Over 60 million people in this world have warts. The common myth that they are caused by handling frogs or toads is, of course, only a myth. Frogs and toads have their own problems. Warts are growths on the skin caused by viruses. They should be destroyed because they are contagious, unsightly, and occasionally painful.
You can pass warts on to others by direct or indirect contact, in such places as locker rooms, public shower stalls, gymnasium mats, and swimming pools. Very often, members of the same household are afflicted with warts. They can also spread on the same person by picking, scratching, shaving, or biting one's nails.
Warts come in many shapes and sizes and can turn up on different parts of the body. The so-called common wart is a raised, rough, grayish-looking, painless growth. It can vary in size from a pinhead to a fairly large mass. While they may occur on any portion of the skin surface and mucous membranes, common warts are usually found on the fingers, hands, and soles of the feet.
Flat warts are smooth, flesh-colored, and slightly-elevated. These matchhead-size growths usually appear on the face and backs of hands of children and young adults. Genital warts are found in the moist areas of the genital and anal regions.
Warts on the sole are called plantar warts. (Not "planter's warts," as some people are fond of saying, as if there were some thing agricultural or occupational about them.) These warts are the most stubborn variety and frequently resist all known treatments.
That there are dozens of widely proclaimed methods to eliminate warts attests to the fact that there is no single predictably effective remedy. Ideally, the treatment should be quick, safe, and painless. And it should produce no unsightly or lasting scars.
Some doctors recommend that the best way to manage warts is to let them manage themselves. If left untreated, many warts will disappear by themselves in about two years. This seems to be the natural history of warts. Warty people, however, may not want to wait for any spontaneous cure, and so they seek medical advice.
Methods that physicians use to treat warts are about as varied as warts themselves. The type of treatment your doctor uses will depend upon your age, the location of your warts, and the size and number of warts to be treated.
In electrosurgery the wart is burned off with an electric needle under a local anesthetic. Warts also can be chemically destroyed using various types of acids, plasters, and other chemicals. Other warts can be frozen off using liquid nitrogen at minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit. Still other warts succumb to surgical excision (cutting the wart out under local anesthesia). A less widely used method is X-ray therapy carefully administered by a dermatologist. In selected cases, such as stubborn plantar warts, this method can produce miracles. Recent concern over the effects of radiation, however, has restricted its use. One of the latest modes of therapy for large or stubborn warts is the argon laser.
Genital and anal warts are usually transmitted by sexual contact and it is essential to treat the patient's sexual partner to prevent recurrences. These venereal-type warts respond to podophyllin-a resinous substances that a physician paints on the warty growths at weekly intervals.
Some doctors (and some grandmothers) charm warts away by suggestive methods. These "witching" methods have worked in many individuals, particularly young, impressionable children, and they leave no scars, no matter how deep or long-standing the warts may have been. Regardless of how bizarre or ludicrous a treatment may sound, if the patient has faith in the "charmer," the warts usually will disappear. (However, I do not recommend stealing a piece of beef or a dishrag!)
A great deal of research is going on to determine why certain people get warts, why others do not, and why warts often disappear spontaneously. In the meantime, if you can't ward off warts, take comfort in knowing that your doctor can help you get rid of them.
You can pass warts on to others by direct or indirect contact, in such places as locker rooms, public shower stalls, gymnasium mats, and swimming pools. Very often, members of the same household are afflicted with warts. They can also spread on the same person by picking, scratching, shaving, or biting one's nails.
Warts come in many shapes and sizes and can turn up on different parts of the body. The so-called common wart is a raised, rough, grayish-looking, painless growth. It can vary in size from a pinhead to a fairly large mass. While they may occur on any portion of the skin surface and mucous membranes, common warts are usually found on the fingers, hands, and soles of the feet.
Flat warts are smooth, flesh-colored, and slightly-elevated. These matchhead-size growths usually appear on the face and backs of hands of children and young adults. Genital warts are found in the moist areas of the genital and anal regions.
Warts on the sole are called plantar warts. (Not "planter's warts," as some people are fond of saying, as if there were some thing agricultural or occupational about them.) These warts are the most stubborn variety and frequently resist all known treatments.
That there are dozens of widely proclaimed methods to eliminate warts attests to the fact that there is no single predictably effective remedy. Ideally, the treatment should be quick, safe, and painless. And it should produce no unsightly or lasting scars.
Some doctors recommend that the best way to manage warts is to let them manage themselves. If left untreated, many warts will disappear by themselves in about two years. This seems to be the natural history of warts. Warty people, however, may not want to wait for any spontaneous cure, and so they seek medical advice.
Methods that physicians use to treat warts are about as varied as warts themselves. The type of treatment your doctor uses will depend upon your age, the location of your warts, and the size and number of warts to be treated.
In electrosurgery the wart is burned off with an electric needle under a local anesthetic. Warts also can be chemically destroyed using various types of acids, plasters, and other chemicals. Other warts can be frozen off using liquid nitrogen at minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit. Still other warts succumb to surgical excision (cutting the wart out under local anesthesia). A less widely used method is X-ray therapy carefully administered by a dermatologist. In selected cases, such as stubborn plantar warts, this method can produce miracles. Recent concern over the effects of radiation, however, has restricted its use. One of the latest modes of therapy for large or stubborn warts is the argon laser.
Genital and anal warts are usually transmitted by sexual contact and it is essential to treat the patient's sexual partner to prevent recurrences. These venereal-type warts respond to podophyllin-a resinous substances that a physician paints on the warty growths at weekly intervals.
Some doctors (and some grandmothers) charm warts away by suggestive methods. These "witching" methods have worked in many individuals, particularly young, impressionable children, and they leave no scars, no matter how deep or long-standing the warts may have been. Regardless of how bizarre or ludicrous a treatment may sound, if the patient has faith in the "charmer," the warts usually will disappear. (However, I do not recommend stealing a piece of beef or a dishrag!)
A great deal of research is going on to determine why certain people get warts, why others do not, and why warts often disappear spontaneously. In the meantime, if you can't ward off warts, take comfort in knowing that your doctor can help you get rid of them.
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