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What is it?
Warts are tiny skin infections caused by viruses of the human papillomavirus family. Most people have a wart at some time in their lives. Warts appear more commonly in children.
The viruses that cause warts are passed from person to person by close physical contact. Even a tiny cut or scratch or a lengthy immersion in water, such as competitive swimming with a person who has warts, can make the skin more vulnerable to warts.
What are the Symptoms?
A wart is a tiny, hard bump on the skin that may have a rough surface that resembles a cauliflower or may be smooth and flat. Warts vary in color (white, pink, or brown), and may contain tiny spots that look like black hairs or specks. Warts can occur on any area of the body, but they are most common on the fingers, hands, arms, and feet. Although warts are usually painless, plantar warts (warts on the soles of the feet) may cause discomfort that feels like walking on a small stone. Plantar warts are often flat and level with the surface of the skin, instead of appearing as little bumps.
Sometimes a wart may itch or bleed, or it may become infected and become hot, red, and tender.
Doctors have many different ways of removing warts, including:
· Using prescription-strength chemicals
· Freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen (this procedure can be pain-free with the use of local anesthesia)
· Burning off the wart with electricity (cautery), after giving a local anesthetic
· Numbing the skin and then scraping the wart off
· Laser surgery
Sometimes several treatments are necessary.
How Long Does it Last?
In one out of five children, warts disappear within months without treatment. For other children, warts may last for two years to three years without treatment. With treatment, warts can be removed, but they can return if the virus is not completely removed from the skin.
When is it Over?
The incubation period for warts is unknown, but is likely to be many weeks or more in some cases.
How Can my Child Get It?
Although the viruses that cause skin warts can be transmitted to other persons, no special precautions are recommended.
How Can it be Prevented?
At this time there is no effective way to prevent warts.
When Should the Doctor be Called?
If you have a young child or infant with a wart anywhere on her body or your child has a wart on her face or genitals, call your child's doctor.
Also call your doctor if a wart that is already being treated becomes hot, red, or painful or begins oozing pus.
How is it Treated at Home?
If your older child has a simple wart on her finger, you can try to remove it yourself with a nonprescription wart remedy available in drugstores. Wart medication may be lotion, ointment, or plaster and works by chemically removing the skin that has been infected by the wart virus.
Warts should be treated daily, usually at bedtime, after thoroughly washing the area. Medication should be used carefully in order to avoid damaging healthy skin and should only be placed directly on the wart. For younger children and babies with warts, check with your doctor before using commercial wart removal products.
If your child has a wart on her face or nails or around her genitals or rectum, consult your child's doctor for the best treatment.