Warts are caused by viruses. Known specifically as human papilloma viruses, they are diverse in nature. Some individuals have a predilection to form common warts on hands and feet.

Warts are usually the result of contact with an infected individual. Most of the time, it is difficult to determine precisely where they came from. Often you will notice the warts yourself. They present as small, rough, bumps on the skin. On the soles, they may be very flat and look like a corn or a callus.

How are warts treated?
There a variety of ways that warts can be treated. These include any or all of the following:

a.) Chemical destruction; a chemical that destroys wart tissue and virus can be applied to the wart. There are numerous chemical preparations.

b.) Electrosurgery; the use of medical electrical currents to remove and destroy warts.

c.) Laser surgery; The carbon dioxide laser is used to vaporize wart tissue. Pulsedye laser can also be used. This laser destroys the blood supply to the wart tissue. This is especially useful in difficult to work areas such as around the fingers, on the soles of the feet.

d.) Cryosurgery; the use of extreme cold to freeze and damage the wart tissue.

e.) Topical or intralesional chemotherapy; the use of anti-tumor agents to suppress wart growth and proliferation. This group includes immunologic agents (Interferon), antimetabolites (Fluorouracil), and cytotoxic agents (Bleomycin).

f.) Surgical excision; the use of a scalpel to remove the wart.

Any or all of the above modalities may be used, either alone or in combination, to obliterate warts with the least amount of destruction of uninvolved skin.

What are the risks of wart treatment?
a.) Recurrence. Warts are caused by an infectious virus and the risk of re-occurrence from clinically normal infected skin is always a possibility. For this reason, a margin or ring of normal tissue is often included in the treatment of warts.

b.) Scarring. There is risk of scarring after any wart treatment procedure. Scarring, if it occurs, tends to improve with time. If you have a tendency to form keloids or abnormal scars, please bring this to your doctor's attention.

c.) Damage to other body parts. When warts around the fingers are treated, there is a slight danger of damage to underlying nerves or vessels. This is minimized by your physician selecting prudent treatment approaches for the wart.