Skin warts are caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). The virus enters the body through broken skin and infects the top layer of the skin. This infection causes the skin to grow rapidly, forming a wart. Once you have come in contact with the HPV, it may takes several months of slow growth before the wart is noticed on the skin. Warts are contagious and the most common route of spread is direct contact with the virus. It is unlikely that you will be infected every time you come in contact with HPV however it is wise to take caution. Some people are more likely to get warts than others.
Once you have a wart on your body, if you touch the wart and then touch another part of your body then you can infect yourself again. You can infect another person by sharing towels, razors or other personal items. Most warts are self-limiting – they go away on their own within months or years.
Warts can grow on any part of the body. They most commonly grow on the hands (common warts) or on the soles of the feet (plantar warts).
Warts differ in their shapes and sizes and come in various forms. They can look like a bump with a rough surface or a flat and smooth growth. They often have blood supply through small blood vessels into the core of the wart. The blood vessels often look like a dark dot in the middle of the wart. It is rare to have a painful wart, however if they grow in a place where you put pressure, such as the sole of the foot, then they can be painful.
Warts are visibly distinctive and it is easy for the doctor to diagnose it just by looking at it. However, if the skin growth is darker than the skin around it, irregular, bleeds and is large and fast growing then the doctor may need to take a sample for skin biopsy to rule out other possibilities.
Warts are visibly distinctive and it is easy for the doctor to diagnose it just by looking at it. However, if the skin growth is darker than the skin around it, irregular, bleeds and is large and fast growing then the doctor may need to take a sample for skin biopsy to rule out other possibilities. Warts differ in their shapes and sizes and come in various forms. They can look like a bump with a rough surface or a flat and smooth growth. They often have blood supply through small blood vessels into the core of the wart. The blood vessels often look like a dark dot in the middle of the wart. It is rare to have a painful wart, however if they grow in a place where you put pressure, such as the sole of the foot, then they can be painful.
Warts do not usually need treatment but if they are painful and spreading or cosmetically, bothersome then treatment can include:
- Home remedies such as Salicylic acid or duct tape.
- Putting medicine on the wart or getting a shot of medicine in it.
- Freezing the wart (cryotherapy).
- Removing the wart with surgery (electro surgery, curettage, laser surgery).
It is essential to remember that treatment may not always work.
Most treatments destroy the wart but fail to kill the HPV which causes the wart. Therefore, the wart being treated can shrink or go away, but may come back or move to another part of the body.
Dr Sarkaw Mohammad (Chiropractor)
Hillcrest Spinal Centre
174 Cambridge Road, Hamilton
Ph: 021 100 7363