Current:Home > MarketsWarts can be stubborn to treat. Here's how to get rid of them. -Ascend Finance Compass
Warts can be stubborn to treat. Here's how to get rid of them.
View
Date:2025-04-14 13:04:58
Warts are usually harmless, but they can certainly be an eyesore. Over time, warts usually go away by themselves. However, if you do choose to seek treatment, we’ve got you covered.
Depending on the type and severity of the wart, treatment will vary, says Dr. Brittney Schultz, MD, a dermatologist with M Health Fairview and the University of Minnesota Medical School. Treatment can be adjusted according to “what the wart looks like, where it's located, and then the person’s own immune response,” she says.
Warts are caused by an exposure to the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are “over 100 types of the HPV virus,” Schultz says. Wart-causing strains of HPV can spread from skin-to-skin contact (including sexual contact) and touching shared surfaces. It’s also possible to spread warts from one part of your body to another, she adds.
What is the main cause of warts?
HPV is a highly contagious virus. Depending on the strain, HPV may cause warts on different parts of the body, she says. For example, some strains will cause warts that will manifest on the hands and feet, while infection to others may trigger the formation of warts on the genitals. There are also strains of HPV that do not cause warts at all. According to Cleveland Clinic and Healthline, types of warts include:
- Common warts
- Plantar warts
- Genital warts
- Mosaic warts
- Flat warts
- Butcher’s warts
- Filiform warts
- Focal epithelial hyperplasia (Heck’s disease)
- Periungual warts
Can I remove my own warts?
“If you do nothing to a wart, it should eventually go away,” Schultz says. However, this could take years.
Warts can be difficult to treat, Schultz says, because the HPV virus is good at “living under the surface of the skin and kind of avoiding detection from your immune system.” Because of this, the treatments that are used to get rid of warts are “geared toward irritating your skin” and “activating your immune system,” she explains.
Over the counter anti-wart products that contain salicylic acid work to dissolve the wart layer by layer. They can be applied in the form of a patch, liquid or gel, according to Cleveland Clinic. These products can be an effective solution to treat warts, Schultz says. However, if this is the sole treatment for your wart, you’ll likely be using it for months, or even “potentially years, to help the wart go away.”
How to get rid of warts
If you are experiencing symptoms of pain, your wart is spreading, or your wart is not responding to over the counter methods, consider seeking treatment from a doctor.
There isn’t a “one size fits all approach” to treating warts, Schultz says. “Some people will respond beautifully to some of these treatments,” but “some warts will be much more difficult” to treat.
The most common in-office treatment for warts is cryotherapy, Schultz explains. During this procedure, the wart is sprayed with liquid nitrogen, causing a local destruction of the skin tissue around the wart. To accelerate the healing of the wart, Schultz recommends a combination of cryotherapy treatment and using salicylic acid products.
More:Here's what a tumor actually is and why they're a lot more common than many people realize
Injections of candida antigen and bleomycin have also shown positive results when treating warts, studies suggest. There is also some evidence that points to lasers as an effective wart removal treatment.
As for prescription topical creams, Aldara (imiquimod) is commonly used to treat genital warts, Schultz says.
veryGood! (93)
Related
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- Khloé Kardashian's Good American 70% Off Deals: Last Day to Shop $21 Bodysuits, $37 Dresses, and More
- Discovery of shipwreck off the coast of Australia solves 50-year-old maritime mystery
- Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Shares Major Life Update in Surprise Jersey Shore Appearance
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Woman who killed rapist while defending herself gets 6 years in Mexican prison: If I hadn't done it I would be dead today
- Why it's hard for Arabic-speaking parents to read to their kids, and a New York mom's quest for a solution
- Pregnant Da Brat and Wife Jesseca Judy Harris-Dupart Reveal Sex of Baby
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Remembering America's first social network: the landline telephone
Ranking
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Jonathan Majors Denies Assaulting Woman After Being Arrested for Domestic Dispute
- Myanmar junta accused of blocking aid to Cyclone Mocha-battered Rohingyas as death toll climbs
- Heartbroken Shawn Johnson East Shares Her Kids Were on Lockdown Due to Nashville School Shooting
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Honey Boo Boo's Mama June Shannon Recalls Enduring Hard Times With Husband Justin Stroud
- Fireworks can make bad air quality even worse. For some cities, the answer is drones
- The Sunday Story: Permission to share
Recommendation
Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
Small tsunami after massive 7.7-magnitude earthquake in South Pacific west of Fiji
Here’s What Really Went Down During Vanderpump Rules Season 10 Reunion Taping
Scientists find 1754 ballistics of first shots fired in French and Indian War
All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
Why Chanel West Coast Is Leaving Ridiculousness After 12 Years
The MixtapE! Presents Ed Sheeran, Maluma, Anuel AA and More New Music Musts
Taylor Lautner and Wife Tay Lautner Imprint on Each Other With Surprise Matching Tattoos