Though warts can appear at any age, they tend to affect school-aged children and their incidence peaks between the ages of 12-16 years. The board-certified dermatologists at Northstar Dermatology in North Richland Hills, Texas, recommend getting professional treatment for warts because they take a long time to go away on their own and they’re highly contagious. While you wait for warts to disappear, chances are you’re spreading the virus. To learn more about the many treatment options available for warts, call the office or book an appointment online today.
Warts come in a variety of types, locations, shapes, and sizes. Types of warts include:
Common Warts
Common warts usually grow on your hands and fingers, but they can appear anywhere on your body. These warts are gray or brown, feel rough or scaly, and can grow about as large as a pea.
Plantar Warts
Plantar warts develop on the bottom of your feet. These warts typically grow in clusters. They also tend to become large and grow inward, which makes them painful.
Flat Warts
Flat warts are smaller and smoother than other warts, but they grow in large numbers. They typically grow on your cheeks, forehead, arms, and legs, where 20-100 flat warts can grow in a cluster.
Filiform Warts
These warts look like long threads. They develop on the face, often around your nose, eyelids, and lips.
There are several treatment options available for managing warts, though the list below is not exhaustive. Warts are often persistent and may require multiple treatment attempts, sometimes using a combination of methods. Treatment may involve paring down or scraping off the thickened skin of the warts. Other approaches include freezing with liquid nitrogen, applying Cantharidin (or “beetle juice”), using prescription creams (such as 5-fluorouracil 5% cream, imiquimod, or Retin-A), and injecting liquid agents that destroy the warts. Combining multiple treatments can sometimes improve effectiveness.
