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- Wart is also the name of a Nintendo character, but that doesn't matter anymore since you've seen the image down below. Ick.
A wart is a generally small, rough, cauliflower-like growth, typically on hands and feet. Warts are common and contagious, and are caused by a viral infection, specifically by the aerobic Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). They typically disappear after a few months but can last for years and can recur. A few Papilloma viruses are known to cause cancer.
Possible treatments for warts include:
- Aldara creme which is a creme that is applied to the wart immediatly prior to bedtime.
- Cryosurgery, which involves freezing the wart, after which the wart and surrounding dead skin falls off by itself.
- Cryosurgery followed by surgically removing the infected spot.
- Treatment with chemical compounds, containing salicylic acid, blistering agents, or immune system modifiers
- "Laser" treatment
None of these treatments are very effective on single uses; the wart often returns after the skin has healed from the treatment, but repeated treatment should rid the wart permanently. Maybe. If you're lucky. As they disappear after a few months and maximally a few years, treatment is necessary only if the lesions are painful or are a cosmetic problem. The use of Silver Nitrate in the form of Caustic Pencil, available from Chemist Shops, will assist the removal in three to six applications of once a day. The use can cause staining on skin & clothes, so following the instructions is most important. A household remedy whose efficacy has been ratified by at least one study is placing a piece of duct tape (medical tape works too) over the affected area for a week at a time, and rubbing off the dead wart cells with a pumice stone or emery board between tapings. A study by Focht et al took a group of 60 patients and randomized them to either duct tape for two months or cryotherapy (6 treatments). The duct tape group had a clearance rate of 85% versus the cryotherapy group (60%). Of course, keeping duct tape on an area for that amount of time may have drawbacks in compliance.
Over-the-counter products typically employ the above technique combined with chemical treatment, usually involving salicylic acid. These products are readily available at any drug store or supermarket. There are typically two types of products: adhesive pads treated with salicylic acid or a bottle of concentrated salicylic acid. In order to remove the wart, one must follow a strict regimen of cleaning the area, applying the salicylic acid, and clearing the dead skin. It may take up to 12 weeks to remove a stubborn wart.
A number of household remedies can be found in popular use. These include taping the inside of a square of banana skin over the warts every night for a 3 to 4 week period. An enzime in the banana helps to destroy the virus. Another being to put the wart cells in hot water with washing liquid for 3 consedutive days. It is difficult to prove whether the warts disappear because of the household remedy or by an immune reaction.
Particularly stubborn warts may need to be cut off completely, but this method should be used as a last resort, as it is painful and can lead to bacterial infection and/or scarring.
A method used mostly by Asian countries is to burn the wart with incense. However, it is very painful and may damage the skin permanently, not to metion the fact that it smells bad.
Effective wart treatment and prevention of recurrence is heavily dependent on immune response, which seems to be highly susceptible to suggestion. This is likely a large factor in the success of many wart treatments, especially folk remedies. Some doctors exploit this effect by using hypnosis or "magical" treatments, sometimes in combination with more conventional treatments.
See also
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