When I think of warts, I think of toads. That is the first thing I usually see when I think of them. Warts can be embarrassing and unattractive. They are small painless growths that are caused by a virus. Usually showing up on the hands or feet, they can also be located on other areas of the body. Occasionally warts itch or hurt, but this is seen mostly on the feet.
They are common and are caused by the viral infection, human papillomavirus or HPV and are contagious when in contact with the skin of an infected person. Transmission is also possible from using the same towels or other objects used by an infected person.
There are several types of warts and they include a flat wart, a common wart, plantars warts, mosaic wart and genital wart. The plantar wart is caused by HPV and occurs on the sole or toes of the feet. These types of warts sometimes cause pain, because of their location, but can be easily treated with various over the counter medications. You can see plantar warts pictures on the Internet.
Genital warts are highly contagious and are sexually transmitted infections. Also caused by the HPV, it is spread through direct skin to skin contact during sexual intercourse. They often occur in clusters and can be very small or can spread into large masses in the genital area. Female genital warts occur on the outside and inside of the vagina, on the cervix or around the anus. These types of genital warts can still be contagious and passed on to another person even if there are no outward signs or symptoms.
Common warts or hand warts are raised with a roughened surface. This skin wart can also show up on the knees. The most common treatment for this type of wart has salicylic acid in it and can be found at most of your local retail grocers and drugstores.
There are several other over the counter treatments that include creams and lotions. Silver nitrate is also used in the treatment of warts and can be found at local drugstores and is good for plantars warts. Some skin warts can be removed with cryosurgery devices using freon to freeze the wart and then remove it. A complication from this method is blistering of the normal skin if excess freezing is not controlled.
Prevention of warts, particularly genital warts, is Gardasil. Gardasil is a vaccine aimed at preventing cervical cancers and anongential warts. Gardasil is designed to prevent infection with various HPV types. Most skin warts respond well to over the counter medications and are not as complicated as genital warts.
If you have questions about warts or if you are wondering if you have warts, contact your doctor or healthcare provider. Be Healthy!
