Warts are referred to small, grainy skin growths that usually occur on your fingers or hands. Common warts are rough to the touch, usually have a pattern of tiny black dots, that are small, clotted blood vessels. The warts can be spread by touch and caused mainly by the virus. Basically, the development of the wart will take about two to six months after the exposure of your skin to the virus. Common warts are normally non dangerous and will disappear by themselves. However, some people tend to get rid of them as they find the warts to be bothersome or embarrassing. So, in this Doctoroncall article, we will discuss further about what steps need to be taken in order to remove a wart.
As we know, most common warts will eventually disappear without any medications, but it may take one to two years to go away and new warts may develop nearby. Because of cosmetic concerns and home treatment is not working enough to treat the warts, some people tend to get their warts being treated by the doctor. The main objective of the treatment is to destroy the warts, as well as stimulating our immune systems to fight against the virus. It will take approximately weeks or months to treat the warts, but it still has the tendency to recur or spread. Doctors will decide on which treatment is the best for the patient and usually doctors will start with the method that gives the least pain to the patient, especially when dealing with young children. There are some approaches that will be suggested by the doctor, referring to the location of the warts, your symptoms and your preference of treatment. Sometimes, the doctor will use these methods in combination with home treatments, for example salicylic acid.
The first method is using a stronger peeling medicine that is salicylic acid. It works by removing the layers of a wart a little bit from time to time. Research done shows that the effectiveness of the salicylic acid will be higher when combined with freezing. Freezing, or also being called cryotherapy, is a therapy that will be done at the doctor’s office which involves applying liquid nitrogen to your warts. This method will cause a blister to form below and all over your wart. Then, the dead tissue will be slowly discarded from the surface of your hand within a week or so. Besides being used in treatments of the warts, the freezing method can also stimulate the immune system in your body to fight against the viral warts. But in order to get the best result, you may need a repeat treatment. There are some side effects for cryotherapy such as you will feel pain, blistering and have discolored skin in the treated area. Because of that, this technique is seldomly used to treat the warts of young children as it may cause a painful sensation at the treated area.
However, if salicylic acid and cryotherapy still don’t give the best result, your doctor may consider using trichloroacetic acid. The doctor will first remove the surface of the wart and then use a wooden toothpick to apply the acid to the warts. Same as cryotherapy, this method will need a repeat treatment every week or so. After applying the acid to the warts, you may feel a burning sensation or stinging as the side effects. There is also a minor surgery method for warts removal. During the minor surgery, the doctor will cut away the affected tissue. But as a result, you will get a scar in the treated area after the surgery. Last but not least, your doctor may consider using laser treatment as the last choice. This method works by cauterizing the tiny blood vessels by using the pulsed-dye laser treatment. This method will cause the infected tissue to eventually die, and diminish the wart. To date, there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of this method, as it may be painful and may leave a scar after the laser treatment.
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