Warts come in a variety of colors ( they are usually skin-colored, but can be brown or gray-black), shapes and sizes. Body warts, hand warts, foot warts, finger warts, internal genital warts, external genital warts, anal warts. You can get warts anywhere and once you have the wart virus, you can never get rid of it; it lives in your DNA. All you can do is treat them.
You've got your plantar warts on the soles of the feet which usually appear as flesh-colored or light brown lumps that are flecked with small clotted blood vessels that appear as tiny black dots. These boogers are highly painful!
Then there are the nasty genital warts which can appear in the pubic area, on the genitals, in or around the anus, and/or in the vagina. They look like small flesh-colored, pink, or red growths...similar to the small parts of a cauliflower or they may be very tiny and difficult to see. They often appear in clusters of three or four, and may grow and spread rapidly. They usually are not painful, although they may cause mild pain, bleeding, and itching.
The genital wart variety is specific to the genital area and can't spread to other parts of the body. The genital wart virus can lie dormant in your system for years before it is triggered by stress, immune system deficiencies, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, life style changes and more. In fact, many people are unaware of the fact that they have HPV. Many men may have outbreaks on their penis and be unaware of them because they can be very small and hidden. Women may have internal genital warts, which may cause cervical cancer, and be unaware of them. Only 10 percent of genital warts are visible. HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease in North America and certain forms of the virus can cause cervical cancer. These warts should be seen by a doctor!
There is the flat wart which is more common in teens and children than in adults. These warts are smoother, flatter, and smaller than other warts and they generally occur on the face, but can also can appear on the legs, especially among females.
Usually basic wart is harmless and can disappear without treatment, but if you have one you probably won't want to wait for that to happen because they are aggravating and...ugly!
They can be treated, but most methods require multiple treatments. Treatments, beside over the counter medications, may include:
Freezing using liquid nitrogen. A blister forms around the wart and the dead tissue falls off within about a week.
Cantharidin is an extract of a blister beetle and applied to the skin, forms a blister around the wart which lifts the wart off the skin so the doctor can remove the dead portion. Other medications may be injected into a wart to kill the virus.
Surgery is sometimes used to cut away the wart. The base of the wart is then destroyed using an electric needle or by deep freezing. Also, sometimes lasers are used to burn and destroy wart tissue.
If you have a wart be aware that it can spread. To prevent spreading don't pick at it! Also, try and your keep hands as dry as possible because warts like moist environments. You should never brush, comb, or shave areas where warts are present as this can cause the virus to spread. Wash hands thoroughly after touching any warts.
Here's a fact for you. There is something called Canine Oral Papilloma Virus...dog warts, meaning dogs get them in their mouth. While they are usually not something to worry about because they usually stop growing and disappear on their own between 1 and 5 months.
They usually appear in the mouth, but can also appear on the nose, eyes or occasionally to other parts of the body. They are only dangerous if they begin to appear in the dog's throat. If a dog gets these warts it means it has a weakened immune system, so puppies. older dogs and dogs that are being treated with immunosuppressive medications like steroids are likely candidates. The virus is spread by direct contact with other dogs, toys and even humans if they have been in contact with a dog that carries the virus.
But enough of dog warts. For anybody that has a routine wart (often called a seed wart)...on the hand or finger, for example, here is a little secret to getting rid of them that actually works. Don't try it on plantar or genital warts...see a doctor!
Use apple cider vinegar. Do the following every night before going to bed.
1) wash the part of your body that has warts
2) soak a cotton ball with vinegar
3) place the cotton ball on the wart. Note avoid soaking the area of skin surrounding the wart because it can cause a chemical burn to the healthy tissue. For that reason, it may be necessary to use only a portion of the cotton ball.
4) place a bandage over the cotton balls to keep it in place.
5) Repeat this process until you start to see that your warts are turning black.
6) Even after the wart falls off continue treatment for a few days to ensure that the virus will not come back. This process may take a week or so, but it does work and it works better that a lot of commercial products.
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