Then it makes a wart for reasons we don't understand. And when the wart goes away, you can still find the virus in the epidermis. Found mostly on the hands, but may appear anywhere. Those under or around the fingernails and toenails can be hard to treat.
Found mostly on the face, hands, and shins. They're less common than other warts, but when they do appear, it's often in large numbers. Studies indicate that about half of warts go away on their own within a year, and two-thirds within two years, so "watchful waiting" is definitely an option for new warts.
But some experts recommend immediate treatment to reduce the amount of virus shed into nearby tissue and possibly lower the risk of recurrence. If you prefer not to wait it out, you have several treatment options:. Some skin cancers resemble warts at first. If you have a wart that doesn't change much in size, color, or shape, you probably don't need to see a clinician.
But if you're in your 50s and develop new warts, consult a dermatologist. Be suspicious of any wart that bleeds or grows quickly. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
New information on treatments for both medical skin conditions and cosmetic problems is available in the Special Health Report Skin Care and Repair. This report describes scientifically approved treatments for common medical conditions from acne to rosacea, as well as the newest cosmetic procedures for lines, wrinkles, age spots, and other problems.
Common warts can grow on your hands or fingers. They're small, grainy bumps that are rough to the touch. They're usually flesh-colored, white, pink or tan. Common warts are small, grainy skin growths that occur most often on your fingers or hands. Rough to the touch, common warts also often feature a pattern of tiny black dots, which are small, clotted blood vessels. Common warts are caused by a virus and are transmitted by touch.
It can take a wart as long as two to six months to develop after your skin has been exposed to the virus. Common warts are usually harmless and eventually disappear on their own.
But many people choose to remove them because they find them bothersome or embarrassing. Common warts are caused by the human papillomavirus HPV. Warts vary in appearance and may develop singly or in clusters. Some are more likely to affect particular areas of the body. For example, verrucas are warts that usually develop on the soles of the feet.
Most people will have warts at some point in their life. They tend to affect children and teenagers more than adults. Read more about the symptoms of warts. The virus causes an excess amount of keratin, a hard protein, to develop in the top skin layer epidermis.
The extra keratin produces the rough, hard texture of a wart. Read more about the causes of warts. Warts aren't considered very contagious, but they can be caught by close skin-to-skin contact. The infection can also be transmitted indirectly from contaminated objects or surfaces, such as the area surrounding a swimming pool.
You are more likely to get infected if your skin is wet or damaged. After you become infected, it can take weeks or even months for a wart or verruca to appear. Warts and verrucas aren't usually serious and can be treated by a pharmacist. Your pharmacist may recommend that you see your GP if required.
Most types of warts are easy to identify because they have a distinctive appearance. You should always see your pharmacist first if you have a growth on your skin you are unable to identify or are worried about. Your pharmacist will be able to tell if it's a wart simply by looking at it. Where it is on your body and how it affects surrounding skin will also be taken into consideration. The length of time it takes a wart to disappear will vary from person to person.
It may take up to 2 years for the viral infection to leave your system and for the wart to disappear. You might decide to treat your wart if it is painful, or in an area that is causing discomfort or embarrassment. Treatment for warts is not always completely effective, and a wart will sometimes return following treatment.
Read more about how warts are treated. Warts are not usually painful, but some types, such as verrucas, may hurt. They can occasionally itch or bleed. There are several different types of warts, all varying in size and shape.
The different types are described below. It is possible to have between one and several hundred plane warts, which can develop in clusters. They are usually:. Plane warts can sometimes develop on the lower legs of women, as the human papilloma virus HPV can be spread through shaving.
Mosaic warts grow in clusters and form a "tile-like" pattern. They often develop on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Warts are caused by certain strains of the human papilloma virus HPV. The virus is present in the skin cells of a wart. There are more than different strains of HPV. Different strains are responsible for different types of warts. HPV is passed on through close skin-to-skin contact.
For information about warts on the genitals, see the topic Genital Warts. A wart is a skin growth caused by some types of the virus called the human papillomavirus HPV. HPV infects the top layer of skin, usually entering the body in an area of broken skin. The virus causes the top layer of skin to grow rapidly, forming a wart. Most warts go away on their own within months or years.
Warts can grow anywhere on the body, and there are different kinds. For example, common warts grow most often on the hands, but they can grow anywhere. Plantar warts grow on the soles of the feet. Warts are easily spread by direct contact with a human papillomavirus. You can infect yourself again by touching the wart and then touching another part of your body.
You can infect another person by sharing towels, razors, or other personal items. After you've had contact with HPV, it can take many months of slow growth beneath the skin before you notice a wart. It is unlikely that you will get a wart every time you come in contact with HPV. Some people are more likely to get warts than others. Warts come in a wide range of shapes and sizes.
A wart may be a bump with a rough surface, or it may be flat and smooth. Tiny blood vessels grow into the core of the wart to supply it with blood. In both common and plantar warts, these blood vessels may look like dark dots in the wart's center. Warts are usually painless.
But a wart that grows in a spot where you put pressure, such as on a finger or on the bottom of the foot, can be painful. A doctor usually can tell if a skin growth is a wart just by looking at it. Your doctor may take a sample of the wart and look at it under a microscope a skin biopsy.
This may be done if it isn't clear that the growth is a wart. It may also be done if a skin growth is darker than the skin surrounding it, is an irregular patch on the skin, bleeds, or is large and fast-growing. Most warts don't need treatment. But if you have warts that are painful or spreading, or if you are bothered by the way they look, your treatment choices include:. Wart treatment doesn't always work. Even after a wart shrinks or goes away, warts may come back or spread to other parts of the body.
This is because most treatments destroy the wart but don't kill the virus that causes the wart. A wart develops when a human papillomavirus HPV infects the outer layer of skin and causes the skin cells to grow rapidly.
The virus can then spread from an existing wart to other areas of the body, causing more warts. Various types of this virus thrive in warm, damp environments such as showers, locker room floors, and swimming pool areas. You are most likely to develop a wart where you have broken skin, such as a cut, a hangnail, a closely bitten nail, or a scrape.
Plantar warts are common in swimmers whose feet are not only damp and softened but are also scratched and broken by rough pool surfaces. Common warts are often seen among those who handle meat, chicken, and fish. You can reinfect yourself by touching the wart and then touching another part of your body.
You can infect others by sharing towels, razors, or other personal items. After exposure to a human papillomavirus, it can take many months of slow growth beneath the skin before you notice a wart. It is unlikely that you will develop a wart every time you are exposed to a human papillomavirus. Some people are more likely to develop warts than others. It depends. There are many types of HPV, and the types that cause common warts are usually different from those that cause plantar warts and genital warts.
If the wart on a person's hand is caused by a type of HPV that can also cause genital warts, then there is a chance that skin contact could cause genital warts. Warts occur in a variety of shapes and sizes.
A wart may appear as a bump with a rough surface, or it may be flat and smooth. Tiny blood vessels capillaries grow into the core of the wart to supply it with blood. In both common and plantar warts, these capillaries may appear as dark dots seeds in the wart's center. Warts cover the lines and creases in the skin—this is one way to tell a wart from other skin conditions, such as skin tags or moles. Human papillomaviruses can live on healthy skin without causing infection.
But when a human papillomavirus enters the body through small breaks in the skin, it can infect the skin cells beneath the surface, causing a wart to grow. Watchful waiting is a period of time during which you and your doctor observe your symptoms or condition without using medical treatment.
It is often appropriate treatment for warts, because they generally go away on their own within months or years. But you may want to consider treating a wart to prevent it from spreading to other parts of your body or to other people. You can try a nonprescription wart treatment for 2 to 3 months before deciding to see a doctor. In rare cases, more testing is done. If the diagnosis of a skin condition is unclear or if you are at high risk for having skin cancer, your doctor may take a sample of the growth and examine it a skin biopsy.
A biopsy is usually done if a skin growth is darker than the skin surrounding it, appears as an irregular patch on the skin, bleeds, or is large and growing rapidly. Proper diagnosis of plantar warts is important. Some wart treatments can cause scarring. Not all warts need to be treated. They generally go away on their own within months or years. This may be because, with time, your immune system is able to destroy the human papillomavirus that causes warts.
The goal of wart treatment is to destroy or remove the wart without creating scar tissue, which can be more painful than the wart itself. How a wart is treated depends on the type of wart, its location, and its symptoms.
Also important is your willingness to follow a course of treatment that can last for weeks or months. Wart treatment isn't always successful. Even after a wart shrinks or disappears, warts may return or spread to other parts of the body. This is because most treatments only destroy the wart and don't kill the virus that causes the wart. Many people don't treat warts unless they are unsightly or painful.
You can treat warts yourself with:. If your child has a wart, treatment probably isn't needed.
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