Warts: Common But Not Worrisome

I have had warts on my hands and feet before. A lot of people have, especially as children.

Warts are benign, extremely common growths that appear on the skin.
Common warts (Verruca vulgaris) are caused by a few members of the large human papillomavirus (HPV) family.

Warts appear as flesh-colored (or darker) growths on the skin either alone or in groups.

They can be raised or relatively flat. Their texture can be rough or smooth.

Sometimes, they will have little black seed-like dots in them (which are tiny clotted-off blood vessels).

Warts are contagious: they can spread from one part of the body to another or from one person to another.

This happens by direct touching of a wart or indirectly (such as by a shared towel or a rough surface like a pool deck or public shower).

They are more likely to occur where the skin is roughed up or cut.

Some people are just more prone than others to catching them. Those with a weakened immune system are often more susceptible to them, as well.

Some of the lesions are named by location. Warts on the sole of the foot are known as plantar warts. They can occur in clusters (usually from local spread) called mosaic warts.

Those on the palm are known as palmar warts.

Other warts are named by their description. Flat warts are smaller and smoother, and tend to occur in larger numbers on a child’s face or where teens and adults shave.

Filiform warts are jutting threadlike or fingerlike lesions that are often on the face.

There are multiple strategies that are used to get rid of warts. One is to do nothing, since eventually the body’s immune system will get rid of a wart itself.

Using a chemical such as salicylic acid can gradually dissolve the wart.

Duct tape – believe it or not – may work by a similar method.

Freezing a wart (cryotherapy) or cutting or lasering it away may also work.

Sometimes, the body’s immune system can be tricked into destroying the wart earlier than it normally would by various means.

There are steps that can be taken to help prevent warts from being caught and spread.

They should not be picked or scratched (whether one’s own or someone else’s).

Nail biting should be avoided. Protective footwear should be worn around swimming pools, locker rooms, and in public showers. One should avoid shaving over existing warts.