How do you get warts?

Warts are passed from person to person, sometimes indirectly. Patients with plantar warts are likely to have contracted the virus from walking bare-footed in swimming pools, common shower areas.

Why do some people get warts and others don’t?

Some people are just more likely to catch the HPV than others are. Patients with a weakened immune system are also more prone to HPV infection. Warts also occur more easily if the skin has been damaged in some way e.g. the high incidence of warts in children who bite their fingernails.

Do warts need to be treated?

In children, warts can disappear without treatment over a period of several months to years. However, warts that are bothersome, painful, or rapidly multiplying should be treated.

Warts in adults often do not disappear as easily or as quickly as they do in children. Hence, it is advisable for adults with warts to go for treatment.

How do Dermatologists treat warts?

Your Dermatologist may recommend you the following treatments:

• Topical medication: There is usually minimal discomfort but it can take many weeks or months for treatment to succeed. Treatment should be stopped temporarily if the wart becomes sore.
• Topical immunomodulator cream which attempts to stimulate the body’s own immune system to eliminate the Human Papilloma Virus.
• Cryotherapy (freezing): A commonly used treatment and repeat treatments at two to four-weekly intervals are necessary.
• Electrosurgery or Laser surgery: These methods are used for resistant warts that have not responded to other therapies.
• Other applications like tretinoin and glycolic acid are often used for treating multiple flat warts.