Warts: Types and treatment
If you’ve ever had a wart, you know how unsightly and annoying it can be. You wish to get rid of it fast. Warts can come in all shapes and sizes; they can show up as a single bump, cluster, or flat lesions. These rough textures can appear anywhere on the body and create discomfort. However, treating them may help speed their departure.
Note: Do not scratch or pick at warts. This will only make them worse and lead to spreading to other parts of your body.
Warts are caused by skin contact with a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV). If your immune system is weak, HPV can cause warts to develop on your body. HPV can spread easily from one person to another through skin-to-skin contact or by sharing personal items such as nail cutters, clothes, or towels with the infected individual. HPV can enter your body through minor breaks or cuts on the skin and trigger the formation of warts.
Remember, that since it is a contagious disease, if you touch your face with an infected hand, you are most likely to get facial warts too.
Types of warts
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Regular warts:
Regular warts usually grow on fingers and toes but can appear elsewhere as well. They have a rough, grainy appearance, an oval top, and grey in color
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Plantar warts:
Plantar warts occur on the base of the feet. Unlike regular warts, plantar warts grow into your skin and not out of it. Plantar warts appear as a small hole that is surrounded by hardened skin. They can make walking uncomfortable.
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Flat warts:
Flat warts normally grow on the face, arms or thighs. They are small and not easily noticeable. Flat warts have a flat top as if they’ve been shaved. They can be pink, brownish or slightly yellow in color.
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Filiform warts:
Filiform warts grow around the nose or mouth and sometimes under the chin or on the neck. They are small tissue flaps on the skin. Filiform warts are the same color as the skin.
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Periungual warts:
Periungual warts grow below and around the fingernails and toenails. They can be painful and affect nail growth.
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Genital warts:
These warts are a type of sexually transmitted infection (STIs). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that genital warts usually cause no additional symptoms. However, depending on the spot and size, they can cause itchiness or discomfort.
Genital warts differ in color from pink to dark brown and can be bumpy, flat or grow from the skin on stalks.
Waiting for warts to go away can backfire. The wart may get bigger, new warts may appear or you can spread it to other people as well.
When you visit a skin specialist, they will first need to make sure that the growth is a wart. Depending on the location and type of warts, your skin doctor will discuss the treatment options.
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Cryotherapy (Freezing):
Cryotherapy involves applying liquid nitrogen to your wart. It works by inducing a blister to form under and around your wart. Then, the dead tissue sheds off in a week or more. You will possibly require repeating the treatment.
Side-effects of cryotherapy include blistering, pain and discolored skin in the treated spot. Because this method can be painful, it is normally not used to treat the warts of young children.
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Trichloroacetic acids:
In this method, the doctor first shaves the covering of the wart and then applies trichloroacetic acid. The treatment needs to be repeated every week for a period. Side-effects of this treatment include burning and stinging.
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Minor surgery:
Your doctor can cut away the bothersome tissue. It may leave a scar in the operated spot.
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Laser treatment:
Since warts can be confused for cysts and calluses, we suggest you see a dermatologist first before you self-medicate.
Also read: https://www.drbatras.com/skin-diseases/warts
Homeopathy treatment for warts
Under the conventional mode of treatment, suppression or removal is usually adopted for removing warts. It may cause pain and scarring. Homeopathy treatment follows a corrective approach to treat warts rather than suppressing them. Homeopathic medicines boost the immune system of the body to fight HPV, which causes warts.
Homeopathic treatment for warts is mainly through constitutional medicine. In this, a homeopath looks at the wart symptoms and also psychological, emotional, physical, and hereditary information of the individual. Homeopathy remedies for warts are made from natural substances. Hence, they are free from side effects.
According to a case study published in the Indian Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, a 10-year-old boy presented warts on his fingers. He kept having new growth of warts every 15 days. Lesions were rough as well as flat and some of them grew larger. He was highly embarrassed and his parents were extremely anxious. He was also diagnosed with recurrent upper respiratory tract infections. He was prescribed lycopodium clavatum, a homeopathic remedy. Within 3 months, there was a complete improvement in wart lesions. There was also a remarkable improvement in his immunity.
At DrBatra’s®, we have treated 1.41 lakh skin cases including warts with 94.3% positive treatment outcome (authenticated by American Quality Assessors) for over 35 years. Our doctors help to get rid of warts safely and effectively, without using painful conventional methods. If you think you have any symptoms of warts, book an appointment with us for effective homeopathy treatment for warts.
