Visual Guide to Warts ( courtecy; webMD )
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What Are They?
These small,
noncancerous growths appear when your skin is infected with one of the many
viruses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) family. The virus triggers extra cell
growth, which makes the outer layer of skin thick and hard in that spot. While
they can grow anywhere you have skin, you're more likely to get one on your
hands or feet. The type of wart depends on where it is and what it looks like.
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Who Gets Them?
Because each person's
immune system responds differently to the virus, not everyone who comes in
contact with HPV will get a wart. And if you cut or damage your skin in some
way, it's easier for the virus to take hold. That's why people with chronic
skin conditions, such as eczema, or who bite their nails or pick at hangnails
are prone to getting warts.
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Your Body Plays Defense
Kids and teens get more
warts than adults because their immune systems haven't built up defenses
against the many types of HPV. People with weakened immune systems -- like
those with HIV or who are taking biologic drugs for conditions like RA,
psoriasis, and IBD -- are also more susceptible to getting warts because their
body may not be able to fight them off.
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How They Spread
Warts are highly
contagious and are mainly passed by direct skin contact, such as when you
pick at your warts and then touch another area of your body. You can also
spread them with things like towels or razors that have touched a wart on your
body or on someone else's. Warts like moist and soft or injured skin.
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Fairy Tales Are Wrong
You can touch or kiss
all the frogs and toads you like because they won't give you warts.
Having a wart on your
nose -- or anywhere else, for that matter -- doesn't make you a witch, either.
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Common Warts
These flesh-colored
growths are most often on the backs of hands, the fingers, the skin around
nails, and the feet. They're small -- from the size of a pinhead to a pea --
and feel like rough, hard bumps. They may have black dots that look like seeds,
which are really tiny blood clots. Typically they show up where the skin was
broken, perhaps from biting your fingernails. (This can also transfer the virus
from your hands to your face.)
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Plantar Warts
Does it feel like you
have pebbles in your shoe? Check the soles of your feet. These warts got their
name because "plantar" means "of the sole" in Latin. Unlike
other warts, the pressure from walking and standing makes them grow into your
skin. You may have just one or a cluster (called mosaic warts). Because they're
flat, tough, and thick, it's easy to confuse them with calluses. Look for black
dots on the surface.
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Flat Warts
The upside of these
warts is that they're smaller (maybe 1/8 inch wide, the thickness of the cord
that charges your phone) and smoother than other types. The downside? They tend
to grow in large numbers -- often 20 to 100 at a time. Flat warts tend to
appear on children's faces, men's beard areas, and women's legs.
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Filiform Warts
These fast-growing warts
look thread-like and spiky, sometimes like tiny brushes. Because they tend to
grow on the face -- around your mouth, eyes, and nose -- they can be annoying,
even though they don't usually hurt.
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Genital Warts
As you might expect, you
get these by having sex with someone who has them. They may look like small,
scattered, skin-colored bumps or like a cluster of bumps similar to a little
bit of cauliflower on your genitals. And they can spread, even if you can't see
them. Don't try to get rid of genital warts yourself; they can be hard to
treat.
Other types of HPV that
could cause cancer may be passed sexually, too, including through oral and anal
sex.
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How Long They Last
Over time, your body
will often build up a resistance and fight warts off. But it may take months or
as many as 2 years for them to disappear. In adults, warts often stick around
even longer, perhaps several years or more. Some warts won't ever go away.
Doctors aren't sure why some do and others don't.
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To Treat or Not to Treat?
Most warts are harmless,
and you don't need to do anything -- unless, of course, they're painful or
embarrassing. Waiting for warts to go away could backfire, though: A wart might
get bigger, new warts may appear, or you could give them to someone else. The
best treatment depends on your age and health and the type of wart. But there's
no cure for HPV, so some of the virus might stay in your skin after the wart is
gone and reappear later.
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Peeling Products
Over-the-counter gels,
liquids, and pads with salicylic acid work by peeling away the dead skin cells
of the wart to gradually dissolve it. For better results, soak the wart in warm
water, then gently sand it with a disposable emery board before you apply the
product. Be sure to use a new emery board each time. Be patient -- it can take
several months.
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Duct Tape
Yes, you may be able to
get a remedy for warts at the hardware store! Study results are mixed, but
covering warts with duct tape may peel away layers of skin and irritate it to
kick-start your immune system. Soak, sand, and put duct tape on the area (use silver
stuff because it's stickier). Remove and re-do the process every 5-6 days until
the wart is gone. If it works for you, the wart should be gone within 4 weeks.
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When to See the Doctor
If you're not sure your
skin growth is a wart (some skin cancers look like them), it doesn't get better
with home treatment, it hurts, or you have a lot of them, check with your
doctor. If you have diabetes or a weakened immune system, you should have a
doctor take a look before you treat a wart yourself.
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Cryosurgery
For adults and older
children with common warts, your doctor will likely want to freeze them off
with liquid nitrogen. (Because the nitrogen is so cold, it can cause a stabbing
pain for a little while, which is why it's not used for small children.) You'll
probably need more than one session. It works better when you follow up with a
salicylic acid treatment after the area heals. Cryosurgery can cause light
spots on people who have dark skin.
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Cantharidin
"Painting" a
wart with this liquid makes a blister form underneath it, lifting it off the
skin. When the blister dries (after about a week), the wart comes off with the
blistered skin. Cantharidin is often the way to treat young children because it
doesn't hurt at first, though it may tingle, itch, burn, or swell a few hours
later.
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Burning and Cutting
Doctors may use one or
both of these methods after they numb the area.
Electrosurgery
burns the wart with an electric charge through the tip of a needle. It's
good for common warts, filiform warts, and foot warts. Your doctor could also
use a laser.
Curettage is scraping
off the wart with a sharp knife or small, spoon-shaped tool. Another option is
excision, slicing the wart off or cutting it out with a sharp blade.
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Prescription Creams
For stubborn warts,
peeling creams with glycolic acid, stronger salicylic acid, or tretinoin could
do the trick. Diphencyprone (DCP) and imiquimod (Aldara) irritate your skin to
encourage your immune system to go to work there. 5-Fluorouracil is a cancer
medicine that may stop your body from making extra skin cells the same way it
stops tumors from growing.
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Injections
Your doctor may use a
needle to put medicine into the wart to help get rid of it. Bleomycin, a cancer
drug, may stop infected cells from making more. Interferon boosts your immune
system to better fight the HPV, typically for genital warts.
These usually aren't the
first things your doctor will try, and you may need to use salicylic acid or
duct tape on your wart, too.
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Stop the Spread
There's no way yet to
prevent warts, but you can lower your chances of getting or spreading them:
·
Don't touch, pick, or scratch your warts,
or touch someone else's.
·
Wash your hands after treating warts.
·
Keep foot warts dry.
·
Wear waterproof sandals or flip-flops in
public showers, locker rooms, and around public pools.
This tool does not provide medical advice.
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