Warts are benign growths caused by the human papilloma virus, or HPV. Because they are caused by a virus, they can be spread from person to person by direct skin contact and indirectly by coming in contact with the shed skin of a person with warts, as can happen in public showers or pool decks.
There are more than 100 types of HPV, and each type causes infection in a specific part of the body. Some strains cause “common” warts, which grow on the fingers, feet and knees; some cause plantar warts, which grow on the soles or heels of the feet; some cause flat warts, which grow on the face. Still other types cause genital warts. And totally different strains cause genital, cervical and oral cancer.
With many warts, the best treatment often is to do nothing. “In two thirds of patients with common warts, the warts will go away on their own in two years,” said Dr. John Williams, a dermatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Warts “are not dangerous and they are not intrinsically painful,” said Dr. Bernard Cohen, director of pediatric dermatology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
THERE IS ALSO NOT MUCH YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST WARTS, EXCEPT FOR COMMON SENSE THINGS LIKE WEARING FLIP-FLOPS IN PUBLIC POOLS OR SHOWERS. “IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO PREVENT PLANTAR WARTS BECAUSE THEY ARE SO UBIQUITOUS,” Williams said.
ONCE THEY’VE GOT WARTS, MANY people want to get rid of them, and remedies abound, some over-the-counter, some given only in a doctor’s office. One non-prescription solution is to put a compound containing salicylic acid on the wart daily, scraping off dead tissue as you go. Another is good old duct tape. Cover the wart for a week, then rip off the tape.
Another solution is cantharidin which a doctor “paints” on the wart. Alternatively, doctors can also use liquid nitrogen to freeze off warts. They can also burn off warts, laser them off or, as a last resort, cut them out.