What Are Warts? What Causes Warts?
Editor's ChoiceMain Category: Dermatology
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 23 Jun 2009 - 9:00 PDT
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Warts are skin growths which are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) - they are non-cancerous. The virus causes keratin, a hard protein in the epidermis (the top layer of the skin) to grow too fast. Warts are different from moles. While moles are dark and can be quite large, warts tend to be small, skin-colored rough lumps. Warts most commonly appear on a person's hands and feet.
In this article we shall look at various types of warts, but not genital warts. Click here to read article called "What are genital warts? What causes genital warts?"
The appearance of a wart can vary depending on what part of the body it is, as well as how thick the skin is. A wart that is located on the sole of the foot is known as a verruca.
What are the different types of warts?
Experts say there are several different kinds of warts. According to the National Health Service (NHS), UK, a survey of 1,000 children with warts found that:- 74 per cent of them had common warts
- 24 per cent of them had verrucas
- 3.5 per cent of them had plane warts
- 2 per cent of them had filiform warts
- Common warts (verruca vulgaris) - these have a rough surface. They are firm and raised and may have a cauliflower surface type look. They are thickened bumps called papules or plaques. Common warts may appear in any part of the body, but are more common on the knuckles, fingers, elbows and knees. Often they have tiny dark spots which are from blood vessels that have clotted.
- Verrucas (plantar warts) - these appear on the soles of the feet, sometimes the heel and toes. They usually grow back into the skin because the weight of the person pushes onto the sole of the foot. They can be painful. It is common for verrucas to have a black dot in the middle, with a surrounding hard, white area. The dark dot is the wart's blood supply.
- Plane warts (verruca plana) - plane (plana) means flat. Plane warts are round, flat and smooth. They are generally yellowish, brownish or skin color. They are also known as flat warts and are more common among young children. They are usually found on the hands, legs and face. Adults can have plane warts, but this is unusual.
- Filiform warts (verruca filiformis) - these are long and can usually be found on the eyelids, neck and armpits.
- Mosaic warts - these grow in clusters. Palmar warts are mosaic warts that grow on the palm of the hands and feet.
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When should you see your doctor?
If you are sure it is a wart tell your doctor next time you see him/her. Most warts do not need to be treated medically. Most warts disappear on their own. If you are not sure and wonder whether it may be something else, go and see your doctor to have it checked.What are skin tags? What causes skin tags?
What are pimples? How to get rid of pimples?
What are blackheads? How to get rid of blackheads
What is nail fungal infection? What causes nail fungal infection?
What is cellulitis? What causes cellulitis?
What is cellulite? What causes cellulite?
What is skin cancer? What is melanoma?
What is acne? What causes acne? How to get rid of acne
What is psoriasis? What causes psoriasis?
What Are Hives? What Is Urticaria? What Causes Hives?
What is shingles? What causes shingles?
What are the causes of warts?
Different HPV (human papilloma virus) strains cause warts. The wart-causing virus can be passed on by close skin-to-skin contact, as well as through contact with towels or shoes.The wart-causing virus can be spread to other parts of the body in the following ways:
- If somebody scratches or bites a wart
- Sucking fingers
- Biting fingernails can cause warts to spread on the fingertips and around nails
- Shaving (face or legs)
As we all have different immune systems some of us may develop warts when we come into contact with HPV, while others don't. The risk of catching warts from another person is fairly small, but it exists. Genital warts are much more contagious.
How are warts and verrucas diagnosed?
Warts and verrucas are generally easy for doctors to identify just by looking at them. The doctor may ask whether any other family members have warts. Occasionally, he/she may take some tissue from a wart and examine it under a microscope.What is the treatment for warts?
The majority of warts clear up without any treatment. How long it takes for them to clear up varies considerably from person to person. They tend to clear up faster among young children. Some warts may take several years to clear up. Less commonly, warts may clear up without treatment within weeks.Some treatments may cause the skin around the wart to become irritated, others may cause pain, and even blistering. The type of treatment depends on where the wart is located and how many of them there are:
- Salicylic acid - most creams, gels, paints and medicated plasters that you can get at a pharmacy without a prescription contain salicylic acid. Studies indicate that salicylic acid treatment usually gets rid of most warts within three months. It is important to protect the skin before applying treatment. This is because salicylic acid may destroy healthy skin. Petroleum jelly or a corn plaster may be used to protect the skin around the wart.
Before applying the medication soak the wart in water for about five minutes. Rub dead tissue off the surface of the wart each week using a pumice stone or emery board. Make sure you do not share it with anybody else. In most cases treatment is applied daily for about three months. If the skin becomes sore, stop the treatment.
Medications containing salicylic acid should not be used on the face. Patients with poor circulation should not use medications that have salicylic acid without checking with their doctor. - Duct tape - some people use duct tape in order to get rid of warts. They should never be used for warts on the face. Duct tape is placed over the wart and left there for about six days, and then removed. The wart is then soaked in warm water for about five minutes after which the dead tissue is gently rubbed off using an emery board or pumice stone. It is important that the emery board or pumice stone is not used by anybody else. The wart is then left uncovered overnight and a new piece of duct tape is placed the next day.
- Cryotherapy - very cold liquid, possibly nitrogen, is sprayed on to the wart, freezing it and destroying the cells. A blister develops, which eventually turns into a scab and falls off a week or so later. This treatment has to be done by a healthcare professional and may require a local anesthetic. If the wart is large several treatments may be required over a number of weeks. Cryotherapy has a lower risk of skin irritation compared to medications containing salicylic acid or the use of duct tape. Pharmacies sell dimethyl-ether/propane spray which the patient can use himself/herself - this should not be used on the face.
- Surgery - this is less common for warts. Warts treated with surgery often come back. Surgery has a higher risk of scarring. However, sometimes a doctor may recommend surgery, which will generally be performed under local or general anesthetic. Surgery may be recommended if other treatments have not worked. If the wart is very big it will be cut out. Smaller warts may be scraped off using a curette.
- Laser treatment - a precise laser beam is used to destroy the wart. Laser treatment is usually recommended for warts that are hard to treat.
- Electrocautery - an electric current is used to burn off the wart.
- Photodynamic therapy - the wart cells absorb a chemical. This chemical is activated by light - usually laser light - and destroys the wart cells.
- Chemical treatments - these are available on prescription. They may include formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde and podophyllin. They must be applied only on the wart, and not on the surrounding skin.
- Cantharidin - this is a substance which is extracted from the blister beetle. The doctor will apply it onto the warts. Usually this extract is mixed with other chemicals, applied onto the skin and covered with a bandage. It is painless; however the resulting blister may be uncomfortable. The blister lifts the wart off the skin so that the doctor can them remove the dead part of the wart.
If warts have not responded to standard treatments a GP (general practitioner, primary care physician) may refer the patient to a dermatologist (skin specialist). The dermatologist may use some of the treatments below:
- Immunotherapy - the aim here is to get the patient's immune system to destroy the warts.
- Bleomycin (Blenoxane) - this is injected into the wart and kills the virus. Bleomycin is also used for treating some types of cancer.
- Retinoids - these disrupt the wart's skin cell growth. Retinoids are derived from vitamin A.
- A common flower that helps wipe out garden insects has also shown promise in eradicating stubborn warts, a study found.
Antibiotics are not effective for treating warts. Antibiotics are used for bacterial infection, not viral infections. Warts are caused by a virus.
Complications
- Some people who have many warts, especially on their face, may find their self-confidence is affected.
- Some treatments may cause pain and irritate the skin around the wart.
- Although scarring is possible, it is unusual.
- It is harder to successfully treat warts if the patient has a weakened immune system.
- People with weakened immune systems are at a higher risk of their warts becoming malignant. Even so, this is rare.
Prevention
- Do not touch other people's warts.
- Do not use towels, flannels or other personal items of people who have warts.
- Do not share shoes and socks with a person who has verrucas.
- Do not scratch your warts or verrucas. If you do they will most likely spread.
- Wear sandals when going into and out of communal showers.
- Wear sandals when walking around communal pools.
- Cover your wart/verruca with a waterproof plaster (band aid) when you go swimming.
- There are special socks you can buy to cover verrucas.
- Wear gloves in the gym if you have warts on your hands.
- Do not brush, comb, shave, clip areas that have warts.
- When filing or cutting your nails do not use the same utensil on the infected nail and then on the healthy nails.
- Do not bite your fingernails if you have warts near them.
- Keep your hands as dry as possible.
- Wash your hands thoroughly after touching a wart.
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
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12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155039.php>
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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155039.php.
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Visitor Opinions In Chronological Order (17)
Didn't Tell Enough
posted by hazel smale on 7 Sep 2009 at 5:13 amI have seen warts caused by bacteria from the bowell backing up into the system, from a hole in the bowell that needs repair, It is almost impossible to get a repair like this in Manitoba Norman Region has cut costs so drastically in our region and you cannot get referred to a Doctor outside our region. You wouldn't have any suggestions would you???
what abt ears?
posted by elizabeth on 7 Aug 2010 at 2:23 pmi have a wart in my ear and it never did go away and i have had it for as long as i can remember. the doctors said it is in the wierdest place and they had never seen one like it before. sometimes it gets swollen and makes my entire ear hard and it hurts really bad, but it doesn't affect my hearing.
this could be true - warts
posted by Carman on 9 Aug 2010 at 6:23 pmI read what you posted and I was looking this up for my 5 year old son who has many warts and spreading. He also has what they call encopreses which is a bowel disorder with constipation and is on medication for it. I really hope he does not have a hole in his intestines but the incorrect nutrition absorbtion from the bowels part I could see being the problem.
SYRINGOMATA
posted by Fush Mkatini on 19 Aug 2010 at 2:59 amWhat is syringomata and can it be cured ?
Warts, who needs 'em!
posted by Marty on 9 Sep 2010 at 1:22 pmFact: I spent 30 years trying to get salicylic acid (common aspirin) to burn off my finger wart. Finally, after my wife had a mole removed, I lost my fear and went to a dermatologist. A tiny anesthetic needle, turn your head, and in a few seconds, with a sharp instrument, the thing was removed. The scarring is minimal and preferred about a million percent over having the wart. Do get it done; it's worth it.
piss away the warts.
posted by John on 13 Sep 2010 at 2:04 pmWhen I was 16 years old I got a common wart (verruca vulgaris) on the palm of my hand. After months of treatment including duct tape, chemical treatment, cryotherapy etc, the warts began to spread to other parts of my hand, and then body. No treatment was effective no matter how diligently i taped, froze or cut off my warts.
Visits to doctors and dermatologists yeilded no results, as all they did was tell me to do what I was already doing. 6 years later, in pain and hardly able to perform my job or hobbies like playing guitar, etc.
A man told me to piss on my warts. At this point I was so fed up with doctors and treatments that I had spent hundreds, if not thousands on. I was ready to try whatever.
30 days later, after years of suffering. ALLLL of my 40+ warts are gone.
All I had to do was piss on them everytime i had to piss, let it sit for about 3 minutes, wash my hands and go.
Not one doctor or specialist EVER mentioned this even in passing.
and.....it was completely free.
If you are a dermatologist you should let your patients know this. I don't care how often the Dr. Scholls Rep takes you out to lunch.
why warts?
posted by jacqueline richard on 14 Oct 2010 at 6:06 amWhen I was 22 years old, my boyfriend got warts on his penis, and about two days later I got it in my vagina. I went to the hospital and the doctor told me I should check for aids or syphilis? I god scared I couldn't! He gave me some acid I used and it gone, about fews month I got them again i use the same medication and I was cured. Now am 25 yrs old. Was asking where did they came from and is it possible that it happen because of STD's? pls help
jacqueline...
posted by concerned on 28 Nov 2010 at 11:24 amdear jacqueline ...your boyfriend got warts on his privates, then u got warts on yours ...u went to the doctor and they suggested u get tested for some very serious diseases (though, i would think warts=get tested for herpes) ...and the warts came back. salycilic acid may make the outside appear to be okay, but u need to find out what's going on inside... i don't know if you're still with the same boyfriend, but... if it is herpes he gave u, if u have slept with anyone else it can be passed to that person ...please, sweetheart, go back to your doctor and get tested... not getting tested doesn't mean what's going on is not still going on, don't u think? ...caring for u...
massive wart
posted by gtp on 8 Jan 2011 at 9:24 pmCool article. When I was 7 I had a massive wart covering my enire heel. After a month of working at it with an emery board, it was gone. Moral of the story: if you have a painful yellow mound covering your entire heel, tell your parents.
Ehhh
posted by Ashlynn on 20 Jan 2011 at 9:08 pmI have several warts on my hands and most of them don't bother me but two of them do. One is on my middle finger n sometimes just hurts and the other is on my other middle finger fairly close to my nail. It gets irritated. I have tried different things to get rid of them but does not work. I just end up with more after a while n now the skin around them is peeling. I'm not sure if that is from me doing dishes or what but any advice???
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