Everyone has had warts before. They usually disappear spontaneously within two years. They mainly occur in children. In the age category between five and fifteen years, one in ten children has warts. There are four types of warts. Warts can be destroyed in different ways.

Warts

A wart is also called a verruca. They are small lesions, usually brownish or flesh-colored, that consist of cauliflower-like bulges. These occur on the skin because the skin cells are inflamed by viruses from the human papillomavirus family. Infection does not automatically lead to the development of warts. Warts only occur when the virus stimulates the skin cells to divide rapidly. Children are often more sensitive to it because they usually do not yet have antibodies against the virus and they also come into contact with it more often through swimming pools at school or during sports. It can take up to six months after infection for a wart to appear. Warts mainly occur on the back of the hand and fingers, but can also occur on the legs, arms and face.

Species

Four types of warts can be distinguished:

• Common warts mainly occur on the hands. The skin is highly keratinized and they are usually brown in color. They usually disappear on their own within two years.
• A variant of the common wart is the flat wart. These are not bumpy and mainly occur in children.
• There are two types of plantar warts: the mosaic wart and the thorn wart. A mosaic wart is an area on the sole of the foot of many adjacent warts. Where mosaic warts spread superficially, thorn warts grow much more deeply. Plantar warts are usually much more painful than regular warts and treatment is usually necessary. They usually do not disappear on their own.
• Genital warts are warts that occur on the genitals. They are transmitted through sexual contact during unsafe sex or during birth from mother to child. It can sometimes take a very long time before the warts become visible. Both partners should be treated to prevent further infection.

Therapy

Each treatment is aimed at completely destroying the tissue of the wart. Destruction can be done in several ways:

With spotting fluid

A spotting liquid is applied to the wart to soften the skin. This liquid is intended to cause the top layer of the skin to peel off. The aim is to thin the skin. This way it can take a long time for the warts to disappear completely.

To freeze

The cells are destroyed by bringing the wart into contact with liquid nitrogen. Freezing the wart is done using a special device. It is a good treatment, but the major disadvantage is that it is certainly not painless. One cannot go to extremes with this method because of the pain and not to have significant blisters or scars afterwards.

Treat with certain products

The wart is actually in the top layer of the skin, namely the stratum corneum. The idea is to scrape away the callus. The callus should be viewed as the housing, the breeding ground, of the wart. A caustic product is applied that burns the warts to the depths. One must be very careful with this product so that it does not burn surrounding areas of the skin. If used incorrectly, it can cause very serious wounds. A few days after applying the product, brown-black spots will appear on the treated areas. One is no longer allowed to bathe or sit in water. One has to wait until those dark pieces have come off and the warts will also disappear.