We provide warts treatment here at Vujevich Dermatology Associates.
Warts are common non-cancerous skin growths that appear when a virus affects the first layer of the skin. Warts can appear on all skin tones and textures. While anyone can get warts, there are some people who are more prone to contracting the wart virus. These people include children, people who pick or bite the skin around their nails, and people with weakened immune systems.
What Causes Warts?
Viruses within the virus family called human papillomavirus (HPV) cause warts. These viruses cause the outer layer of the skin to become thick and hard in spots due to extra cell growth. You are more susceptible to catching one of these viruses if your skin is often cut or torn.
Not everyone who has contracted HPV will have warts because our bodies react to the viruses differently based on our immune systems. Children and adolescents are more likely to have warts because their immune systems have not yet built up immunity to the different viruses within the HPV family.
Types of Warts and Warts Symptoms
- Common warts are most often found on your fingers, specifically around the nails, and on the backs of hands. They are often found where the skin has been broken, most often from biting or picking at the skin around your nails. Common warts often feel like rough bumps and have a “seed” or black spot in the middle.
- Foot warts commonly grow on the soles of the feet. Foot warts are often flat and grow inwards due to the pressure from walking on them. They can hurt and feel as if you are walking on pebbles.
- Flat warts are smaller and smoother than other warts. They can occur anywhere and often occur on the faces of children, in the beards of men, and in the bend of women’s legs. Flat warts grow in clusters of 20 to 100 at a time.
- Filiform warts often grow on the face around the mouth, eyes, and nose. They often grow quickly and look like long threads or thin fingers.
Are Warts Harmful if Not Removed?
Warts are not harmful if they are not removed. Most warts do not need treatment, but if they are painful, stubborn, or spreading, a dermatologist can prescribe one of the many warts treatment options available.
Different Types of Wart Removal
There are many different types of warts treatment, including at-home remedies and warts treatment prescribed by your dermatologist. Let’s take a more in depth look at the different warts treatment options your dermatologist may suggest.
At-Home Warts Treatment
The most common at-home remedy is salicylic acid (which can also be prescribed by your dermatologist at a higher concentration). Before applying salicylic acid, soak the wart in warm water. Although you apply salicylic acid daily, it can take many weeks before you see results.
While you can treat warts at home, there is a chance that you will mistake a different kind of skin growth for a wart. You should schedule an appointment with your dermatologist when you have:
- Any suspicion that the growth is not a wart
- A wart on your face or genitals
- Multiple warts
- A weakened immune system
- Diabetes
- Warts that hurt, itch, bleed, or burn
Dermatologist-Prescribed Warts Treatment
- Cantharidin causes a blister to form under the wart, which enables the dermatologist to clip away the dead wart approximately a week after the initial cantharidin treatment.
- Cryotherapy is often used to treat common warts. The wart is frozen and then removed. It is common to need more than one cryotherapy treatment to remove warts. While effective, cryotherapy can cause dark spots on darker skin tones.
- Electrosurgery and curettage are often used to remove common warts, filiform warts, and foot warts. Electrosurgery is when the wart is burned off. It is often combined with curettage, which involves scraping off the wart with a sharp instrument.
- Excision is cutting out the wart. This is not usually the first warts treatment tried as warts may return following excision.
- Laser treatment is an option for warts that have not responded to other treatments.
- Chemical peels, which are actually wart creams, can be used to remove flat warts that appear. Your dermatologist will prescribe an at-home regimen to complete every day.
- Bleomycin can be injected into each wart, but there are possible side effects, including nail loss. This option is often only considered when other warts treatment options have not been effective.
- Immunotherapy uses your own immune system to fight warts. This is another option that is only used when other treatment methods have not worked.
Are Warts Contagious?
Yes, warts are highly contagious. Warts are most commonly spread by direct skin contact. This can include touching a wart and then touching another part of your body or someone touching a wart and then picking at their skin. Sharing items such as towels and razors can easily spread warts. It can take a few months for warts to become noticeable following direct skin contact.
Can I Prevent Warts?
Yes, there are ways to prevent warts. Refrain from picking or scratching at existing warts and do not touch another person’s warts. Keep warts dry, as moisture tends to encourage warts to spread. You can also prevent warts by wearing flip flops or water shoes in public showers, pool areas, and locker rooms. The best way to limit the growth of new warts is to have new warts treated immediately.
Some warts can go away on their own, but they can sometimes take years to go away. Warts that occur in adulthood often take longer to disappear than those that appear in childhood or adolescence. Over time, your body can develop immunity to warts, which leads to less warts appearing.
While there are many warts treatment options, there is no cure for warts. Vujevich Dermatology Associates offer warts treatment, including: in-office application of nitrogen, cantharidin, electrosurgery, and more. Contact us today to schedule an appointment in one of our warts treatment center Pittsburgh locations to discuss which warts treatment methods are best suited to your situation.