Causes and Treatments for Warts

Warts are harmless growth that appears on the surface of the skin. It can occur at any age, but are mostly common during childhood and adolescense. They have the annoying tendency to recur and can spread from one person to another.

Warts are ordinarily harmless but become infected if the skin is broken. Childhood warts sometimes spontaneously disappear within two years. Warts in rare cases can become cancerous.

Part of the Body Where Wart Usually Appear: Warts can appear in different shapes, sizes and numbers anywhere on the skin. It occur most often on the hands and feet, but can also appear on the face, neck, and genital area.

Different Types of Warts:

• Plantar wart – are painful round lumps; it appear on the sole of the feet.
• Plane or Flat wart are small, flat, and flesh-colored, and tend to grow in clusters; it usually appear on the face, scalp and neck.
• Genital or Venereal wart – are highly contagious and are usually transmitted through sexual contact; it appear on the genital area.
• Common wart (verruca) – this wart can appear anywhere in the body but usually occur on the hands and knees, especially in children. These warts protrude from the surface of the skin and have a crusty appearance.

Symptoms of Warts: Definite formation on the skin of a gray or dark brown color, approximately 6 millimeters in size with rough surface.

Causes of Warts: Warts are caused by Human Papilloma virus, this virus is transmitted from one person to another by contact with wart.

Treatments for Wart:

• Salicylic acid (12%) when applied topically works to soften and loosen the hardened skin. Dab the acid on the wart two or three times daily, then cover with an adhesive bandage.
• Cryotherapy or freezing treatment (must be performed by Doctors). The treatment involves exposing warts to extreme cold to injure and destroy the cells. The wart usually fall off one or two weeks later.
• Transplantar is an acid impregnated plaster that is applied to the wart for 24hrs at a time, then replaced with new one every night, for a period of ten to fourteen days (if used consistently).

Natural Wart Treatment:

• Banana Peel contains a substance that is highly effective for destroying warts. Many dermatologist recommend it. Place a small amount of peel against the wart and hold it in place with adhesive tape. Change the peel once or twice daily. Repeat for two weeks or until the wart is gone.
• Apply homeopathic Thuja tincture or ointment to your child’s warts, once daily, for three weeks.
• Vinegar compress – applying vinegar compress for an hour or two a day can help remove warts in 6 weeks.
• Oregano oil – put few drops of oil directly on warts or skin wounds. Use three times daily until warts fall off.
• Apply crushed garlic directly on warts hold it in place with adhesive tape, improvement can be noticed in two to four weeks.
• Tea tree oil can be applied topically to warts because it has antiviral properties. It is especially useful for plantar warts.