Warts are harmless, benign lesions that can be contagious growths on the skin or mucous membranes. These lesions appear on the top layers of the skin. Warts are small, raised bumps on the surface of the skin. Contrary to popular belief, warts do not have “roots.” They originate from the top layer of skin, the epidermis. As they grow down into the second layer of skin, the dermis, they can displace the dermis but not form roots. Occasionally warts contain small black spots, which are capillaries that are clotted due to rapid skin growth, thus being mistaken for having roots.
Common warts are found in areas that are frequently injured, such as fingers, toes, feet, knees and even in the face. Warts are more commonly found in children and people with a low immune system. There are many different types of warts, although warts generally aren’t dangerous, they are ugly, potentially embarrassing, and can be contagious. They can also be painful.
Common warts:
Common warts usually grow on your fingers and toes however, they can appear elsewhere. They have a firm, rough, grainy appearance and a rounded top. Common warts are generally grayer than the surrounding skin.
Plantar warts:
Plantar warts generally grow on the soles of the feet, as the body applies pressure to warts they are forced to grow upwards. Thus unlike other warts, plantar warts grow into your skin, not out of it. You can tell if you have a plantar wart if you notice what appears to be a small hole in the bottom of your foot that is surrounded by hardened skin. Plantar warts can also make walking uncomfortable.
Flat warts:
Flat warts usually grow on the face, thighs, arms, wrists and even the back of the hands. They are small and not immediately noticeable. Flat warts have a flat top as if they’ve been scraped. They can be pink, brownish, or slightly yellow.
Filiform warts:
Filiform warts are long slender growths generally found around your mouth or nose and sometimes on your neck or under your chin and even in the armpits. They are small and shaped like a tiny flap or tag of skin. Filiform warts are the same color as your skin.
Filiform warts could be mistaken for skin tags however, warts are thick and deep, while skin tags remain at the surface. Warts tend to have a “warty” irregular surface whereas skin tags are usually smooth. Warts tend to be flat whereas tags are more like bumps hanging from thin stalks.
Periungual warts:
Periungual warts grow under and around the toenails and fingernails. They can be painful and affect nail growth. They start small, about the size of a pinhead, and slowly grow to rough, dirty-looking bumps that can resemble cauliflower. Eventually, they spread into clusters.
Periungual warts commonly affect children and young adults, especially if they are nail biters. These warts are difficult to treat, but it helps to start treatment as soon as you identify warts.
How to get rid of warts
A doctor may recommend the following methods for removing warts:
Laser therapy – The more common treatment for warts has become laser therapy, as is offered at AD&L. The risk of scarring is minimal, the wart is generally destroyed within one to three sessions depending on the longevity of the wart as well as the size.
Topical creams
- A topical containing podophyllin and salicylic acid. This is pretty labour intensive though. You have to first ideally soak the area then sandpaper it down (throwing away the sandpaper afterwards as it would have been inoculated with the virus) and then the product applied and occluded overnight. You do this nightly until the wart has gone.
- Formaldehyde soaks are useful for plantar warts.
- We use Aldara specifically for mucosal warts.
- Tretinoin can be used for flat warts.
Curettage and cautery – This involves using a laser or electrical current, such as a hyfrecator, to burn the wart away, this method is more successful as this is generally one to three treatments.
Cryotherapy is another procedure where a dermatologist applies the liquid nitrogen to the wart. It may take several treatments before the wart falls away, and some find cryotherapy painful. This method also has a higher risk of leaving a scar if the liquid nitrogen may go too deep.
Cantharidin is a chemical that causes a blister to form under the wart, thus killing it. The blister peels off on its own.
Then there are a whole lot of more aggressive options which include bleomycin for example or intralesional immunotherapy whereby an antigen (from Candida or TB) is injected into the wart.
Prevention
As the saying goes; “prevention is better than cure”.
An individual can lower the risk of infecting others as well as cross infecting themselves by refraining from picking at warts as you could inoculate other areas.
Speak to one of our specialists about how we can help with your warts.
Written By Skin & Laser Clinician Angie Chaplin
For as long as Angie can remember she has always been passionate about the Skin Care and Aesthetic industry. While completing her International Degree, she worked at various clinics to build as much experience and additional knowledge as possible. Once Angie had completed her International Degree in Somatology in 2011, she specialized in Aesthetic and Laser treatments. She has been privileged to work closely with Doctors and Dermatologists throughout her career, and has had the blessing of providing training for other Aesthetic Somatologists as well as Medical Practitioners within the industry. Angie has also worked with a large variety of lasers and machines, and believes that a combination of different treatments and products are always the key to quickly achieve optimal results.