Warts
Warts are bumps over the skin caused by Human Papillomavirus.
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Book a consultationWarts are bumps over the skin caused by Human Papillomavirus. Warts are uncomfortable growths and are not harmful.
A type of skin infection, warts are usually caused by Human Papillomavirus. Although not harmful, warts make your skin rough and sometimes itchy. Warts are contagious and chances are there for you to get affected by this virus by touching someone or through blood. As the result of the virus, keratin – a hard protein develops in the epidermis (top layer of the skin). This makes the wart to grow over the time and becomes harder.
Warts are often developed on the hands and feet. Though appeared in various sizes and shapes, warts are developed either singly or in clusters. Warts are non-cancerous growths, but sometimes it looks like certain cancers. Most of the people across the globe are prone to wart infection at some point of their life.
How it can be diagnosed?
Your dermatologist at TLC would diagnose a fungal infection by enquiring about the symptoms you develop and confirm the kind of infection after examining the scrapings under a microscope. Advanced testing facilities are available to identify any specific fungi.
Types & Treatment Options
There are five types of warts that appear on different parts of your body. They are:
Common Warts
They are typically found on the backs side of your fingers and toes and also on your knees. They are rough and thick growths with rounded top. Common warts are often grayer than the surrounding skin.
Plantar Warts
Plantar warts are generally developed on the soles of your feet. If you feel pain while walking and find a small hole in the bottom of your foot, it can be a plantar wart.
Flat Warts
Flat warts are also known as juvenile warts. These warts are prone to grow on your face, thighs or arms. It is very difficult to find flat warts since they have flat top. Flat warts are typically not painful and are commonly found in children.
Filiform Warts
Filiform warts grow in and around your mouth. Sometimes it grows on the neck or chin. Since contagious, chances are there for the virus to spread to other parts of the body. They are same color as your skin and are hard to find.
Periungual Warts
Periungual warts develop under toenails and fingernails. Since it grows on the most delicate part, they can be painful and affect nail growth. Initially they are small in size and over the time it grows larger.
Your dermatologist will thoroughly examine the wart using various diagnosis methods. The scrapings from the top layer of the skin are checked whether it holds signs of any clotting. Also, a small section of the wart is sent to a laboratory to rule out if there are any other types of skin growths. Treatment options include:
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy, also known as Freezing therapy is done by applying liquid nitrogen to your wart. A blister is formed under and around your wart and it gets weaken within a weak. This procedure also helps to stimulate your immune system to fight warts in future. There would be blistering and skin discoloring around the treated area that will go by its own.
Salicylic Acid
Using salicylic acid helps remove the top layers of the wart thereby completely destroying the growth. Studies have shown that salicylic acid treatment is more effective when compared to freezing procedure.
Cantharidin
Your dermatologist would “paint” cantharidin which causes a blister to form under the wart. After one week time, the dead wart can be clipped way.
Surgery
Surgical options are also available where the warts are cut off from the skin. However, it may leave a scar in the treated area.
Laser treatment
Laser treatment is the most effectively used treatment option for warts. The laser burns tiny blood vessels thereby killing the infected tissue. As a result, the wart falls off.
