Medical Centric

WARTS

Men's Health, Skin Conditions, Women's Health / By

WARTS

Warts are small, hard noncancerous growth with a rough texture that can appear anywhere on the body.

  • Adults get fewer warts than kids and teens because their immune system has built up a defense against the many types of viruses that trigger warts.
  • Warts are greatly contagious and can be spread by direct skin contact, like when you pick your warts and then touch another part of your body.
  • Towels or razors in contact with warts on your body or someone else’s can also cause spreading.
  • They are mostly characterized by small black dots like seeds, which are tiny blood clots.
    There are 5 major types of warts and they include:
  • Common warts that grow mostly on the fingers, the skin around nails, the back of hands and the toes with a rounded top and are covered with a rough grainy appearance.
  • Flat warts that usually grow on the face, arms or thigh. They have a flat top and can be brownish, pink or slightly yellow.
  • Plantar warts that grow on the sole of the feet and often time makes walking uncomfortable.
  • Periungual warts that grow under the fingernails and toenails and affect nail development.
  • Filiform warts that grow around the mouth and nose and sometimes under your chin or neck and share the same color with the skin.
  • In women, warts can also develop in, on or around the genitals leading to cervical cancer, a potentially fatal disease.
  • Most warts disappear without medical treatment, however, large, numerous warts that are situated in sensitive areas are often treated.
  • When swimming, warts should be covered up with a waterproof band-aid.

CAUSES

  • Warts are caused by one of the many viruses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) family.
  • The virus enters the skin from an area of recent injury(when you damage your skin) and triggers the excessive and quick growth of keratin, which makes the outer layer of the skin hard in that spot.
  • The period from when the virus is contracted until a wart appears can be between one to 8 months.
  • The weakened immune system, especially in people with HIV or who are taking drugs for a condition such as psoriasis, makes them more susceptible to getting warts as their body may not be able to fight them off.

SIGN AND SYMPTOMS

  • The common symptom is a painless, small, rough skin growth.
  • You should visit your doctor if:
  • The wart appears on the sensitive part of your body e.g. face, genitals, mouth, nostrils.
  • The wart is painful
  • The wart is accompanied by bleeding, or signs of infections, such as pus.
  • The color of the wart changes.
  • The shape and size changes
  • You have warts and diabetes or an immune deficiency like HIV

DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

DIAGNOSIS

A wart is diagnosed by looking at its location and appearance. If your doctor is not sure of the type of skin problem, a punch biopsy test may be performed. In this test, a small tissue around the area of the wart would be taken to be sent to the laboratory for further evaluation.

TREATMENT

The doctor may recommend some home therapy that includes:

  • Salicylic acid therapy. This may involve applying a liquid paint on the wart or placing plaster on the wart tissue.
  • Cryotherapy: This involves the use of over-the-counter products that freezes the area of the wart and allows you to scrape away the surface.

If warts do not respond to home therapy, your doctor may:

  • Freeze your wart with liquid nitrogen.
  • Carry out a surgical procedure.
  • Carry out laser therapy