Why Do Warts Appear? Understanding the Causes Of Warts and Prevention
The cause of warts is more common than you might think, as most people experience them at some point in their lives.
Having good knowledge about the causes of warts can help you learn how to avoid these skin issues. Warts don’t form out of nowhere; they are caused by certain conditions, habits, or any exposure to HPV that makes your skin vulnerable, and then it causes warts. The reasons why warts grow vary – sometimes it’s through direct contact, or sometimes it’s from environmental issues.
In this article, we’ll discuss how warts spread and what you can do to protect your skin. You’ll learn everything you need to know to prevent warts from appearing and keep your skin smooth.
The Role of HPV: The Main Cause of Warts
What Is HPV?
Warts are caused mainly by human papillomavirus (HPV). The virus infects the top layer of the skin, causing it to produce too much keratin, resulting in a wart. There are more than 100 types of HPV, most of which do not cause warts on the hands, feet, or elsewhere on the body. These are non-cancerous and unrelated to HPV strains linked to more serious health conditions.
How HPV Causes of Warts
An infection occurs when HPV enters the body through tiny cuts, scratches, or breaks in the skin. The virus then gets in and starts triggering the skin cells to grow rapidly. The growth causes a wart, which is a familiar bump or rough patch. The virus will usually stay in this area of the skin and cause one wart or a small cluster of warts.
Why Are Some People More Likely to Get Warts?
Most people who get HPV don’t get warts. However, your risk of developing warts increases if you have a weakened immune system. Some individuals have a weaker immune system, like children or teenagers, who have their immune systems still under development, and they are more likely to get warts. If you have skin conditions like eczema, you’re typically more likely to get warts. Also, if you are going through treatment that suppresses your immune system, you might have warts.
Getting Familiar With Different Strains
Different HPV strains cause different warts. For example:
- HPV types 2 and 4 usually cause common warts, which appear on hands and fingers.
- HPV types 1, 2, and 4 cause plantar warts on the feet.
- HPV types 3, 10, and 28 cause flat warts, which usually show up on the face or legs.
Knowing how HPV causes warts helps people take steps to avoid getting infected.
Causes of Wart: How Do They Spread
Direct Skin-to-Skin Contact
Direct skin-to-skin contact is one of the main ways warts are spread. For example, the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is one of the major causes of warts, can transfer from one person to another, especially if they shake hands or come in close contact with broken or damp skin. Kids can come in contact with HPV while playing with other kids in playgrounds. That’s why it’s important to promote healthier hygiene habits in children.
Contaminated Surfaces
The other common way warts can be spread is that the virus is capable of staying on surfaces for a short period and then coming in contact with you indirectly. An ideal place for the virus to spread is in public places like swimming pools, gym mats, and locker rooms. Walking barefoot in or around these places can increase the chance of developing plantar warts on the feet.
Self-spread from touching warts.
The virus can spread to different areas of someone’s own body after they have a wart by scratching or touching the wart and then touching another area of their body. For instance, a child with a wart on their finger might pass the wart to their face or knees without even knowing it.
Sharing Personal Items
Warts can be spread by sharing personal items like towels, razors, socks, or shoes. The virus can infect these objects indirectly.
Moisture and Skin Injury As Causes of Warts: Their Role
Warts spread to more moist areas or where the skin is broken. Minor cuts, scrapes, or even dry, cracked skin are the path for HPV to enter your body.
Knowing how warts spread can help you reduce your risk. For example, you can keep yourself clean, avoid touching or scratching warts, and wear protective shoes in public places.
Causes of Warts of Different Types
Different types of warts have various appearances, depending on the forms in which they come. Learning which type of warts you have can help you better understand the warts and treat them more effectively.
Common Warts
Usually, these warts occur on the hands and fingers. Such animals are small, rough, and have a domed shape. HPV types 2 and 4 can cause common warts and are often a result of frequent rubbing of an already existing wart into a contaminated surface or other contact.
Plantar Warts
Plantar warts grow into the sole, where the pressure from walking or standing presses inwards. They often result in discomfort or pain and can have tiny black dots in the center-clotted blood vessels. Plantar warts tend to be caused by HPV 1, 2, and 4, and they usually occur if someone has been in contact with HPV in a very vulnerable part of the body, the soles of the feet by walking barefoot in a moist area like a public pool or gym.
Flat Warts
Flat warts can be smoother and more minor and usually occur on the face, arms, or legs. HPV types 3, 10, 28, and 49 cause flat warts.
Filiform Warts
Long, thin, and sometimes seeming to grow around the eyes, mouth, or nose, filiform warts are common. It’s caused by HPV types 1, 2, 4, and 7; they grow quickly.
Genital Warts
Soft warts appear in the genital area. Transmission is generally through sexual contact and is due to specific strains of HPV, especially types 6 and 11.
Mosaic Warts
Mosaic warts are clustered plantar warts that form a mosaic-like pattern. However, they are more challenging to treat and are caused by the same HPV strains that cause plantar warts.
If you know the different types of warts and their causes, you can implement targeted treatment and prevention strategies.
Treatment Options for Warts: How to Get Rid of Them
Choosing the proper wart treatment for yourself can be a bit crazy sometimes. Knowing your condition can help you through this decision-making process. Most warts aren't dangerous, and the body heals them on its own through the natural regenerative process. The good part is that having an effective treatment can promote the healing process and make it quicker. Also, treatments help prevent it from spreading and minimize any discomfort. Let’s discuss the best treatments for warts, using both home remedies and professional treatment.
Over-the-Counter Treatments
Warts can be removed using over-the-counter (OTC) treatments. Often, these contain salicylic acid, which helps soften the skin and gradually peel away the wart. The treatments themselves usually take several weeks but can be effective for common warts and plantar warts.
Freezing Treatment: Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy involves freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen. While warts can be removed in a doctor's office, this is a pretty effective treatment. The freezing process doesn’t damage the wart's tissue, which should then fall off after a few days. Cryotherapy is used for more persistent or significant warts, and while it is sometimes uncomfortable during the procedure, it is generally adequate.
Laser Treatment
Another way to remove warts is with laser treatment. This method uses intense light to destroy the wart's tissue, usually after other treatments have failed. It is often used to treat warts that are hard to treat with cryotherapy or topical treatment. The treatment is quick but may cause temporary redness or swelling.
Electrosurgery
In some cases, electrosurgery may be recommended for removing warts. In this case, the wart is burned off by an electric current. More prominent warts or those that haven't responded to other treatments are usually treated with electrosurgery. Sometimes, the wart is locally anesthetized and takes a bit of time to heal.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy may be an option for warts that don’t go away with conventional treatments. This treatment triggers the immune system to fight the HPV virus. It can be administered topically or through injections. Warts that don't respond to other treatments are usually treated with immunotherapy.
Natural and Home Remedies
Some people who have warts choose to treat them at home with natural remedies like tea tree oil, duct tape, or garlic, even though there’s limited scientific evidence that they work. These treatments may not work for everybody, but if combined with ‘traditional’ treatments for minor warts, they may be worth a try.
When to Get Help
A healthcare professional should see painful warts that spread quickly or refuse to respond to over-the-counter treatments. More potent treatments and guidance on the best way to remove the warts are possible.
Prevention: Avoiding Causes Of Warts
Once you know why you get warts and when and how they appear, you should learn about methods to prevent them from spreading. Warts are highly contagious, and taking the proper precautions is the best way to reduce the chance of them spreading to other people or other parts of your body. Here are some simple yet effective tips to prevent warts from spreading:
1. Do not contact the warts directly.
The best way to prevent warts from spreading is to avoid contact with them. If you have a wart, don’t scratch or pick at it. This can spread the virus to other parts of your skin, resulting in more warts. Bandage your warts so that they won’t touch other surfaces or people.
2. Don’t Share Personal Items
Towels, razors, socks, shoes, and nail clippers can also help spread the virus that causes warts. The fact that the HPV virus grows in moist, warm environments means that towels used in public places, locker rooms, and even swimming pools can be the best breeding places for transmission. You should always be sure to wash your hands a lot and ensure that any personal items you use stay to yourself.
3. Keep Your Skin Clean and Dry
Because warts grow in damp environments, it is essential to make sure your skin is clean and dry, especially your hands and feet. For instance, when you get out of a shower or swim, thoroughly dry your skin — especially around your fingers and toes.
4. Wear Shoes in Public Areas
The virus spreads in public places like pools, gyms, and locker rooms. To prevent warts, use shower shoes or flip flops when getting into areas of the house, such as a bathroom, that may allow warts to transfer to your feet.
5. Protect Cuts and Scrapes
HPV can enter the body through cuts, scrapes,s and other types of skin injuries, so it’s essential to cover any cuts or scrapes with a bandage. It’s a simple step that can help prevent the virus from entering the body to cause warts. If posed to activities in which you might get an abrasion, such as gardening or sports, be extra careful.
6. Strengthen Your Immune System
Having a strong immune system means that your body can fight off most infections, including HPV. Key to preventing and reducing your chances of developing warts is eating a balanced diet, staying hydrated, exercising regularly, and controlling stress.
7. Avoid Biting Your Nails
The HPV virus can enter your body more quickly if you bite your nails, and it can break the skin around your fingers. In addition, if you already have warts on your hands, you could spread the virus to your mouth and nails just by biting your nails.
Doing these things can reduce your risk of spreading warts and help prevent new ones from forming. To prevent warts, stay mindful of hygiene and protect your skin as much as possible.
We are able to treat your existing warts at revitalise London and give you warts treatment options to help prevent you from getting new ones. We take care of our best results for skin health with professional care.
Revitalise London: Looking For The Best Wart Treatment? We are your trusted choice!
If you have warts, we provide expert wart treatment at revitalise London. Our trained professionals apply advanced methods to remove warts harmlessly in order to decrease the chance of recurring. Whether it’s common warts, plantar warts, or genital warts, we treat warts with personalized care to maximize your chances of success. We do not only treat warts the way they originate, but we also treat them to prevent future occurrences. revitalise London is committed to your comfort and skin health and to providing the means to manage and prevent warts.
Expert-Led Wart Removal
In our clinic, revitalise London, we use the most efficient methods recommended by dermatologists to remove warts. Our team of professionals guarantees that your treatment is as risk-free and targeted as possible to avoid future complications.
Customer Treatment of All the Wart Forms.
Whether you are experiencing ordinary warts, plantar warts, or sensitive genital warts, we have the solutions for you. With the proper knowledge about the causes of warts, we can block recurrence and treat present trouble.
Advanced Treatment Options
Our clinic is well equipped with modern equipment, such as cryotherapy and laser therapy. These procedures are more efficient in removing warts quickly and with fewer complications, thus meeting your needs.
Caring and Considerate Services – The Patient’s Perspective.
You understand how difficult it is to address warts, and that is why we do not only help with treatment. At revitalise London, we know the importance of your comfort and self-assurance, and that is why we ensure you receive the best care.
Why Choose revitalise London?
Thus, we deliver professional knowledge, modern approaches, and individual approaches to solving your concerns related to warts. Contact us today, and we will assist you in restoring your smooth, disease-free skin.
Get the skin you have always wanted and start your journey towards healthy skin today with revitalise London.