A wart is a skin tumor caused by a contagious virus known as the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). There are 80 different types of HPV.
Warts are very common and are transmitted via physical contact with the virus. Although warts are contagious, sometimes unsightly, and can cause discomfort for some people, they are benign – meaning they are not cancerous.
The following are different types of warts:
A consultation with the doctor is recommended for an accurate diagnosis as some warts may present in similar ways.
There are a number of ways to remove warts which include at-home treatment or removal by a doctor or dermatologist. The type of wart will determine the best treatment as not all warts can be treated at home.
The two most common methods of wart removal performed by your doctor are cryotherapy and cauterization.
This is one of the most commonly used methods of wart removal and involves the use of liquid nitrogen. The liquid is applied with a cotton wool stick to the wart which then freezes the wart to kill it. The skin underneath the wart is then replaced with healthy skin as the wart peels away. This method can be quite painful and may require several treatments before the wart dies off completely.
Also known as electrosurgery, this method can be done in the doctor’s rooms. Electrosurgery or cauterization is mostly used for unusually large and particularly uncomfortable warts. A local anesthetic is administered to the area and the wart is then burned using a special cauterization tool. Although warts can sometimes reappear after this treatment, it’s often the method that offers the most success after one treatment. The risk of scarring is higher with this treatment as the cauterization tool may need to penetrate the healthy skin to reach and burn away the wart’s roots.
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