Warts are an overgrowth of skin tissue caused by viral infection. Some types of warts are contagious and can easily spread by direct and indirectcontact. Most warts do not need treatment, but you may need to treat them for cosmetic purposes or to prevent them from spreading.
HOW MANY KINDS OF WARTS ARE THERE?
There are several different kinds of warts including:
Common warts: Mostly appear on hands.
Foot warts: Occur on the soles of the feet and may cause pain.
Flat warts: Usually found on the face, arms or legs.They are very small and have flat tops.
Genital warts: Found on the genitals and arecontagious.
What causes warts?
Warts can occur to any part of the body but mostly found on hands, elbows knees and ankles. They can also grow on your skin, on the inside of your mouth, on your genitals and on your rectal area.
Warts are a type of infection caused by viruses and the viruses belong the human papillomavirus (HPV) family. There are more than 100 types of HPV viruses. Common types of HPV tend to cause warts on the skin (such as the hands and fingers), while other HPV types tend to cause warts on the genitals and rectal area. Some people are more naturally resistant to the HPV viruses and don't seem to get warts as easily as other people.
Do warts on the skin need to be treated?
Warts on the skin need to be treated as they are often troublesome. They can bleed and cause pain when they're bumped. If warts grow on the face or other sensitive part of body, they can be quite embarrassing. If treatment is taken on time, you can decrease the chance that the warts will be spread to other areas of your body or to other people.
Treatment of warts
To treat all types of warts, there is no single therapy effective. The treatment of warts depends upon the age of the individual as well as the size, number, extent of disease, location of the warts and immunologic status of the patient. Plus, it also depends upon the patient’s desire for therapy.
There are different methods to treat warts such as anesthetized and then scraped (curetted); burned (desiccated); lasered off; or surgically cut out (excised). Among different methods, perhaps the most useful and convenient method for treating warts in almost any location is cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen. For genital warts, application of podophyllin solution is moderately effective but may be associated with marked local reactions in certain individuals.
Some other common treatments are as follows:
Topical medications: There are various over-the-counter medications available to treat different types of warts. They contain salicylic acid that peels of infected skin.
Liquid nitrogen: This used to freeze off warts. It is effective but your doctor may need to repeat this treatment every two to four weeks.
Electrodessication with curettage (scraping): It is effective therapy to surgically get rid of the warts. It may leave a scar. With plantar warts, especially, the scar may be as painful as the wart.
Laser surgery: Laser surgery is used to vaporize wart tissue. In this technique, an intense beam of light, or laser, is used to burn and destroy the wart tissue. It is usually done in a doctor's office or clinic.
There are some warts that do not need treatment and automatically disappear within few months or years of its appearance. The duration is dependent on the changes in resistance of the body to the HPV virus.
Do warts ever come back?
Most of the occasion, warts treatment is successful and after treatment if some part of warts is left then it is usually eliminated by our body's immune system. However, genital warts are more likely to come back because there's no cure for the virus that causes them. Plus, it is very difficult to manage warts in a moist environment. In case your warts come back, visit your doctors immediately so that other treatment option can be discussed.
