The first thing that you should know about warts is that they are harmless. However, they are contagious, and you can spread them around your body or to other people by sharing a towel or clothing or via skin-to-skin contact.
Secondly, if you find them unattractive or are unhappy about a wart, you can contact Dermatology Specialists for wart removal treatment options.
· Common Warts – These warts typically form on the hands. They will be round, rough in texture, and yellowish-brown. While they are harmless, you should be careful because they can spread to the face.
· Filiform Warts – These warts grow quickly and appear on or dangle from the face and neck.
· Flat Warts – These appear in clusters of as many as 100 and are typically in evidence on the face, hands, and/or legs.
· Genital Warts – As the name suggests, these warts form in the genital area of either sex. They are typically very small and either flat or slightly raised. They might form in clusters that appear like a cauliflower in shape.
· Periungual Warts – These warts are found around fingernails and may appear like hard skin. They often lead to painful, split skin.
· Plantar or Foot Warts – This is the name for warts found typically on the sole of the foot. However, they may also appear on the palm of the hand. These flat warts may occur in clusters and are frequently rather painful.
We know that warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Many HPVs exist, which explains the different types of warts.
Viruses are excellent at spreading and warts are no exception. They can spread from one area of a body to another and from person to person. The risk of spreading increases if the skin is broken, suggesting why kids tend to get warts on scraped arms and legs. Adults are more likely to get warts where they shave, typically faces for men and legs for women.
To prevent the spread of warts, it is essential to be always vigilant and avoid a wart touching other body parts. Also avoid sharing towels or clothing, pillowcases, or other objects that could transmit the virus. If you have foot or plantar warts, you should avoid being barefoot. Wear socks, shoes, slippers, or shower sandals as appropriate to the situation.
Unlike many other skin conditions that we treat, warts can go away by themselves. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. If your wart is not going away or is becoming more painful, you can get help. We can perform wart removal to make your life more comfortable.
Several treatment options are available depending on the type of wart. For example, our facial wart removal treatment might be different than for other spots on the body. Our wart removal treatments in Gulf Breeze include:
· Cryotherapy – This is the process of freezing. In the case of warts, we will freeze them with liquid nitrogen, destroying the wart and a small area of skin around it. It may take less than 30 seconds to apply, feel uncomfortable for a few minutes, and form a blister within hours. Healing typically takes a week or two. Any discoloration will generally return to normal within several months. Our Watersound office will also use this for plantar wart removal.
· Electrosurgery – For this treatment, our specialists numb the skin around the wart with a local anesthetic and then burn the wart or warts away using electricity directed through a needle. The electrical charge will dry out and burn off warts. The skin will heal. How long it takes will depend on the size of the wart.
· Curettage – This procedure treats the wart with a salicylic acid plaster and then scraping or cutting it off with an instrument. It is highly effective when combined with other treatments and can lead to efficient removal of large sections of tissue.
· Excision – This is the preferred treatment for genital warts that are visible on the penis, vagina, or anus. In this case, a surgeon removes the wart or warts using a scalpel, scissors, or curette.
· Laser Surgery – For this wart removal treatment, an intense beam of light or laser is used to heat and destroy the warts. Use of local or general anesthetic is typical and, as in the case of electrosurgery, it can leave some scarring, but this is ordinarily minimal and should heal quickly.
· Chemical Peels – This is a peeling medicine that is normally taken for a prescribed course. It may contain salicylic acid, glycolic acid, tretinoin, or a combination. This is also a typical method for plantar wart removal.
Whichever treatment for wart removal you seek, our Watersound team has the expertise and experience to help you make informed decisions and remove unsightly or uncomfortable warts. We are familiar with planter’s wart removal, facial wart removal, and much more in our Watersound office. Please contact Dermatology Specialists today to make an appointment about wart removal today. We can go over your options and find a plan that works best for your situation.
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