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WARTS - Plantar or Foot , Genital and Flat wart, Wart removal and treatment , Genital wart symptom and treatment

Warts are small, benign (harmless) growths caused by a viral infection. They occur on the skin or the mucous membrane. The mucous membrane is tissue that lines the nose, throat, digestive tract, and other body openings. The viruses that cause warts are members of the human papilloma virus (HPV) family. Warts can be transmitted from one person to another and they can travel from one part of the body to another.

Symptoms of Wart

Warts can be different sizes, ranging from 1mm to over 1cm. You may only have only one or two warts, or lots can develop on the same area of skin.

The size and shape of warts varies:

Common wart is a firm, raised wart with a rough surface that can look a bit like a cauliflower. They can occur anywhere, but are most common on the knuckles, knees and nail folds.

Plane wart is a round, flat topped, yellowish type of wart. It mainly occurs on the back of the hands, especially around the nails and fingers.

Filiform wart is a long, slender wart that is common on the thin skin of the eyelids, armpits or neck.

Genital warts are small, pink, cauliflower-shaped growths on the penis, vulva (the female external sex organs), or around the rectum. Warts on the vulva are usually soft because the skin here is moist and hairless.

Warts that develop on skin that is dry and hairy (such as the shaft of the penis) tend to be firm. The number of warts that develop varies. Some people have a few that are not very noticeable, while others have a lot.

Genital warts do not usually cause any symptoms, although they may be itchy if they are around the anus. However, the warts may a sign of a sexually transmitted infection (STI), or in rare cases, cancer.

Verrucas (planter warts) are warts on the soles of the feet. They don't stick up from the surface of the skin; the pressure of your body weight on the feet instead pushes them backwards. This causes verrucas to grow back into the skin, which can be painful.

Verrucas often have a black dot in the centre, surrounded by a hard, white area. The dot is the blood supply to the wart, and the white area is the skin of the wart that is closely packed together. Plantar warts that grow in clusters they are sometimes called mosaic warts.

Causes of Wart

The most common types of warts include:

1. Common hand warts

2. Foot warts

3. Flat warts

4. Genital warts

5. Hand Warts

Common hand warts grow around the nails, on the fingers, and on the backs of hands. They appear most often where the skin is broken.

Foot Warts

Foot warts are also called plantar warts. Plantar warts usually occur on the ball of the foot, the heel and the bottom of the toes. The skin in these areas is subject to weight, pressure, and irritation and has a tendency to crack or break open, providing an opening for the virus. Foot warts usually do not stick up above the skin.

People of all age groups can get plantar warts. But they are most common among adolescents between the ages of twelve and sixteen. The virus can be picked up in locker rooms, swimming pools, or by walking barefooted on dirty surfaces. People with diabetes mellitus are very likely to develop plantar warts. The warts develop in areas where sores did not heal properly.

Flat Warts

Flat warts are smaller and smoother than other kinds of warts and tend to grow in large numbers. Although they can appear anywhere on the body, flat warts appear most often on the legs of women and the faces of children and young adult males.

Genital Warts

Genital warts are a type of sexually transmitted disease (STD). A sexually transmitted disease sexually is a condition that is passed from one person to another during sexual activity. The forms of HPV that cause genital warts are very contagious. A person who has sexual contact with someone

Diagnosis of Wart

Warts on the hands and feet are easy to recognize. (Usually raised growths with a hard uneven surface. On your feet, they may have been pushed in by the weight of your body.)

See your GP if they are painful, if they are spreading, or if they don't seem to be clearing up of their own accord (this can take several months). If you are worried that the warts are unsightly, see your GP about treatment options to help them to clear up more quickly.

Although genital warts can be embarrassing, it is important to have them checked out at your GP surgery or local sexual health clinic. This is because genital warts can be caused by a sexually transmitted infection, and in rare cases, can be a sign of cervical cancer. The doctor or nurse that you see will probably take a swab (sample of cells) from the area to check for the infection that's causing the warts.

If there are no obvious warts, but infection is suspected, the doctor or nurse may apply a solution that turns warts white, making very small or flat warts more visible.

Treatment of Wart

Many over-the-counter wart treatments are available that remove hand and foot warts. These products are usually in the form of lotions, ointments or plasters.They work by removing the skin affected by a wart virus. After treatment, the skin and wart simply drop off. These products must be used with care, however. The chemicals they contain are quite strong and can affect healthy skin as well as infected skin. People with diabetes or heart conditions should not use these products.

Non-prescription drugs are also available for the treatment of flat warts. These products cause the skin to become saturated with water. Over time, the skin layer peels off, taking the wart virus with it. Flat wart remedies can take as long as three months to work, depending on the size and depth of the wart.

Moist patches are often the easiest and most effective products to use. They areplaced on a wart for forty-eight hours. Then they are replaced with a new patch. In some cases, the patch may irritate the skin. In that case, the person should switch to a milder medication or stop treatment for a while.

Prevention of Wart

To reduce your risk of getting a wart:

Don't touch other people's warts

Don't share towels with a person who has warts

Don't share shoes or socks with someone who has a verucca

Don't scratch or pick at a wart as this may encourage it to spread, and

Wear flip-flops in communal showers and in swimming pool changing areas.

If you have a verruca, cover it with a plaster when you go swimming. People with hand warts should wear gloves if they are using communal equipment (for example, in a gym).

To avoid catching genital warts, you should practice safe sex. The best way to do this is to use condoms. However, condoms don't cover the entire genital area, and are usually put on after sexual contact has begun, so the virus can still be passed on.

Use a condom (as well as your normal form of protection) for 3-6 months following treatment for warts. This helps to stop you and your partner getting re-infected.

Remember, the more sexual partners you have, the higher your chance of getting

genital warts and other STIs.

Home Treatment of Wart

If the wart is in the way, use a pumice stone or an over-the ­counter salicylic acid ointment. This drug can be irritating in high concentrations; you may need to use a milder form for a longer period of time.

If you have diabetes or peripheral vascular disease, do not use sali­cylic acid or irritate the wart without discussing it with a health professional.

If you use a pumice stone, both the debris from the wart and the area of the pumice stone that touched the wart can be infectious. Do not handle this material. Discard both the wart debris and pumice stone promptly.

For plantar warts, apply a doughnut-shaped pad to cushion the wart and relieve pain. Apply salicylic acid solution to the wart at night, and rub the whitened skin off in the morning.

Try the least expensive method of treating warts first. You may save a trip to your doctor.

Don't cut or bum off a wart.

Home Remedies of Wart

Castor oil is one of the most important home remedies for warts. This oil should be applied generously over the affected parts every night. The treatment should be continued for several months.

Raw potatoes are beneficial in the treatment of warts. They should be cut and rubbed on the affected area several times daily, for at least two weeks.

Milky juice should be extracted from the fresh, barely-ripe fruits and applied on the warts several times a day. The treatment should be continued for two weeks.

Onions are valuable in warts. They are irritating to the skin and stimulate the circulation of the blood. Warts sometimes disappear when rubbed with cut onions.

The herb dandelion is useful remedy for warts. The milk from the cut end of dandelion should be applied over the affected area two or three time's daily.

Marigold is found beneficial in the treatment of warts. The juice of the leaves of this plant can be applied beneficially over warts. The sap from the stem has also been found beneficial in the removal of warts.

The oil extracted from the shell of the cashew nut is beneficial in warts. It should be applied externally over the affected area in treating this condition.

When to Call a Health Professional

If a wart looks infected after being irritated or knocked off.

If a plantar wart is painful when you walk and foam pads do not help.

If you have warts in the anal or genital area.

If the wart causes continual discomfort.

If a wart develops on the face is a cosmetic concern.