Warts

Wart Therapy and Removal
Although warts are generally harmless to your overall healthy, the appearance and visibility of warts on the skin can be frustrating and embarrassing. Warts are actually a type of growth on the skin, often a mucus membrane, and can be caused by certain types of viral infections in the epidermis (the surface layer of skin). It is extremely important to note, however, that although warts are usually harmless, wart infections in a women's cervix are a serious condition. This is usually a pre-cancerous indicator and should be treated immediately.

What types of warts can I get?
There are many different types of warts that fall into all sorts of scientific subtypes and classifications. However when clinically approached, dermatologists will want to classify your skin growth based on its appearance and outbreak location. In general, most dermatologists will use the following four types as the main point of classification.

Common Warts (Verruca)
These type of warts can appear anywhere on dry skin surfaces, but most commonly they appear on a person's hands. Their appearance is dry and rough and can break out in a single appearance or in clusters.

Flat Warts (Planar)
Flat warts are less obvious than common warts, much smaller in appearance. They may be hard to see at first. This type of wart often appears on the face, although they can occur anywhere.

Foot Warts (Plantar)
As their name suggests, foot warts generally appear on the bottom of the feet, although they can appear on the sides or top of the foot as well. Because of the pressure exerted on the warts by walking and standing, the warts often extend beneath the epidermis. Foot warts can be very painful.

Genital Warts (Condyloma)
Genital warts can affect the genitalia of both men and women. Their appearance can vary significantly, from small and hardly visible to roughly the size of marbles.

Warts can appear in a wide array of appearances. Some are flat and smooth, while others are bumpy and rough. In most cases, a tiny blood vessel is located in the center of the wart. In common warts and plantar warts, these core blood vessels appear as black or dark spots in the wart.

How do I get Warts?
Warts are spread from individual to individual through direct contact. However, even though an individual may acquire the wart virus from an infected person, the symptoms may not be clinically visible until months afterwards. Healthy, normal skin can usually put up a strong resistance against the virus, but the virus can enter the epidermis and affect skin cells when the skin barrier is disturbed by itching and scratching. When this happens, the mucus membranes in the skin can be infected easily and symptomatic warts start to appear.

How do I treat Warts?
In the majority of cases, warts will go away on their own after time. In children, research says that 90% of wart outbreaks will completely disappear within 2 years. In adults, the presence of warts tends to be longer lasting, but should resolve themselves within 7 years. If warts resolve themselves, the healing process should be total and there should be no scarring left behind.

However, many individuals prefer an aggressive treatment rather than waiting for a natural resolution, because of the unsightly and embarrassing appearance. There are a lot of options for aggressive treatments, but a total wart cure depends on your immune system. Only when your body can recognize the invading virus and destroy it completely will the warts be cured. At Blaine Dermatology, we can offer one-shot treatments, burn treatments, and topical treatments that may help to reduce your wart outbreaks. Talk with your dermatologist today.