Warts are unsightly tumors that grow on the skin normal seen on fingers and hands but can potentially affect any area of skin and sometimes actually found inside the mouth but increasingly on the genitals. Some people are unfortunate enough to catch their warts from someone else, even if is only because they used their towel.
Warts situated on the soles of the feet do cause discomfort but generally they are painless even warts on the genitalia which are caught from another person who has them and becomes a carrier through sex. Unfortunately for women, they may have genital warts on their cervix for some time until their doctor gives them a routine examination; the warts inside the vagina may go unnoticed even for years.
A tiny cut or scratch can make any area of skin more vulnerable to warts and, if a child picks at a wart, it can spread to other parts of the body but warts don't generally cause any problems, so it's not always necessary to have them removed, unless you have concerns. A common reason for eradicating warts is to stop further spread but even when this is achieved, they can return at any time and for some people they can become a persistent nuisance. The favorite method of getting rid of warts by doctors is with liquid nitrogen which is extremely cold but even this usually takes more than one application.
Common warts are a type of infection caused by viruses in the human papillomavirus family but there are many different types. The common wart is just one of over one hundred which are known each with very specific target areas especially those highly contagious forms found around the male and female sex organs and the anus.
It is still unknown why some people are more susceptible to warts than others and some are so sensitive they can even get them from biting their finger nails which spread to the fingertips. Those small cauliflower-like papules seen on people?s fingers, especially around the cuticle area are the common wart and these usually appear to have small dark specks in them which are blood vessels.
Another type of wart is the flat wart that just rises above the surface of the skin and is ?flat?; these tend to appear more on areas of the face, arms or legs and will sometimes be seen in very large groups. Warts that affect the genitals and anus vary in size and shape, some looking like large common warts to others that are small and shiny; they can even be found inside the urethra, vagina and anus.
It is not known why but often warts will vanish on their own but in some cases this can take years, others however, require a little help as they are persistent and show no signs of disappearing. Ointments containing salicylic acid are the most popular forms of wart and verruca removal but the instructions must be followed to the letter if the treatment is t be successful.