpel, another option). It’s usually reserved for warts that don’t respond to other treatments and should generally be avoided on the soles of the feet.

When to see your clinician

Some skin cancers resemble warts at first. If you have a wart that doesn’t change much in size, color, or shape, you probably don’t need to see a clinician. But if you’re in your 50s and develop new warts, consult a dermatologist. Be suspicious of any wart that bleeds or grows quickly.

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The Best Ways to Get Rid of Plantar Warts for Good

Skip the home remedies for wart removal. Proper treatment of plantar warts requires the expertise of your healthcare provider.

Posted
by The Iowa Clinic on Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Nose, fingers, toes and everywhere in between, warts can show up anywhere on your skin. They are one of the most common skin conditions. They’re also quite contagious.

Warts are more than an abnormal growth. They’re the result of an infection, specifically a virus more often associated with cervical cancer than a bump on the skin: human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV enters your body through a cut or break in your skin. Then, it forms that ugly, rough bump. Since warts are caused by a viral infection, they are easily spread through contact. Anything that has had contact with a wart — your hand, a towel, a sock, the floor — can spread it.

And when warts show up on your feet, they can be as painful as they are unsightly.

What makes a wart on your foot worse than a wart somewhere else?

Pain.

Warts don’t usually present problems. They are on your skin until they go away on their own or by removal. Warts on the bottom of your feet, known as plantar warts, are the most likely type to give you any other trouble or symptoms.

Because of their location — the soles, heels, toes and balls of your feet — plantar warts send you a painful reminder of their presence with every single step. It feels like you’re walking with a rock in your shoe. Even if you’re barefoot.

Plantar warts are most common on the parts of the foot that receive the most pressure when you’re standing or walking. Since those are two things you can’t avoid, additional standing and walking increase the pressure on the wart and send it further inward, deep into your skin.

All that pressure also flattens the plantar wart. It ends up looking less like a wart and more like a callus. If you can’t tell the difference by looking at it, give it the squeeze test. A plantar wart is painful when squeezed; a callus is not.

It’s an important test. Many people rub calluses with abrasive objects like pumice stones, nail files and emery boards to remove the thick, rough skin. And that is not recommended for removal of plantar warts.

Painful plantar warts? Get help. 

Self-care of plantar warts can make things worse. Put your feet in the hands of experts.

Find a doctor

Then what’s the best treatment for plantar warts?

Best case scenario, no treatment is necessary. Just leave it alone. Like other warts, most plantar warts eventually go away on their own. It might just take a year or two.

If your plantar warts are painful or spreading to other areas of your feet, waiting is not an option. You need immediate relief.

Many people buy a topical wart remover from the pharmacy, thinking it’s a cure for all kinds of warts. But over-the-counter wart removal creams and liquids are ineffective. Plantar warts are too deep in the skin. You may be able to remove the outer layer, but the seed of the wart is deep in the sole of your foot and it will come back again.

Over-the counter wart removers can actually do more harm than good. They contain acids and chemicals that destroy the skin they touch. You can easily apply too much, damage the surrounding area and open your skin up to further infection, causing plantar warts to spread.

Instead of trying to remove plantar warts at home, see your primary care provider.

Usually, a foot examination is all that’s needed to diagnose plantar warts. Sometimes, your provider will need to trim a tiny portion of the skin to see if it bleeds — a clear signal that it’s a wart and not a callus.

From there, they can recommend the best treatment from a variety of removal options. All of them are designed to get rid of the wart as well as stimulate the immune system to identify the virus and prevent warts from reforming.

Prescription-Strength Wart Medication

Wart removal medicines available over-the-counter work less than half the time. Stronger medications available by prescription only are a better solution. They work the same as the widely available options, peeling away a plantar wart layer by layer. You can apply a prescription-strength medication to your plantar warts at home and follow up with your provider to make sure the wart is entirely removed.

Plantar Wart Freezing

Freezing a wart using cryotherapy is an effective wart removal option. Liquid nitrogen is applied to the plantar wart with a spray or cotton swab. This destroys the tissue and causes a small blister to form over the spot. In a week or so, the dead skin will be gone.

It’s more painful to freeze off plantar warts than regular warts. They are deeper and harder to reach with the chemical. Multiple treatments spaced two to four weeks apart may be needed to remove the entire wart.

Immunotherapy for Warts

Plantar warts are your immune system’s response to an HPV infection. Immunotherapy uses medications or solutions to kickstart an immune reaction to fight off plantar warts. When other treatments don’t work, your provider can inject a substance into the wart or apply a topical solution to stimulate your immune system to aid in treatment.

Plantar Wart Removal Surgery

If every other treatment fails and you’re still troubled by painful plantar warts, surgery is needed. With surgery, there’s always a chance for scarring, which is why it’s a last resort for removing plantar warts.

There are many different types of wart removal surgery. Your provider will choose the best option for your case.

• Electrosurgery – Using an electric needle, your provider cuts out the infected wart tissue.
• Curettage – The plantar wart is dug out with a small spoon-like instrument.
• Laser surgery – Laser treatments burn the tiny blood vessels inside the plantar wart. Eventually, the infected tissue dies and the wart falls off. There is less potential for scarring than other surgeries.

How do you prevent warts from coming back?

Anyone can get plantar warts. But once you’ve had them, you’re more likely to get them again. You may not be able to prevent a recurrence entirely, but you can reduce your risk by following a few basic hygiene tips:

• Don’t touch a wart! This is how they spread. Don’t pick, scratch or touch them at all. Avoid direct contact with someone else’s warts too. If you do come in contact with a wart, wash your hands thoroughly along with any other body part or surface you touched before you washed up.
• Stay clean and dry. Moisture invites bacteria. Follow good foot hygiene by washing your feet regularly and drying them thoroughly after. Change your shoes and your socks when they feel wet.
• Protect the soles of your feet. HPV invades through cuts and breaks in the bottom of your feet. Wear shoes to protect your feet from abrasions or to keep existing cuts safe from infection. HPV spreads more easily at swimming pools, locker rooms and other public places people regularly walk barefoot. Wear flip flops or other shoes in these areas.

Children and teenagers frequent these public places more often and are less likely to practice proper foot hygiene. Check your own feet and your children’s regularly to spot plantar warts early before they spread and contact your provider as soon as you have a concern.

Arlington/Mansfield Foot & Ankle Centers: Podiatrists

When you develop a painful growth on the bottom of your foot, finding the root cause of pain becomes your number one priority. It’s likely you’ll also want immediate solutions for quick pain relief.

In many cases, it’s a plantar wart that’s causing that intense foot pain. The experienced podiatry team at Arlington/Mansfield Foot & Ankle Centers specialize in quick relief of plantar wart pain through in-office diagnostic evaluations and customized treatment plans.

To prevent limitations in your mobility and a worsening of your pain, you shouldn’t delay a diagnostic evaluation of a suspected plantar wart. 

Why you have a plantar wart

Plantar warts refer to small growths on the surface of the skin on the bottom of your foot. The growth occurs because of an infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). The virus enters your foot through small cuts or an open wound in the skin, most often on the sole of your foot.

Most people come into contact with HPV when they walk barefoot in public places, especially gyms, swimming pools, and restrooms. You can also develop a wart after touching an infected object with your foot.

In general, the infection can cause the growth of a single wart or you may develop a cluster of growths, known as mosaic warts, in one area of your foot.

While not cancerous, plantar warts can be painful and contagious. Receiving prompt treatment for plantar warts is important for easing pain and preventing the spread of HPV to other people.

The root cause of plantar wart pain

One of the biggest reasons plantar warts are so painful is because of their location. As growths form on the sole of your foot, you add pressure to the wart every time you walk, stand, or engage in physical activity. This pressure can force the wart deeper into your foot and continued pressure makes the pain increase over time.

Many people deal with the pain because they don’t realize it relates to a plantar wart. Warts are often ignored because they closely resemble a harmless callus and look just like an area of thick skin.

When pain on the sole of your foot intensifies, it’s important that you seek a diagnostic evaluation with the team at Arlington/Mansfield Foot & Ankle Centers to prevent spreading HPV to others.

What you can do about plantar warts

For some, plantar warts aren’t painful and will go away on their own without medical intervention. When you have pain or concerns about spreading HPV, the team at Arlington/Mansfield Foot & Ankle Centers can treat the wart through a combination of in-office treatments and at-home foot hygiene recommendations.

To soften the wart, you may need to apply a prescription salicylic acid. Acid treatments take time to work through the tough area of skin, but can help ease pain.

If the plantar wart is interfering with your mobility, you may be a candidate for treatment with freezing technology that destroys the wart and relieves pain. If freezing doesn’t work, you may need a minimally invasive surgical procedure to remove the wart.

Preventive care is also vital for reducing your risk for new plantar warts. Make sure you wear shoes that are well-ventilated, especially when you’re in public showers or pools. You should also regularly check your feet to identify calluses and other new issues that affect your foot health.

If you need effective solutions to quickly relieve pain from a plantar wart, schedule a consultation with the experts at Arlington/Mansfield Foot & Ankle Centers by calling the office or by requesting an appointment online now. 

Plantar Warts Care & Treatment

Warts are a virus-based soft tissue condition that is most frequently experienced by teens and adolescents. Plantar warts (also known as verrucas, and verruca plantaris), one of the most common cases, are simply warts on the soul or ball of the foot. Plantar warts are caused when viruses enter the skin through a small or invisible cut or abrasion.

It’s important to take care of warts as soon as they are discovered; warts can easily spread or become more irritable and painful when left untreated. They can also bleed, which can create other health concerns.  Schedule an appointment at Advanced Foot & Ankle – we frequently have same-day appointments available to help address issues right away.

Causes

Bare feet in direct contact with unsanitary/dirty surfaces are one of the primary causes for warts.  Viruses thrive in moist, warm environments, making communal bathing facilities a hub for foot infection.

Warts of the feet are spread by:

• Touching infected areas
• Scratching the infected areas
• Contact with skin shed from another wart
• Wart rupture and bleeding

Symptoms & Identification

When plantar warts develop, they can cause needle like pain and a burning sensation.   The pain is triggered when weight is distributed directly on the wart or sides of the wart.

Warts are sometimes mistakenly thought to be a corn or a callus.  On the other hand, sometimes more serious lesions (like carcinomas and melanomas) are misdiagnosed as warts.

You can frequently identify plantar warts by these characteristics:

• Coarse in feel
• Somewhat flat
• Defined in perimeter
• Gray to brown in coloring
• Containing black dots in their center

In comparison, warts on the toes and top of the feet are often more embossed and stout.

Video

Care & Treatment

The treatment of warts has become commonplace in podiatry.  Our podiatrists and foot & ankle surgeons, are certified by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgeons and are well equipped to treat these cases effectively.

We seek conservative treatment first through topical prescription wart removal options.  If necessary, we can schedule a minimally invasive surgical procedure to remove the wart. In some cases, a minor laser removal may be an appropriate option, which will also reduce scarring. The invasive surgical procedures require local anesthesia and are typically outpatient treatments.

Self-diagnosis and treatment is usually frowned upon; over-the-counter wart removal treatments include chemicals, which can damage and kill skin cells causing wounds and possible infection.

Anytime you notice a rupture or growth on your foot you should have it checked by a professional. To have your potential Plantar Warts assessed or treated, find the Advanced Foot & Ankle Care Center nearest you, and contact us to schedule an appointment today.

Warts and Plantar Warts | Michigan Medicine

Condition Overview

Is this topic for you?

This topic has information about warts on any part of the body except the genitals. For information about warts on the genitals, see the topic Genital Warts.

What are warts, and what causes them?

A wart is a skin growth caused by some types of the virus called the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV infects the top layer of skin, usually entering the body in an area of broken skin. The virus causes the top layer of skin to grow rapidly, forming a wart. Most warts go away on their own within months or years.

Warts can grow anywhere on the body, and there are different kinds. For example, common warts grow most often on the hands, but they can grow anywhere. Plantar warts grow on the soles of the feet.

How are warts spread?

Warts are easily spread by direct contact with a human papillomavirus. You can infect yourself again by touching the wart and then touching another part of your body. You can infect another person by sharing towels, razors, or other personal items. After you’ve had contact with HPV, it can take many months of slow growth beneath the skin before you notice a wart.

It is unlikely that you will get a wart every time you come in contact with HPV. Some people are more likely to get warts than others.

What are the symptoms?

Warts come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. A wart may be a bump with a rough surface, or it may be flat and smooth. Tiny blood vessels grow into the core of the wart to supply it with blood. In both common and plantar warts, these blood vessels may look like dark dots in the wart’s center.

Warts are usually painless. But a wart that grows in a spot where you put pressure, such as on a finger or on the bottom of the foot, can be painful.

How are warts diagnosed?

A doctor usually can tell if a skin growth is a wart just by looking at it. Your doctor may take a sample of the wart and look at it under a microscope (a skin biopsy). This may be done if it isn’t clear that the growth is a wart. It may also be done if a skin growth is darker than the skin surrounding it, is an irregular patch on the skin, bleeds, or is large and fast-growing.

How are they treated?

Most warts don’t need treatment. But if you have warts that are painful or spreading, or if you are bothered by the way they look, your treatment choices include:

• Using a home treatment such as salicylic acid or duct tape. You can get these without a prescription.
• Putting a stronger medicine on the wart, or getting a shot of medicine in it.
• Freezing the wart (cryotherapy).
• Removing the wart with surgery (electrosurgery, curettage, laser surgery).

Wart treatment doesn’t always work. Even after a wart shrinks or goes away, warts may come back or spread to other parts of the body. This is because most treatments destroy the wart but don’t kill the virus that causes the wart.

Cause

A wart develops when a human papillomavirus (HPV) infects the outer layer of skin and causes the skin cells to grow rapidly. The virus can then spread from an existing wart to other areas of the body, causing more warts. Various types of this virus thrive in warm, damp environments such as showers, locker room floors, and swimming pool areas.

You are most likely to develop a wart where you have broken skin, such as a cut, a hangnail, a closely bitten nail, or a scrape. Plantar warts are common in swimmers whose feet are not only damp and softened but are also scratched and broken by rough pool surfaces. Common warts are often seen among those who handle meat, chicken, and fish.

How are warts spread?

Warts are easily spread by direct contact with a human papillomavirus. You can reinfect yourself by touching the wart and then touching another part of your body. You can infect others by sharing towels, razors, or other personal items. After exposure to a human papillomavirus, it can take many months of slow growth beneath the skin before you notice a wart.

It is unlikely that you will develop a wart every time you are exposed to a human papillomavirus. Some people are more likely to develop warts than others.

Can common warts on hands or fingers be spread to the genitals and cause genital warts?

It depends. There are many types of HPV, and the types that cause common warts are usually different from those that cause plantar warts and genital warts. If the wart on a person’s hand is caused by a type of HPV that can also cause genital warts, then there is a chance that skin contact could 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. A wart may appear as a bump with a rough surface, or it may be flat and smooth. Tiny blood vessels (capillaries) grow into the core of the wart to supply it with blood. In both common and plantar warts, these capillaries may appear as dark dots (seeds) in the wart’s center.

• 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.

Warts cover the lines and creases in the skin—this is one way to tell a wart from other skin conditions, such as skin tags or moles.

What Happens

Human papillomaviruses can live on healthy skin without causing infection. But when a human papillomavirus enters the body through small breaks in the skin, it can infect the skin cells beneath the surface, causing a wart to grow.

• 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.

What Increases Your Risk

Risk factors for warts include:

• Having an impaired immune system.
• 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.
  • Fever.
• 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. It is often appropriate treatment for warts, because they generally go away on their own within months or years. But you may want to consider treating a wart to prevent it from spreading to other parts of your body or to other people. You can try a nonprescription wart treatment for 2 to 3 months before deciding to see a doctor.

Who to see

Warts can be diagnosed and treated by most health professionals, including:

Exams and Tests

Warts are usually diagnosed based only on their appearance.

In rare cases, more testing is done. If the diagnosis of a skin condition is unclear or if you are at high risk for having skin cancer, your doctor may take a sample of the growth and examine it (a skin biopsy). A biopsy is usually done if a skin growth is darker than the skin surrounding it, appears as an irregular patch on the skin, bleeds, or is large and growing rapidly.

Proper diagnosis of plantar warts is important. Some wart treatments can cause scarring.

Treatment Overview

Not all warts need to be treated. They generally go away on their own within months or years. This may be because, with time, your immune system is able to destroy the human papillomavirus that causes warts.

You may decide to treat a wart if it is:

• Painful.
• Embarrassing.
• Easily irritated.
• Growing or spreading to other parts of your body or to other people.

The goal of wart treatment is to destroy or remove the wart without creating scar tissue, which can be more painful than the wart itself. How a wart is treated depends on the type of wart, its location, and its symptoms. Also important is your willingness to follow a course of treatment that can last for weeks or months.

Wart treatment isn’t always successful. Even after a wart shrinks or disappears, warts may return or spread to other parts of the body. This is because most treatments only destroy the wart and don’t kill the virus that causes the wart.

Treating the warts yourself

Many people don’t treat warts unless they are unsightly or painful. You can treat warts yourself with:

If your child has a wart, treatment probably isn’t needed. That’s because warts often go away on their own. But if the wart is on your child’s face or genitals or is painful or spreading, your child should see a doctor for treatment. Otherwise, it is usually safe to treat a wart at home with duct tape or salicylic acid. If the wart doesn’t start to improve within 2 weeks, see your doctor.

For more information, see Home Treatment.

If you have diabetes or peripheral arterial disease, talk to your doctor before you try home treatment for warts.

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. Wart treatment applied to a callus may be painful or create scar tissue.

Plantar warts are often hard to treat because they lie beneath the skin. A doctor may need to pare the skin over a wart to help the medicine penetrate the wart.

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.
• Your age. 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. In such cases, the expense and inconvenience may outweigh the benefits of treatment.

Prevention

The main way to prevent warts is to avoid contact with the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes warts. If you are exposed to this virus, you may or may not get warts, depending on how susceptible you are to the virus.

Tips on avoiding the human papillomavirus

• Avoid touching warts on yourself or others.
• Don’t share razors, towels, socks, or shoes with another person. Someone with no visible warts can still be carrying the virus.
• Avoid walking barefoot on warm, moist surfaces where the wart virus may be alive. Wear shower shoes when using public showers, locker rooms, or pool areas.
• Keep your feet dry. If your feet sweat heavily, wear socks that absorb moisture or wick it away from the skin.
• Avoid irritating the soles of your feet. Warts grow more easily if your skin has been injured or broken in some way.

Tips on preventing warts from spreading

• Keep warts covered with a bandage or athletic tape.
• Don’t bite your nails or cuticles, as this may spread warts from one finger to another.

Self-Care

Home treatment is often the first treatment used for warts. When done properly, home treatment is usually less painful than surgical treatment.

Home treatment includes:

• Salicylic acid, which is currently considered the most desirable wart treatment, based on its effectiveness and safety. The treatment takes 2 to 3 months. Salicylic acid formulas include Compound W and Occlusal. Ask your doctor about how to use salicylic acid.
• Tape occlusion (duct tape), in which you use duct tape to cover the wart for a period of time. This treatment takes 1 to 2 months.
• Over-the-counter cryotherapy. There are home cryotherapy kits that you can buy without a prescription, such as Dr. Scholl’s Freeze Away. These treatments may be safe for warts on the hands or feet but not for genital warts. Follow all instructions carefully.

If you are uncertain that a skin growth is a wart, or if you have diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, or other major illnesses that may affect your treatment, it is best to see a health professional.

Reducing plantar wart pain

You can reduce plantar wart pain by:

• Wearing comfortable shoes and socks. Avoid high heels or shoes that increase pressure on your foot.
• Padding the wart with doughnut-shaped felt or a moleskin patch that can be purchased at drugstores. Place the pad around the plantar wart so that it relieves pressure on the wart. Also, consider placing pads or cushions in your shoes to make walking more comfortable.
• Using nonprescription medicines, such as aspirin, ibuprofen (such as Advil), or acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) to help relieve pain. Do not give aspirin to anyone younger than 20, because of the risk of Reye syndrome, a serious but rare illness. Be safe with medicines. Read and follow all instructions on the label.

What to think about

Salicylic acid treatments are often effective. They aren’t very painful, aren’t very expensive, and usually don’t cause scarring. Salicylic acid is a good treatment for children because it isn’t very painful. For treatment to be successful, salicylic acid must be applied on a regular basis, usually for a number of months.

Folk remedies, such as rubbing a wart with a bean, may have an effect on a wart. But such treatment may simply coincide with the natural disappearance of a wart.

Never cut or burn off a wart yourself.

Medicines

If you decide to treat your warts, both nonprescription and prescription medicines are available.

Nonprescription medicines

Nonprescription medicines include:

• Salicylic acid, which softens the skin layers that form a wart so that they can be rubbed off. Salicylic acid formulas include Compound W and Occlusal.

Prescription medicines

Medicines that your doctor may use or prescribe for you include:

• Retinoid cream (Avita, Retin-A). It disrupts the wart’s skin cell growth.
• Cantharidin (Cantharone, Cantharone Plus). This medicine causes the skin under the wart to blister, lifting the wart off the skin. This medicine is applied to the wart at your doctor’s office.
• Immunotherapy medicines, which help your body’s immune system fight viruses, including the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes warts. These medicines may include imiquimod, contact sensitizers, and interferon.
• Bleomycin injection, which destroys the skin containing the wart. But bleomycin isn’t often used, because it is painful during and after the injection.

What to think about

Other medicines used for warts include 5-fluorouracil, which is more often used on genital warts, and cimetidine. Cimetidine can be taken by mouth (orally) or as an injection.

As with any medicine, talk to your doctor before using a wart medicine if you are or may be pregnant. Some wart medicines may cause birth defects.

Surgery

Surgery is an option if home treatment and treatment at your doctor’s office have failed. Surgery for warts is usually quick and effective. No single surgical method is more effective than another in removing warts. Generally, doctors start with the surgical method that is least likely to cause scarring.

Surgery choices

The most common types of surgical treatment for wart removal include:

• Electrosurgery and curettage. Electrosurgery is burning the wart with an electrical current. Curettage is cutting off the wart with a sharp knife or a small, spoon-shaped tool. The two procedures are often used together.
• Laser surgery. Laser surgery burns off the wart with an intense beam of light.

What to think about

A wart may return after surgery, because surgery removes the wart but doesn’t destroy the virus that causes the wart.

The type of surgery used to remove warts depends on the warts’ type, location, and size. Curettage, electrosurgery, and laser surgery are more likely than cryotherapy to leave scars, so they are usually reserved for hard-to-remove or recurring warts. If you have a large area of warts, curettage may not be an effective treatment.

Some surgical treatments may be too painful for some children.

Other Treatment

Cryotherapy, which uses a very cold liquid to freeze a wart, is the most commonly used procedure that doesn’t involve medicine to treat warts. This procedure poses little risk of scarring but can be painful.

Credits

Current as of:
July 2, 2020

Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Patrice Burgess MD – Family Medicine
Adam Husney MD – Family Medicine
Martin J. Gabica MD – Family Medicine

Does it work, and how do I do it?

Using duct tape to remove a wart is a home remedy that some people believe can work. However, studies have produced mixed results on its effectiveness, and it can cause skin irritation in some people.

Warts develop as a result of a viral infection that the body takes several months or years to mount an immune response against. Therefore, it can take a while for warts to resolve on their own.

Duct tape wart removal may help people get rid of warts more quickly, but this method requires frequent and repeated applications of duct tape, which can be difficult to keep up.

For this reason, some people might prefer other home remedies or medical treatment options.

In this article, we explain how to perform duct tape wart removal. We also discuss other ways to remove warts.

Share on PinterestPeople must use repeated applications of duct tape to remove a wart with this method.

Proponents of using duct tape for wart removal think that it may work for several reasons. One theory is that the tape deprives the skin cells of oxygen. By “suffocating” the wart, the duct tape makes it more likely that the skin cells will die.

The process of applying and removing the duct tape may also remove additional skin cells, which can make the wart less bulky and noticeable.

However, there is a lack of recent research into using duct tape as a wart removal treatment, and earlier studies have produced mixed results.

One 2002 study found that the duct tape method was significantly more effective than cryotherapy, which involves using liquid nitrogen to freeze the wart. The study included 51 participants ages 3–22.

They received either up to six sessions of cryotherapy, which took place every 2–3 weeks, or 2 months of duct tape application. Warts resolved entirely in 85% of the participants in the duct tape group and in 60% of those in the cryotherapy group.

However, a 2007 study into using adhesive pads to treat warts found that adding duct tape to a breathable fabric called moleskin made no difference to its effectiveness. The 80 adult participants wore either a moleskin pad with duct tape covering the pad or just a moleskin pad.

After 2 months, warts had resolved in 21% of the participants who used the duct tape and in 22% of those who used only the pad.

The authors of a 2014 meta-analysis concluded that the current evidence suggests that duct tape is no better than placebo for wart removal. They examined previous studies that investigated duct tape removal, salicylic acid application, and cryotherapy treatments.

Some researchers point out that a limitation of this research is the difficulty of continually applying the duct tape and keeping it on for 2–3 months. Without proper and continued application, the therapy is unlikely to work.

A person can follow the steps below to use duct tape to remove warts:

• Cut a small piece of duct tape that is large enough to cover the wart and stay on the affected area.
• Clean the wart area and allow it to dry thoroughly. Apply the duct tape to the wart. Some people may first wish to apply a 17% salicylic acid solution to increase the chance that the wart will come off. Salicylic acid solution is available to buy at most drugstores.
• If the duct tape falls off, replace it with another piece.
• Remove the tape once every week. Wash the wart and gently use an emery board, pumice stone, or piece of sandpaper to remove the dead skin cells.
• Allow the wart to dry overnight.
• Reapply the duct tape to the wart for another week.

For the duct tape method to work, a person will usually need to wear the duct tape for a total of 8 weeks. The tape must be occlusive, which means that it does not allow air to escape. Adhesives such as cloth bandages will not have the same effect.

Scientists warn that people who try duct tape wart removal can experience side effects, which may include:

• redness
• itching
• bleeding
• eczema
• other skin reactions

Anyone who notices these side effects should stop using the duct tape method straight away. Once the area has healed, they can try using other home remedies or medical treatments instead.

A healthcare professional will be able to offer advice on which options may be best for them.

Skin warts are not medically harmful, but some people may find them unsightly. They can also cause skin picking, especially in children, which can result in skin infections. For these reasons, doctors may sometimes recommend treating bothersome warts.

Examples of medical treatments for warts include:

• Cryotherapy: Doctors spray a short burst of liquid nitrogen onto the wart or apply it with a cotton-tipped applicator. The liquid nitrogen freezes the wart’s skin cells, and they fall off over time. Learn more about freezing warts here.
• Salicylic acid: This natural peeling agent can help slough wart skin cells. However, a person must apply the acid consistently to see the results. Salicylic acid is usually the first-line treatment for warts, according to an article in the journal Paediatrics & Child Health. Learn how this technique works here.
• Laser therapy: Doctors can use lasers, such as a carbon dioxide laser or a pulsed dye laser, to burn off the wart. However, some people may experience skin scarring as a result of undergoing laser therapy.
• Intralesional injections: Doctors can inject medications that have different clinical effects into treatment-resistant warts. For example, they can inject bleomycin to stop the cells dividing, or they may use interferon to stimulate the body to mount an immune response to the virus causing the wart.

The location and size of the wart will often determine the best treatment option.

Salicylic acid applications are a common home remedy for warts. A person can buy these at most drugstores and paint them on, much like nail polish. Salicylic acid patches are also available.

To enhance the effectiveness of this treatment, a person should soak the wart in warm water for about 10 minutes and use an emery board or pumice stone to file away the wart’s skin before applying the salicylic acid.

A person can also purchase freezing solutions for wart treatment at a drugstore. These are not liquid nitrogen, but they work in a similar way.

People should not attempt to apply ice to freeze a wart. Doing this will not be effective, and it is likely to damage the surrounding skin.

Most warts are not medically harmful, but some people dislike their appearance. Without treatment, warts will usually go away within 2–3 years but often sooner.

Duct tape wart removal may help accelerate the process, but a person needs to perform diligent applications over several months for this method to work.

If duct tape removal does not work, many other home remedies and medical treatments are available to try.

If a person has warts that are particularly bothersome or persistent, they can speak to a doctor for advice.

Warts on the foot why do they occur and how to treat

Warts on the feet are common. Approximately 30% of patients come to a dermatologist with this problem.

And only a few know what to do with these growths.

These warts look like a rounded knot of skin that rises slightly above the skin. But sometimes they look different. We will talk about the varieties later.

Mostly warts on the foot appear on the heel. Less often – in other parts.While we are walking, our weight presses on the soles and then neoplasms grow not outward, but inside the leg. From above, they are protected by a dense and hard layer of leather.

Are warts on the feet dangerous?

These growths are incomparable with cancers and usually do not threaten health. They disappear even without treatment.

Of course, they do not disappear in one day or in a week. In most cases, warts stay on the feet for at least 14 days, and only then the immune system eliminates the cause of their appearance.

Unfortunately, sometimes you cannot do without the help of a doctor. Make an appointment with a dermatologist if:

• Growths hurt, bleed or change
• New warts appear
• Neoplasms interfere with daily life
• Immunity weakened due to drugs or diseases

In such situations, the growths rarely disappear on their own, and medical or surgical treatment is necessary.

Why?

To answer, it is important to understand how neoplasms arise.

Causes of the appearance of warts on the feet

Plantar warts grow due to human papillomavirus or HPV. Scientists know over 100 types of this virus.

It has different effects on humans. Most types are harmless – in the worst-case scenario, they cause warts to grow.

But there are also dangerous types of HPV. In rare cases, they provoke the development of genital cancer.

Causes of the appearance of warts on the feet – HPV type 1, 2, 4, 27 and 57.The virus enters the skin. Usually through minor cuts, scrapes, and other damage.

Under the influence of the virus, skin cells mutate and turn into neoplasms.

This does not happen overnight. The incubation period of HPV can last up to six months, and even then it affects the skin in different ways. Depends on immunity. Some family members will grow warts quickly after infection, while others will never develop.

Fortunately, plantar growths are not very contagious, but at the same time they remain a threat even without direct contact.The virus survives in warm and humid environments. That is, on the floor next to the pool or in shared changing rooms. So doctors recommend wearing slippers or other shoes in these rooms.

Plantar warts are especially common in humans:

• Children and adolescents
• With a weak immune system
• Reinfected HPV

They also appear due to:

• Wearing tight and uncomfortable shoes
• Using someone else’s socks or tights
• Heavy sweating on the feet

Outward signs of infection are not always the same – several varieties are known.

What do warts on the foot look like

Not all soles are identical. Therefore, sometimes patients confuse warts with other growths and this interferes with effective treatment.

Fortunately, the signs of viral warts on the foot are easy to remember:

• Small, hard formations, usually at the base of the toes or heel
• Dark spots on the skin – superficial blood vessels overflowing with blood
• Rough, hardened skin around a visible patch, from which the wart grows deep into the leg

Other symptoms are also characteristic of these formations.For example, they cause pain and irritation when walking, which often causes gait changes. This is how the body fights the unpleasant sensations of warts. Sometimes patients themselves do not notice these changes.

It is recommended to remove such build-ups.

Why you need to get rid of warts

Up to 90% of new growths on the soles do not affect health and life. A few growths just appeared. And after a couple of months they disappeared. Sometimes people do not have time to visit a doctor, and the warts already disappear, without medication and therapy.And no problems with discomfort.

Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky.

The remaining 10% of growths can make life extremely difficult – sometimes they cause severe pain when walking and limit mobility.

How to get rid of a wart on the foot ?

The first step is to see a dermatologist. The doctor makes the diagnosis easily.

Treatment is prescribed if education:

• Constantly growing
• Causes the appearance of other neoplasms
• It hurts badly
• Interferes with normal walking

Usually patients like to fight warts with medications and avoid surgery.

Ask a dermatologist about topical plantar growths. There are many such drugs. They gradually destroy the cells of the neoplasms. But they do not give a 100% guarantee.

Medicinal methods act very slowly on warts and sometimes it takes months to remove the growths. Even worse, the growths may return.

Yes, this does not always happen, but such cases are not uncommon. Therefore, for effective treatment of viral warts on the foot, we recommend using one of the surgical methods.

There are many therapy options.

How to eliminate warts on the foot and prevent their appearance

Let’s start with the attack on neoplasms.

Doctors remove warts on the foot with operations:

• Laser Coagulation

The doctor burns out the altered skin cells with a powerful beam of light and at the same time bakes the adjacent vessels. The procedure is bloodless and painless. Sometimes it is impossible to remove the entire build-up in one session and you need to visit the doctor several times to completely cleanse the skin. Then the wound on the skin heals for at least a couple of weeks.

• Cryodestruction

The dermatologist freezes the wart tissue with liquid nitrogen. The growth freezes completely. Gradually, the tissues die off, and only a wound remains – after two weeks it goes away too. This method has few complications. However, the procedure is prohibited for women during pregnancy and for people with diabetes.

• Surgical excision

The doctor uses local anesthesia and excises the wart with a scalpel.Together with the wart, it also removes a small layer of healthy skin – this is how the complete elimination of the neoplasm is guaranteed. A wound remains. Stitches are applied to it, and after treatment there is always a scar. Due to cosmetic drawbacks, this method is not very popular.

• Immunotherapy

The doctor prescribes drugs to strengthen the immune system – they help the body fight the virus and the growths on the skin disappear. Sometimes doctors give injections into the wart.Or they treat it with a special cream.

• Electrocoagulation

The operation is similar to excision, but is performed not with a scalpel, but with the help of a special device that generates a high-frequency electric current. In fact, the build-up is burned out with electricity. A wound remains. It will crust over and take only a few weeks to heal.

Remember – warts appear due to the human papillomavirus and therefore they will continue to multiply until HPV is defeated.

Pay more attention to prevention.

To reduce the risk of contamination:

• Do not touch the warts or be sure to wash your hands after touching
• Do not go barefoot near swimming pools or changing rooms
• Inspect and wash the soles of your feet every day
• Do not scratch neoplasms
• Do not use one pumice stone for healthy skin and for warts
• Treat scratches and other damage in a timely manner
• Lead a healthy lifestyle
• Wear comfortable, loose-fitting shoes

These simple tips will help protect your body from frequent exposure to HPV. Occasionally, the virus will still sneak, but in such situations, you need to rely on immunity. As you remember, in most cases the growths do not appear. And even if they grow up, they do not cause discomfort. It is extremely difficult to find a healthy person who regularly suffers from painful and uncomfortable growths on the feet.

Unfortunately, sometimes you cannot do without treatment.

Therefore, it is useful to read about the nearest clinics and find out the cost of removing plantar warts.

Price for treatment of neoplasms on the foot

It is difficult to answer right away how much it costs to remove warts.

The cost of the operation depends on many factors:

• Procedure type
• Location
• The size of the neoplasm
• Doctor’s experience
• Complications

These are just general points. Sometimes, in addition to paying for the operation, you need to buy a remedy for warts on the foot.

Much depends on the choice of the clinic. Some people choose to have neoplasms removed in beauty salons because of the low cost, but this is not always beneficial.

Remember – if the build-up is not completely eliminated, an additional procedure will be required. It is much easier to immediately remove the wart, albeit at a higher price, than to run to the beautician every day.

Looking for a reliable medical center?

We recommend visiting the Lazersvit clinic.

Our doctors remove warts on the foot with a laser at an affordable price and in a short time.

Advantages of the operation:

Doctors remove a small tumor in just two minutes, and sometimes even faster.Large formations take longer. Sometimes up to 10 minutes.

A ray of light not only destroys the wart, but also disinfects the wound.

• Painlessness

Local anesthesia is done before removal. After which the patient feels nothing.

Heating of the skin bakes the vessels, and the likelihood of bleeding is excluded.

Even after the operation, scars and scars do not remain, although in this matter a lot depends on the patients themselves.With proper care, the skin is restored. Violators of the recommendations of a dermatologist can pay with ugly scars. However, they are not noticeable on the foot.

The Lazersvit clinic employs doctors with 17 years of experience and more. They have accumulated vast experience in identifying dangerous neoplasms, since they managed to examine over 100,000 patients.

Dermatologists remove various formations:

• Moles
• Papillomas
• Condylomas
• Atheromas
• Corns
• Lipomas
• Fats

We can easily get rid of even tattoos and spider veins.

Come to Lazersvit and clean the soles of painful warts without pain or bleeding.

Plantar wart – treatment and removal of warts

Living with a plantar wart – anguish: it is impossible to stand or walk. And it’s scary to go to a doctor – removal is very painful, and the wound heals after such a procedure for a long time. And only recently did dermatologists have a gentle way of dealing with this problem.

Whatever people have come up with in search of a way to get rid of plantar warts.They rubbed them with potatoes or garlic, tied the meat to the wart. Home use of “burning” products is often ineffective and can lead to the appearance of rough scars. In general, anyone who has ever tried to get rid of a plantar wart on their own knows: everything is useless, you cannot do without a doctor.

What is a plantar wart?

Plantar wart is not at all similar to those seen on the body. Why do they appear as if out of nowhere? There was nothing on the sole of the foot and suddenly – you cannot walk.

Any warts are skin neoplasms, the development of which is provoked by human papillomavirus (HPV) . That is, a wart is a viral disease that needs to be treated systemically.

You can become infected with HPV through contact with an infected person or through household items, especially if the person has weakened immunity, both general and local. The virus penetrates the skin most easily through microtrauma and skin soaked in water (maceration), so often the most unpleasant – plantar – warts appear in those who visit the pool or gym.

Warts are different:

• vulgar (translated from Latin – ordinary),
• flat,
• plantar
• genital (genital warts).

Of course, warts do not paint anyone, so their owners are trying to get rid of the cosmetic defect. But the pain is usually delivered by the plantar. Outwardly, they look like calluses and occur more often on the skin of the soles – in places of pressure and friction.

Usually the skin there thickens due to increased keratinization.When pressure is applied to the plantar warts, the pain can be so severe that patients compare it to a “nail in a boot”.

Removal of plantar warts

How to do it, the doctor chooses. The risk of recurrence (recurrence) of the wart can be minimized with the help of complex therapy. Despite the fact that today there are no drugs that completely kill the human papillomavirus in the body, many patients need antiviral therapy. In addition, the formed wart must be removed.For the destruction (destruction) of warts, a laser, liquid nitrogen, cauterizing, keratolytic and mummifying agents can be used.

Laser removal of large warts is often more effective than liquid nitrogen removal. Before laser destruction, the plantar wart is injected with an anesthetic, which is a rather painful procedure. During laser destruction, in addition to the destruction of the formation itself, thermal heating (burns) of the surrounding tissues occurs, which, on the one hand, damages the virus, and on the other, leads to some inflammation around the removed wart. Wounds on the skin of the soles do not heal quickly, as there is constant pressure on the injured area when walking. In addition, wound healing can be complicated by the addition of a bacterial infection, especially with excessive sweating of the legs.

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warts at home

Pharmacies sell medicines, the instructions for which say that the indication for use is plantar warts.But, removing warts at home is undesirable, because it is often ineffective and can cause complications.

Most of the drugs used at home are strong solutions of alkalis or acids. When using them, it is possible the occurrence of a deep, long-lasting burn and the development of a rough scar . With insufficient exposure, warts reappear. In addition, infection of the wound and the development of purulent complications are possible.

The method of treatment must be chosen by the physician . And the application of any destructive drugs should also be carried out by a doctor or under his supervision.

Mardil remedy for plantar warts

Recently, a remedy has appeared that can get rid of a wart without the use of traumatic methods – it does not destroy it, but mummifies it. This is Mardil. Typically, depending on the size and number of lesions, 1 to 4 application sessions are required.Healing of wounds after treatment with “Mardil” occurs under the scab formed after its application.

It is still problematic to buy it in pharmacies in St. Petersburg, but for our patients we order the drug from Moscow. The decision on the time and frequency of application of the drug occurs after consulting a dermatologist and prescribing an individually selected treatment regimen.

A session of application of the drug (it is applied several times) is carried out by a doctor and takes on average about 20-30 minutes.The procedure is usually painless, no anesthesia is required during it, as well as taking pain medication after it. A tingling sensation may occur.

The formation quickly hardens and mummifies, if the doctor’s recommendations are followed, healing takes place without complications and painful sensations and usually takes 2-3 weeks.

After the treatment with the drug, it is advisable to limit contact with water, avoid ultraviolet radiation, carefully observe hygiene.It is impossible to injure the formed scab and “pick” it – after complete healing, it will be rejected on its own.

Contraindications to the use of the drug

When applied to the affected areas of the skin or mucous membrane, “Mardil” is not absorbed and has no general effect on the body. But due to the fact that no relevant studies have been carried out, the drug is not used to treat children (under 18), as well as pregnant and lactating women.

In addition, the drug is contraindicated in malignant neoplasms of the skin and mucous membranes, a tendency to form rough (keloid) scars, hypersensitivity to the components of the drug.

When treating children, it is especially important that they are not afraid or hurt. Since we can only use Mardil for patients over 18 years of age, we have developed alternative, but also painless, treatment regimens for children suffering from plantar warts.

Treatment of warts – eliminating the risk of oncogenic diseases

External beauty and attractiveness in the conditions of modern life becomes not only desirable, but also a necessary attribute of creating a positive image.Fashion is changeable, and spicy “flies” and warts on the face and body, so popular in past centuries, are now perceived as a significant flaw that spoils the appearance. Moreover, they are not as harmless as they seem at first glance.

A wart, scientifically – papilloma , does not appear on the body just like that. The reason for the appearance of papillomas in ancient times was considered to be the evil eye, frogs and much more. But only now, with the advent of modern molecular diagnostic methods, it became clear: the cause of papillomas is the human papillomavirus (HPV).

To date, more than 100 types of HPV are known.

It is reliably known that HPV type 2 affects mainly the skin, causing the appearance of warts, and HPV 6, 11, 16, 18, 30, 31, 33, etc. gravitate towards the mucous membranes. For a long time, the human papillomavirus was considered the cause of only skin and genital warts, and only relatively recently were the oncogenic properties of papillomaviruses discovered – their ability to cause cancer and, first of all, cancer of the genital organs, both in men and women.

Based on long-term studies, doctors have created a classification of HPV according to its oncogenic activity:

• HPV types of “high risk” (primarily 16, 18, 31 and 45). Increases the risk of precancerous diseases and genital cancers.
• HPV types “low risk” (mainly 6 and 11). Causes the appearance of genital warts, but is not associated with precancerous diseases and cancer of the genital organs.

The presence of high-risk HPV in the body increases the likelihood of oncological diseases by 60 times.

How the virus manifests itself

An important circumstance is that the clinical manifestations of HPV are not detected for a sufficiently long time. You should not, focusing on a long asymptomatic period, underestimate the danger of human papillomavirus infection. Already today in the United States, infection caused by HPV is the most common viral disease transmitted mainly through sexual contact (in our country, large-scale studies in this direction have not yet been carried out). Plus, the HPV lesion of the cervix, even in the presence of clinical manifestations, often remains unnoticed for a long time.

Infection with the human papillomavirus usually occurs through close contact with the site of infection. HPV can be transferred with scales peeled off with papillomas during sexual play with hands, during sexual intercourse, and when women use hygienic tampons, it can be introduced from the external genital organs into the vagina, onto the cervix. Infection of newborns during childbirth is possible.

Each wart, papilloma or condyloma (these are just different names for the same disease, differing only in the place of manifestation of neoplasms) is a reservoir for the human papillomavirus. This virus also accumulates in the tissues surrounding the neoplasm, which can cause changes in the DNA of cells of the epithelium of the skin or mucous membranes of the genital organs, as a result of which precancerous conditions develop.

Papillomas are manifested by papillary growths protruding above the surface of the skin or mucous membrane, often have a thin stem, and sometimes a wide base.They can take on bizarre shapes that look like hairs, cauliflower, or cockscomb.

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Types of papillomas

Depending on the localization, the following types of external manifestations of HPV are distinguished:

• Vulgar (simple) warts , which account for up to 70% of all skin warts and are more common in school-aged children.They represent elevations above the surface of the skin with an uneven, keratinized surface. Most often they appear on the hands, but can be on the border of the lips, on the face and, extremely rarely, on the mucous membrane of the mouth.
• Flat (juvenile) warts less common (4%). Found in children and young people on the back of the hands and feet, face, oral mucosa. These are warts of various shapes, they have a smooth surface, slightly rise above the level of the skin.
• Palmar-plantar warts are very common (34% of skin warts).They are dense formations with horny layers.
• Filiform warts are soft flesh to dark brown papillomas, often with a pedicle. They are located on the neck, eyelid skin, in the armpits, in the groin, under the mammary glands.
• Genital warts – multiple, rarely single, soft papillomas, located on the mucous membranes of the genitals, around and inside the rectum, sometimes in the urethra.They look like simple (pyramid, ball) or complex (cauliflower) growths with a keratinized surface on the leg.

Self-medication to the detriment of

Do not try to diagnose and treat HPV infection yourself! First, there is a risk of drug misuse. Secondly, only a doctor can distinguish papilloma from a malignant tumor. In addition, self-treatment is fraught with consequences.

Today, there are celandine-based preparations on sale for the removal of warts.Celandine juice is similar in composition to iodine. Therefore, prolonged exposure to the drug causes skin burns. At the same time, papillomas are severely injured and can provoke the development of skin cancer. Even more dangerous is cauterization with iodine – it is more aggressive than celandine. Trying hard to get rid of papillomas with iodine can cause scars on your skin. Vinegar is no better in this regard. Attempts to bandage warts, papillomas with a thin silk thread often only provokes the growth of these formations.

If you suspect the appearance of warts or genital warts, you should definitely seek the advice of a dermatologist, urologist or gynecologist, depending on the location of the focus of infection.Only a professional is able to correctly diagnose the disease and prescribe the necessary treatment.

Removal of papillomas

The question of the need to remove papillomas is decided unambiguously – it is necessary to remove it. No wonder, literally translated from some languages, a wart means “extra meat”. In addition, damage to papillomas, when they reach large sizes or are injured by linen and clothing, leads to the formation of long-lasting, easily bleeding wounds, into which infection can penetrate.

Removal can be done by various methods: traditional surgery, chemical cauterization, thermal or cryodestruction. The most modern and safest types of surgery – radio wave and laser. Exposure to surrounding healthy tissue is minimized. When removing warts and papillomas with these methods, the formation of scars or scars in their place is almost completely excluded. After removal, the skin heals within a few days.In parallel with the removal, antiviral therapy is mandatory.

Strengthen the immune system

Modern medicine has not yet learned how to kill viruses. But it is important that the carrier of HPV is not lifelong. In addition, medicine has at its disposal a small amount of funds that allow you to remove some of the viruses from the body. The use of these funds is quite compatible with immunomodulatory therapy.

The amount of virus in the body is directly related to the state of the body’s immunity – the better the immunity, the less virus.Therefore, the most promising way to reduce the concentration of HPV in the body is to strengthen the immune system. For this, a separate course of treatment is carried out, after which the person begins to feel much better.

Finally, there are very effective preparations for topical use – creams, gels, sprays that increase local immunity and reduce the concentration of the virus in the affected tissues.

And finally, about prevention

The use of personal hygiene products (sponges, washcloths, towels) and condoms during sexual intercourse (especially accidental ones) will largely help you avoid meeting this not at all safe infection.And regular preventive visits to a dermatologist , urologist or gynecologist will allow you to identify the disease at an early stage and avoid the unpleasant consequences of HPV.

Topical treatment for skin warts | Cochrane

Viral warts are a common skin disorder that occurs most commonly on the hands and feet and are caused by the human papillomavirus. Although warts are not harmful and usually go away on their own without any treatment, they can be unpleasant and painful.Foot warts are also called “plantar” or “flat” warts.

This review does not address the treatment of genital warts and is based on evidence from randomized controlled trials only.

Salicylic acid (SA), a cheap and affordable treatment for warts, has a moderate benefit compared to placebo. It is effective for warts on all parts of the body and has few undesirable effects, but the result may only be noticeable after several weeks of daily use.

Cryotherapy, usually with liquid nitrogen, is often used to treat warts, but it is less convenient, more painful, and also more costly. One study suggests that cryotherapy is superior to KS for arm warts, but when we combined this study with other results, we were unable to confirm this. We have found that more intense cryotherapy has a greater effect than mild cryotherapy, but also increases the risk of unwanted effects such as pain, blistering and scarring.We have only reviewed information from clinical trials of cryotherapy for warts, not over-the-counter freeze treatments, so we cannot say if they are effective.

In the preparation of the latest version of this review, adhesive tape was considered a safe and easy-to-use treatment; however, the study from which these conclusions were drawn was relatively small. In preparing this updated review, we found two further studies of duct tape suggesting that this treatment is not as effective as previously thought.

Other therapies reviewed in this review include 5-fluorouracil, dinitrochlorobenzene, photodynamic therapy, and bleomycin, interferon, and antigen injected into the wart site. None of these treatments are widely used (even by dermatologists), and there is little evidence of their effectiveness. The limited evidence available suggests that some of these treatments may be effective and therefore may be useful for warts if simpler, safer treatments such as salicylic acid or cryotherapy have failed.

In general, it was difficult to select effective methods from such a wide range of studies, as many were of low quality.

Plantar wart (spine): causes and treatment methods

June 21, 2018

Plantar warts are a type of warts that occurs on the soles of the feet and palms.
Of all skin warts, plantar occurs in 30%. It is they who are most often removed.

The only reason is the human papillomavirus, or HPV for short.

Infection scheme: people scratched their skin. The virus enters the skin. It is embedded in the genes of skin cells. The cell takes on an ugly shape, resembling tumor cells.

Warning: Certain types of human papillomavirus can cause dysplasia and cervical cancer.
Infection with the type of HPV that causes warts occurs during childhood. Almost all children become infected with this virus – in kindergartens, in schools, in public places.But not everyone gets sick – it all depends on immunity. In childhood, warts appear for the first time. Then the adult’s immune system copes with this virus. Therefore, in adults, warts on the skin are rare. And if an adult has spines, this indicates a decrease in the activity of the immune system.
The entrance gate for the virus is trauma to the soles of the feet and palms: scratches, cuts, abrasions and calluses. The provoking factors are excessive sweating of the feet and wearing tight shoes, stress.

Main manifestation : A dense, rounded mass on the palm or sole of the foot.

The main symptom of is pain when walking and itching in the wart area.

Initial stage:

• a small corn appears,
• she itches,
• hurts when walking.

After 2-4 weeks:

• a rough surface appears in the center,
• often – black dots in the center, **
• at the edges – a small roll of keratinized skin.

Why?

• Why do spines appear on the palm and sole? Because the skin is especially dense here (unlike other parts of the body).And this type of HPV virus affects just such skin.
• Why does it hurt when walking? Because the spine grows inward. When walking, the weight of the body presses on the wart and it squeezes the pain receptors.
• Why is itchy skin? Because the ugly cells of the plantar wart on the foot and on the palm press on neighboring skin receptors, which leads to itching.
• Why black dots? This is the result of a blockage of blood vessels in the thickness of the wart on the foot or palm.

Dimensions – 3-10 mm.At the same time, they rise above the surface of the skin by only 1-2 mm, because they grow inward and outward.
Daughter warts may appear nearby. They merge with the mother and form a painful conglomerate. This is a clear indicator of decreased immunity. And this often requires medication.

Treatment methods:

In 90% of people, the plantar wart goes away without treatment at an early stage. The immune system suppresses the virus and heals the skin.
The time for self-healing depends on the stage of the process: from 2 weeks to 1.5 years.

When should the spines be treated?

• if it hurts badly,
• if it interferes with walking,
• if it has grown to a large size,
• if children appear nearby.

How and how to treat warts on the feet?

Removal – successful treatment in 98% of patients

Disposal by drugs

For these purposes, local necrotizing agents are used.Solkoderm, vartox, duofilm, kollomak, supercleaner and others
They contain acids or alkalis. Removal of plantar warts (spines) occurs through a chemical burn of the skin. The wart dies off.
And in this place, an inconspicuous scar remains.
Treatment time is long: on average 14-20 days).
The likelihood of relapse (reappearance in the same place) is very high.

Instrumental removal

Your wart will be vaporized by the laser. This will leave you with a deep wound.The wound will heal in 10-14 days.
Disadvantages of the method: deep wound after removal. Rough scarring.

Deep tissue freezing occurs. A bubble forms. It will be very painful and then it will hurt more !! Heals for 14 days.
Disadvantages of the method: Severe pain during and after removal. Long-term healing. Rough scar.

• Radio wave radiation (apparatus “Surgitron”).

Same effect as laser – tissue evaporation. And only a groove-wound will remain from the wart.

Advantages of the method:

The adjacent vessels coagulate, forming a dense crust at the site of the neoplasm, thus, removal is performed without damage to the vessels and does not cause even the smallest blood loss.
The crust disappears on its own after 7-10 days. In its place is an inconspicuous scar.

• Surgical removal of a wart with a scalpel.
  Produced under local anesthesia. Seams are applied. It is used very rarely, since the radio wave is much more convenient, simpler and less traumatic

• Electrocoagulation.

The wart is burned out with an electrocoagulator. This is the same scalpel, only electric. It is rarely used in large clinics now.

Prevention is the foundation

• Wearing loose shoes.
• Treatment of excessive sweating of the feet.
• Treatment of injuries, scratches and cuts on the feet.
• A healthy lifestyle and strengthening the immune system is the prevention of viral diseases, including the HPV virus.

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90,000 How to get rid of plantar warts?

What are warts?

Warts are benign skin neoplasms caused by the human papillomavirus, this virus penetrates the skin and mucous membranes. The most common manifestation of HPV infection in humans is the manifestation of plantar warts.More than 150 subtypes of HPV are known in the world, some of them can be localized in certain parts of the body. HPV of the first type can affect mainly the feet and soles, which is manifested by the appearance of plantar warts.

How do warts appear?

As a rule, HPV infection, which causes warts, occurs through direct contact with an infected skin area, or through contaminated objects. Such violations of the protective function of the skin: cuts, abrasions, burrs, dermatitis of various kinds, can contribute to the development of the disease.Symptomatically, warts appear through neoplasms on the skin, which cause discomfort and pain, both at rest and while walking, which greatly interferes with the life of a modern person.

How to recover from plantar warts?

The most effective method of treatment is to remove warts that have already shown themselves. Chemical destruction with salicylic acid preparations or liquid nitrogen removal can be used.These methods are the most proven, affordable and effective, but other methods of disposal are acceptable:

Laser burning. With the help of a medical laser, the formed growth is removed in layers, it is possible to use local anesthesia. The method is the least traumatic for the body, does not cause cosmetic defects in the area with a wart.

Electrocoagulation. Due to the effect of high-frequency current on the skin area, the roots of the wart are burned out, but after the wound has healed, scarring and scarring are permissible.

Surgical removal. Surgical removal of warts is used when the roots of the build-up are deep. Radio wave surgery uses high-frequency radio waves (3.8 – 4.0 MHz) to completely eliminate the wart.

Cryodestruction has proven itself in the treatment of plantar warts. Carrying out this procedure over a diseased skin area is extremely effective, due to the extremely low temperature of nitrogen, any organic formations will be destroyed.Cryodestruction has no contraindications, it does not require injections of anesthetics, which can cause dangerous allergic reactions. You can read more about the removal of plantar warts using cryodestruction in our article on cryodestruction.

The use of destruction with chemicals (salicylic acid), the use of cryodestruction are the first methods of removing simple and plantar warts. Unfortunately, plantar warts can be resistant to the chosen treatment, requiring a repeat procedure in the future.It is worth remembering that even complete removal of warts does not lead to a cure from the HPV that causes them, therefore, a relapse is possible.

What are the advantages of these types of plantar warts removal?

Chemical destruction is a painless, bloodless method of removal with minimal side effects.

Cryodestruction is a method that does not require anesthesia, preliminary preparation and the procedure itself takes several minutes.Using cryodestruction, you choose a bloodless method of plantar wart removal, with minimal side effects, and quick healing allows you to quickly return to a comfortable daily life.

Radio wave removal – this method of surgical treatment allows you to completely get rid of a neoplasm in one procedure. Minimal skin trauma, provides better wound healing.

Ways to prevent the spread and production of plantar warts:

● Use only personal footwear and leather goods.

● Use replacement shoes when visiting swimming pools, shared showers, changing rooms, baths.

● Use personal hygiene products when processing, cleaning, trimming nails and skin of feet.

● Take care of the skin of hands and feet, avoid excessive skin moisture, damage, avoid dryness and cracks.

90,000 What if you have warts?

2020.01.11

Warts…. what is it?

This is a common viral skin disease. Rarely does an adult ever have them. They are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). It is usually transmitted by direct contact with a sick person or carrier of the virus, or with infected items (such as towels). Minor (mostly invisible) skin lesions and other defects in the skin’s protective barrier facilitate the penetration of the virus into the skin. In addition, a person can become infected himself, for example, when he is silently injured, even if he has a tiny wart, the virus spreads to nearby skin areas.The virus promotes additional cell growth, which causes the outer layer of the skin to thicken and harden. Viruses can enter and start multiplying anywhere on your skin or mucous membranes. They prefer places where direct contact is most likely: on the hands or feet, on the mucous membrane of the genitals. Certain HPV viruses transmitted during intercourse can contribute to the development of cancer. The type of wart depends on where it is and what it looks like.

Where are warts most common?

Because everyone’s immune system reacts differently to the virus, not everyone who comes into contact with HPV will become infected and develop warts. However, if you damage your skin in any way, the virus will clear up more easily. This is why people with chronic skin conditions, such as eczema or nail biting, bite frequently, are more likely to get warts. Warts are more common in children and adolescents than in adults because their immune systems do not have sufficient protection against many types of HPV. People with weakened immune systems, such as HIV or those taking biological medications for systemic diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, etc.)Are also prone to developing warts.

Can warts go away on their own without treatment?

Over time, the human immune system overcomes HPV and the warts disappear on their own, but they can take months or years to disappear. In adults, warts often persist even longer, possibly several years or more. Some warts never go away. There is no exact explanation as to why this is so.

Is it to cure or not to cure warts?

Most warts are harmless and should not be done – unless they are painful or look aesthetically ugly.However, if, on the contrary, expecting the warts to disappear spontaneously, they, on the contrary, may grow, develop new warts, and you may infect others during this time. Treatment depends on your age, health condition, and the type of warts. Even after the warts have disappeared, some viruses may remain in your skin and the warts may appear after a while.

Warts are often treated with over-the-counter medications (gels, liquids). The results are different – sometimes successful, sometimes you need to see a specialist.

When to see a doctor?

If you are unsure if your skin is getting warts (some types of skin cancer look very similar), your home treatment is not getting better, it hurts, or you have a lot of warts, see your doctor. If you have diabetes or a weakened immune system, you should see your doctor before treating yourself for warts.

Specialists treat warts differently, depending on their type, location and size.