Facts about Warts that You Should Know

A wart is a kind of infection that is caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Hundreds warts based on this strain of virus have been discovered. The people who are infected with this virus often have warts on their mouths, genital area, skin as well as their rectal area. But warts can grow all throughout the body.TransmissionDifferent individuals have varying susceptibility to warts and to HPV. However, warts are still contagious especially with direct skin contact. Warts can also be passed on through sharing of clothes, towels, or other things that are in contact with a person with warts.

Warts can also be passed through sexual intercourse. If one has warts on the genital area and engages in unprotected oral, vaginal or anal sex with another, the other person is at risk of having warts as well. Warts can also grow inside the cervix of a woman and she may not notice she has them until she passes it to a sexual partner during intercourse.

Warts Treatment

Usually warts will disappear over a period of time. Some will stay on the body until it is completely treated. Warts can cause a lot of discomfort to a person and especially when it is on one’s face, it can be source of embarrassment. These can also bleed and be painful once rubbed. They can spread to different parts of the body or to other people if left untreated.

There are many ways to treat warts. You should first seek medical advice if you discover warts on your body. Do remember that there are different ways to remove warts in different parts of the body. Buying over the counter medication to remove these by yourself may sound like a good idea but it should be noted that you need to be careful especially when applying these chemicals to your face or genitals.

These are the different ways in removing warts from the skin:

Application of salicylic acid on the feet, hands and knees

Duct tape treatment

Application of Cantharidin on the affected area

Application of liquid nitrogen to freeze the wart

Cutting of the wart by the doctor

Burning of the wart

Laser Wart Removal

Whichever treatment you choose, be sure to consult your doctor about the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment. This will give you an idea about the cost, possible side effects as well as the effectiveness of the said treatment.

Usually, when medical treatment is applied, the virus causing the wart is eliminated. Thus, the wart may be removed for good. The body’s immune system can likewise produce antibodies to get rid of the remaining bits of warts that are left after a successful treatment. However, warts on the genital area are quite hard to remove and they may come back especially if they are in a moist environment. Furthermore, genital warts are considered to be one of the most dangerous kinds of warts as this may lead to cervical cancer for women and penile cancer for men. In such case, one should consult a doctor on possible ways to treat genital warts.