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Common warts (also called vurruca vulgaris)

Warts: It is common for warts to grow on the hands, but they can grow on any part of your body.

Warts are benign (not cancerous) skin growths that appear when a virus infects the top layer of the skin. Viruses that cause warts are called human papillomavirus (HPV). You are more likely to get one of these viruses if you cut or damage your skin in some way.

Wart viruses are contagious. Warts can spread by contact with the wart or something that touched the wart.

Warts are often skin-colored and feel rough, but they can be dark (brown or gray-black), flat, and smooth.

Common warts have these traits:

  • Grow most often on the fingers, around the nails, and on the backs of the hands.
  • Are more common where skin was broken, such as from biting fingernails or picking at hangnails.
  • Can have black dots that look like seeds (often called “seed” warts).
  • Most often feel like rough bumps.
warts

Foot warts (also called plantar warts)

Plantar warts have these traits:

  • Grow most often on the soles (plantar surface) of the feet.
  • Can grow in clusters (mosaic warts).
  • Often are flat or grow inward (walking creates pressure, which causes the warts to grow inward).
  • Can hurt, feels like you have pebbles in your shoe.
  • Can have black dots.

Flat warts have these traits:

  • Can occur anywhere. Children usually get them on the face. Men get these most often in the beard area, and women tend to get them on their legs.
  • Are smaller and smoother than other warts.
  • Tend to grow in large numbers – 20 to 100 at a time.

FWho gets warts?

Anyone can get warts. Some people are more prone to getting a wart virus (HPV) than others. These people are:

  • Children and teens.
  • People who bite their nails or pick at hangnails.
  • People with a weakened immune system (the body’s defense system).

In children, warts often go away without treatment. A dermatologist should treat warts that hurt, bother the child, or quickly multiply.

Self-treatment

You can get some wart remedies without a prescription and treat the warts yourself. This may be enough to get rid of the warts. The only problem with self-treatment is that you might mistake another kind of skin growth for a wart. Some skin cancers look like warts.

You should see your dermatologist when you have:

  • A suspicion that the growth is not a wart.
  • A wart on your face or genitals.
  • Many warts.
  • Warts that hurt, itch, burn, or bleed.
  • A weakened immune system.
  • Never try to remove any wart on your foot if you have diabetes. If you cut or burn your skin, it could cause lasting damage to the nerves in your feet.