Warts require persistent treatment

Warts can be the nemesis of many kids and moms. Everyone asks the same question “how do I get rid of them”?

Just like some people get colds or have allergies, some people get warts while others don’t. All of our immune systems and how we react to the environment are different.

Warts are caused by a subtype of the human papilloma virus, form as a result of a rapid growth of cells on the outer layer of the skin as the body tries to wall off the virus. Once you have the virus, you can’t get rid of it, so you are more likely to get warts again.

The majority of patients who come in for wart treatment are children, some of whom might have more than 30 to 40 warts on a foot. Statistics say up to a third of school-age children will get warts, which can be embarrassing and painful, especially if they are plantar warts found on the bottom of the foot. Within two years, many of the warts will go away on their own, but often people don’t want to wait that long.

Warts won’t threaten your health and normally you can get rid of them if you follow the protocol the doctor has in place.

So how does a parent know when to take their child to a doctor vs. buying a salicylic acid product over the counter and tackling it at home?

If you have just one wart on the hand or even the foot, take your child to a doctor. If your child has multiple of warts or they have spread, you need to see a podiatrist. The longer you wait, the more you will have and the deeper they will become.

Warts, especially plantar warts, are sometimes mistaken as calluses, so seeing a podiatrist for a definite diagnosis is important. The virus is shoved deeper into the bottom of the foot, and because it’s a pressure point on the foot, the body will build up a callus to protect it, which can make it hard to differentiate.

Often a telltale sign of a wart is little black dots that appear within it, which are actually small clotted blood vessels that bring nutrients to the warts, which can bleed when disturbed

There are several treatments for warts, which vary according to the frequency and severity of the warts.

The first line of treatment is usually debridement — or cutting down of the wart — and application of a salicylic acid or a chemical called cantharadin that causes the wart to blister. Patients usually need to return for about six weeks for more treatments and apply salicylic acid daily at home in between visits. Noncompliance at home is the No. 1 reason that this treatment doesn’t work.

Warts may also be “frozen” off with liquid nitrogen, surgically cut out under a local anesthetic in the doctor’s office or treated with laser therapy. Often plantar warts require more aggressive treatment because they are deeper and thicker.

In very rare cases, warts can become cancerous — a condition called verrucous carcinoma — but this wart would be noticeably different in that it would be very large, may bleed and may have a discharge with a foul odor, Clarke said.

Tips to avoid warts:

• Since a moist environment causes the wart-producing virus to be more aggressive, wear flip-flops when walking around wet, public areas, such as swimming pools, locker rooms and in public showers.

• If someone in your household has warts, clean the shower with bleach before other family members use it.

• Family members with warts on their feet should try to keep shoes or slippers on in the house and not walk around barefooted.

• Keep feet dry and avoid irritating the soles of the feet because a cut or scrape can be an entry point for the virus.

• Don’t bite your fingernails or cuticles because this can spread warts from finger to finger.