Common warts are tiny, grainy skin growths found most frequently on your hands and fingers. Common warts are rough to the touch and often have a pattern of tiny black spots, which are small, clotted vessels.
Common warts can be transmitted via touch and are caused by a virus. After your skin is exposed to the virus, it can take up to two to six months for a wart to develop. The majority of common warts are completely harmless and will ultimately disappear on their own. Many people, on the other hand, choose to have them removed because they are unsightly or uncomfortable.
Common Symptoms
Common warts are usually found on your hands or fingers and can be:
- Bumps that are small, fleshy and grainy
- Fash-colored, white or pink tan
- Sprinkled with small, clotted black spots
Cause of Common Warts
The human papillomavirus, or HPV, is responsible for common warts. Although the virus is fairly prevalent, there are more than 150 varieties. However, just a handful of these can cause significant health concerns. HPV may be spread through sexual contact.
However, most HPV types are transferred by physical contact, or sharing items such as towels and washcloths. The virus spreads readily through skin breaches, such as a cut or hangnail. Warts can also spread by chewing your nails.
Every person’s immune system reacts differently to the HPV virus, therefore not all persons who come in touch with it acquire warts.
Risk factors
Common warts are more likely to be produced by the following people:
Young adults and children are at most danger, as their immune systems may not be strong enough to resist the virus. Persons who have a compromised immune system, such as people with HIV/AIDS and those who have had organ transplants.
Prevention
· You can minimise the risk of common warts by:
· Avoid coming into close touch with warts.
· Don’t pick at warts or pimples. Picking might result in the propagation of the infection.
· Using a different emery board or pumice rock for your warts than you would for your nails or healthy skin is recommended. Make use of a single-use emery board.
· Please refrain from biting your fingernails. Warts are more prone to form on skin that has been damaged. By touching your skin around your fingernails, you can transfer the infection to others.
· When grooming, exercise caution. By not brushing, trimming, or shaving in places where warts are present, you can avoid shaving those regions. If you have to shave, an electric razor is the most effective option.
How to Treat Common Warts
Common warts generally go away on their own without any treatment. New ones, on the other hand, might take up to a year to appear. Sometimes, people prefer to see a doctor for their warts because they are not responding to home treatment and/or the warts spread or become a problem.
The treatment’s goal is to either completely eliminate the virus or stimulate the immune system to combat it on its own. It is possible that the therapy will take many weeks or perhaps months. Even after treatment, warts have the potential to return and spread. Doctors are more likely to choose the least painful therapy possible, especially in the case of young infants.
One of these techniques may be advised based on your symptoms, the location of your warts, and your doctor’s preferences, among other factors. Some of these home remedies, such as salicylic acid, can be used in conjunction with these approaches in some cases.
Peeling medication that is more potent (salicylic acid). Wart medicines containing salicylic acid, which are available only by prescription, operate by eliminating layers of a wart one layer at a time. According to research, when salicylic acid is used in conjunction with freezing, the results are better.
Cryotherapy is another term for the process of freezing. This procedure entails the application of liquid nitrogen to the wart in question. When you freeze a wart, you are creating a blister under and surrounding the wart, which is what you want. It will take a few weeks before the dead tissue starts to come out. This may help your immune system fight infections more effectively. The therapy is most likely going to be repeated at some point in the future.
It is possible to have adverse effects from cryotherapy, including blistering, discomfort, and discolouration of skin. Children under the age of six should not be exposed to this method, according to the manufacturer.
Other acids are also present. When freezing and salicylic acid fail to provide relief, your doctor may recommend trichloroacetic acid. The doctor will first remove the wart’s surface and then administer the acid using a wooden toothpick to the wart’s inside. Every other week, it is necessary to repeat the therapy. It has the potential to produce burning or stinging.
Minor surgery was performed. The troublesome tissue can be removed by the doctor. It is possible that the treated region will be scarred.
Treatment using lasers. The cauterization of small blood vessels occurs as a result of pulsed-dye laser therapy. As the diseased tissue begins to die, the wart will come off. There is some indication that this technique might cause discomfort or scarring, although there is not much data to support this.
