Warts
wart; plantar; genital; plane; papilloma; virus; cancer; cervix; childbirth; laryngeal; skin ;
Contents
Many people get warts at some time or other. Several medical treatments have been proven to be safe and effective.
Some 'cures' are 'magic' and probably work because the wart was about to go away anyway. Some people use plants or herbs such as dandelions, and these cures may have chemicals in them which help to destroy the wart.
What are warts?
- Warts are thickenings of the skin, usually round or oval shaped, and clearly different from the surrounding skin.
- Warts are caused by a virus infection of the skin (Human papillomavirus).
- The virus enters the skin through scratches or other damage to the skin.
- People cannot get warts from animals.
Common warts
- Common warts are most often found on the hands, but also on knees and other parts of the body.
- They are raised and usually separate from each other.
- There can be one or two, or many at one time.
- They are most common in children and adolescents.
- Common warts are spread by skin-to-skin contact such as by holding hands.
- Plane warts are flat topped and usually found on the face and back of hands.
- They can come in lines where the virus has infected a scratch.
Plantar warts
- Plantar warts come on the soles of the feet.
- Infection can come from walking with bare feet on wet floors such as in school or swimming pool change-rooms.
- Due to the pressure of being trodden on all the time they cannot grow on the surface of the skin, so they grow inwards.
- Plantar warts can be quite painful, unlike other warts.
- Older children and adolescents are most likely to get plantar warts.
Treatment of warts
- Common warts will go away by themselves without treatment, but this can take up to 2 years and new warts can come before the first ones have gone.
- Various wart paints or plasters available from chemists can be used, but great care must be taken to avoid getting the treatment on to the healthy skin around the wart because it will burn normal skin. Putting petroleum jelly (such as Vaseline**) on the skin around the wart, or using sticking plaster around the wart helps to protect the skin.
- Doctors can freeze or burn off the warts.
- Some warts need to be cut or scraped out by a doctor, especially plantar warts. Plantar warts can be hard to treat and take a long time for the treatment to be finished.
Protection from warts
- Don't touch warts, or if you do, wash your hands after touching warts.
- Wear shoes or sandals outdoors, and thongs in showers where a lot of people go such as gyms and change rooms for swimming pools.
- Children with warts do not need to stay away from school or child care.
- It is not known how long warts can be infectious, but it is probably as long as you can see the wart on the skin.
How long it takes for warts to develop
- This can be about 2 to 3 months, but can be as long as 20 months. '
Genital warts are sexually transmitted infections and are one of the most common infections that can be caught from sexual activity.
- Nearly 80% of sexually active women have genital wart virus infections at some time in their life.
- Genital warts are also caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), but the viruses are different to the ones causing warts on other parts of the body.
- See the topic 'Genital warts' for more information.
References and further reading
SA Department of Health 'You've got what?'
http://www.dh.sa.gov.au/pehs/youve-got-what.htm
MedlinePlus 'Warts' National Library of Medicine (USA) Click here
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Parent Helpline on 1300 364 100 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).
This topic may use 'he' and 'she' in turn - please change to suit your
child's sex.