Warts FAQs

Warts are benign growths that can appear anywhere on your skin. Some warts may be painful and itch, while others are painless. Warts are often resistant to treatment and tend to regrow, so it’s essential to let a professional handle them.

Anyone can get a wart. Children are most prone to getting warts because they usually get a lot of cuts, allowing bacteria inside the skin. People with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to warts as well.

The different types of warts include:

• Common Warts – The most common types of warts grow on the hands, fingers, elbows, knees, and face.
• Filiform Warts – Filiform warts commonly appear on the lips, eyelids, neck, or face.
• Flat Warts – Flat warts form in clusters on the backs of hands, the face, or legs.
• Genital Warts – Genital warts are a type of sexually transmitted infection that appear on the vagina, penis, or rectum are genital warts.
• Periungual or Subungual Warts – These warts form under or around nails.
• Plantar Warts – Foot plantar warts appear on the soles of the feet and present themselves as calluses with black dots.

Warts are caused by viruses that enter through a cut on the skin. They are typically caused by:

• Direct contact with another wart
• Biting your nails
• Sexual intercourse for genital warts
• Touching something contaminated with the virus
• Shaving

Yes, warts are contagious. They can be caught by close skin-to-skin contact or by walking barefoot in a contaminated area. If your skin is damaged or wet, you are more likely to be infected with a wart.

There is no way to avoid altogether or prevent skin warts. Genital warts are highly contagious and are passed to another person during vaginal, oral, or anal sex. It is critical not to have unprotected sex if you or your partner have genital warts. You can take preventive measures to minimize your risk of warts, including:

• Wash your hands regularly.
• Keep your skin moisturized and healthy.
• Do not bite your fingernails.
• Always use fresh and clean towels in public locations.
• Wear rubber-soled sandals in public showers and locker rooms.

It’s important to refrain from picking at warts and washing your hands whenever you touch a wart. If you have warts in shaving areas, it’s essential to remember that shaving over the wart can transfer the virus to other parts of your body.

Some skin warts contain black dots that resemble tiny seeds because they are blood vessels, supplying the wart with oxygen and nutrients.

There is no overnight treatment for warts. An effective at-home solution is using salicylic acid plasters or solutions that slowly peel away warts. It’s essential to use a pumice stone or emery board to remove dead skin from your wart after each application of wart remover. Some people also use clear nail polish or duct tape to suffocate the virus and remove the wart. Small warts can sometimes be removed with liquid butane freeze spray. Advanced Foot & Ankle Specialists do not recommend self-treatment. It takes a professional to destroy warts without eliminating surrounding healthy tissue completely.

Warts sometimes go away without treatment. Some of the most common wart treatments include:

• Wart-removal Prescription – Under supervision, some wart removal medications help eradicate the virus.
• CO2 Laser Cautery – Laser treatment involves removing warts under a local anesthetic with minimal invasion.Excision – The wart can be cut out if possible.
• The Swift Treatment System –Swift offers patients significantly easier, faster, and more effective results for wart removal by stimulating the immune system to kill the virus.

Swift is an innovative and effective way to treat warts. Swift therapy involves delivering a low dose of microwave energy to treat the virus that causes warts. It stimulates the body’s natural immune response to kill the wart.

Most warts do not cause complications. The most common rare issues include:

• Cancer – Genital warts and HPV are linked to multiple types of cancers.
• Clusters – Some people develop clusters of warts on their face, hands, and body.
• Pain –Plantar warts are often painful because they can grow inward into the foot.
• Infection – If you cut a wart, the break in the skin allows bacteria to grow.

It’s time to call your healthcare provider about warts if the wart:

• Is painful or itches
• Consistently breaks open
• Causes embarrassment
• Develops on the genitals or rectum
• Is infected

The best questions to ask your healthcare provider about warts include:

• What is the best source of treatment for my wart?
• How can I keep this wart from spreading?
• Are there any complications with this type of wart?
• What can I do to ensure my family members aren’t infected?