Warts Types & Treatments

Warts come from a viral infection on the outer layer of your skin. While they could affect any area of your body that has skin, the most common areas infected are the hands, feet, and genitals.

While there are many types of warts, typically determined by their placement and what they look like, HPV (human papillomavirus) is usually the culprit. The outer part of the skin gets hard and thick due to extra cell growth on the outer layer of the skin.

Contrary to myth, frogs have nothing to do with causing warts. And there doesn’t need to be sexual contact in order to have exposure to HPV. Simply not wearing shoes in a public shower could be enough.

We’re going to explain to you all the types of warts out there and then tell you exactly what you can do about getting rid of them!

Genital Warts

There are very few words in the English language which sound as scary as genital warts; but in truth, while they can cause some discomfort, shame, and embarrassment, they are treatable without long-term danger.

Every year 360,000 people get genital warts. The cause is HPV, but it’s not caused by the same form of the human papillomavirus that leads to cancer. There are certain types of HPV which cause warts to develop on the penis, vagina, vulva, scrotum, anus, rectum or cervix.

The cause of this form of genital warts is skin to skin contact during sex by someone who is infected with warts. Although it’s less common, you can still spread them even without symptoms and even if you are just rubbing (no penetration).

It’s a different form of warts that one gets on their hand or foot so you can’t give it to yourself on your genitals by touching your plantar or hand wart. We have full guide all about genital warts.

Plantar Warts

Warts which form on the bottom of your feet in the weight-bearing areas (where calluses would typically form) such as the heal are called plantar warts. HPV enters your body through small breaks or cuts and cause the growth in the hard, thick area of the skin.

Generally, time and some natural remedy options will cure these warts without too much concern. They are surely a good reminder of why you should always wear flip flops

For a whole lot of information about what a plantar wart is, what causes it, what the symptoms are and how to treat them, check out our full page about plantar warts.

Flat Warts

Because they more commonly appear on kids, flat warts are sometimes also referred to as juvenile warts. These warts are brown, pink or yellow and are small round (or oval) growths that appear on the back of the hands, face or legs.

People will sometimes notice them surrounding cuts like a shaving nick. Flat warts will usually develop in clusters of 20 to more than 100 warts. We will show you how to identify them and remove them yourself. Here is more information about flat warts and their cause and treatments.

Anal Warts

The name says it all. They are literally warts that appear on around the anus only. Their technical name is condyloma acuminata which sure sounds a lot better. Being a form of genital warts, they are caused by HPV (as with most warts) and most of the time, don’t itch or hurt.

It’s possible that people who have them won’t even know as sometimes, there will not be symptoms. It’s possible that if they grow big enough, there could be some pain and discomfort and with time, could spread to the genitals or other parts of the body.

It’s important to understand that anal warts are far more commonly spread from the genitals through scratching and rubbing rather than anal sex. Due to the close proximity, penis or vaginal warts can go hand in hand with anal warts.

Warts on Hands & Fingers

These are a common variety that typically show up on your fingers or hands. It makes sense because they are caused by contact with certain forms of the HPV virus and shaking hands or touching is the most likely cause.

Common warts will usually have a tough, scaly texture and the color can vary from grey or flesh colored to white or pink. They vary in size although usually, they are quite small.

Here is a whole page about common warts which occur on the hands and fingers.

Periungual Warts

Common in nail-biters, they appear around the fingernails. Also caused by HPV, the periungual variety is contagious and can be passed on through toys, towels or other contact.

Periungual warts, left untreated can grow large enough to cause displacement of the nail. It’s therefore important to treat them as soon as possible.

https://warts.org/periungual-warts

Filiform Warts

Because they form around your eyelids, they don’t look the same as other warts. HPV is contagious and so, this variety is as well. They get their name because they have a sort of finger-like look to them.

They can be stressful as they form fast and are one of the more unattractive warts in the wart family. Particularly because they are on the face and are therefore more exposed and obvious.

Typically, symptoms with filiform warts only usually occur when the wart grows in sensitive areas like skin folds. Irritation, bleeding, soreness and itching could occur in this case.

Water Warts

Appearing on a child’s arms, back, legs and chest, a water wart is a little white spot that is caused by a viral infection (HPV) and left untreated, can take years to go away.

Not only can they spread to other kids, but it is also common that they appear next to each other because kids tend to pick at them and they are able to spread to other areas of the body nearby.

Even though they can spread, they can also go away on their own, but it usually takes a few years. Scraping or freezing the warts is the best solution if your child is developing many water warts.

Seed Warts

In some warts, little black dots can appear that basically look like seeds. The black dots are actually small blood vessels which have grown up inside the wart.

Seed warts can occur within a plantar wart in the feet, heels or toes in which case they cause some pain or discomfort.

The tiny spots are clotted blood vessels.

How to Get Rid of Warts

We will go through all of the different solutions for how to remove them, from home remedies to kits you can order that will greatly increase your chances of ridding yourselves of these nuisances.