The official name for warts is verruca vulgaris. Verruca is a slang term for small bumps raised from the skin. Therefore, from the perspective of dermatologists, the things that patients see when they say, “I have a verruca,” include various skin diseases. The most common “verruca” is “verruca caused by a virus infection,” technically called a viral verruca. There are also many other skin diseases, including water, middle-aged, and elderly verrucas. Some of these are malignant tumours, so diagnosis requires caution. Of course, easy self-diagnosis is not allowed.

However, when dermatologists say “verruca” in the narrow sense, they usually mean viral verrucas. Things get more complicated, but many types of viral verrucas look different, and it is becoming clear that the viruses that cause them are slightly different. The most common type of verruca appears on children’s hands and feet. It is called common verrucas. We will introduce the other types later.

Verrucas develop when a type of virus called human papillomavirus infects the skin. There are many types of HPV, and in addition to ordinary verrucas, some types are attracting attention as the cause of genital verrucas, a sexually transmitted disease, and others as the cause of uterine cancer. Therefore, when discussing such topics, you will often hear or see these different virus names in newspapers, magazines, and television, but they are the same virus, just called by other names.

Common types of viral verrucas

If we are infected with the verruca virus, significantly, when our body’s resistance is reduced, it will stimulate the proliferation of skin cells, leading to the appearance of verrucas. Because the incubation period of verrucas can be very long, ranging from one to twenty months, and they are generally not painful or itchy, a verruca that may appear at first can slowly spread throughout the body. Depending on the type of verruca, its shape can vary. For example, flat verrucas mainly concentrate on the face, neck, upper body, and trunk. They appear in places with many skin folds. They are usually small and smooth in size but can produce dozens to hundreds of fleshy granules at a time. Common verrucas generally grow on the fingers, toes, backs of hands, and around the nails. Their surfaces are rough and protruding, making them hard to the touch. Plantar verrucas usually grow on the soles of the feet, and their surfaces are smoother, so they are often mistaken for corn. Patients experience pain when standing or walking.

What does a verruca look like

Corns generally appear yellowish, may have a hollow white spot in the centre, and are contagious. Plantar verrucas are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and can appear anyplace on the skin. The virus is transmitted through contact. For example, walking barefoot by the pool or locker room can increase the risk of infection. If there are minor wounds or skin cracks on the epidermis, your immune system will be less resistant, and you will be more susceptible to disease. In appearance, the surface of verrucas is primarily rough, often with many tiny black spots, which are the capillaries that supply the verrucas. Sometimes, these black spots are not easily detectable with the naked eye, and the doctor may need to remove a small part of the surface skin to confirm. Corns can cause pain when walking or standing. Patients may change their normal walking posture to accommodate the pain points, which can lead to muscle or joint discomfort in the long term.

How do we cure and get rid of the verruca virus?

Although, according to current medical knowledge, verrucas will not further evolve into harmful diseases, many people still choose to undergo surgery because of appearance problems, thickening of the horny skin causing walking pain and other inconveniences, or fear of infecting their family members. Treat. In medicine, we can use cryotherapy, electrocautery, carbon dioxide laser treatment, or some physical methods, such as surgical curettage and stickers, to remove verrucas. After removing verrucas, patients need to pay special attention to their physical condition and living habits to avoid allowing verrucas to regenerate. To effectively prevent verrucas, we must start with our daily habits. If a family member has verrucas, they should regularly clean the bathtub and the floors at home to reduce the risk of infection. Maintaining good daily hygiene, such as washing your hands, bathing, and wearing clean socks, is essential.

Three ways to treat verrucas

Patients with corns or calluses should consider wearing wider, softer shoes or adding insoles to reduce pressure on the soles of the feet. Corn drops and corn patches generally contain acidic medicine to remove hardened cuticles. Standard methods for treating verrucas include topical medication, cryotherapy, surgical excision, and laser treatment.

• External medicines are also mainly acidic solutions. Patients can use them externally, but the treatment takes a long time. They may irritate the normal skin near the affected area when applied by themselves. The effect is less effective for more prominent verrucas.
• Cryotherapy is mainly performed with liquid nitrogen. The benefit is that treatment rarely results in superficial wounds, but it is expected to require multiple verruca treatments and can cause blisters.
• Surgery or laser treatment generally has a better chance of removing the verruca in one go. However, due to the need for local anaesthesia, there will be superficial wounds after the operation, and the scars may bleed, requiring a more extended period of recovery and care.

TREATMENT OF VECTOR

Most plantar verrucas are harmless and go away without treatment, though it may take a year or two in children and even longer in adults. Talk with your healthcare provider if you want to eliminate verrucas sooner; self-care approaches have yet to help. Verruca removal refers to the removal of verrucas on the skin, which are skin surface growths caused by human papillomavirus infection. Verruca removal can be done in a variety of ways, including medication, physical therapy, and surgery. Treatment methods for verruca removal mainly include the following. Cryotherapy in a clinic involves applying liquid nitrogen to the verruca with a spray or a cotton swab. This method can be painful, so your healthcare provider may numb the area first. The freezing causes a blister around your verruca, and the dead tissue sloughs off within a week. Cryotherapy may also arouse your immune system to fight viral verrucas. You may need to return to the clinic for repeat treatments every two to three weeks until the verruca disappears. Conceivable symptoms of cryotherapy are agony, rankles, and highly durable changes in skin tone (hypopigmentation or hyperpigmentation), especially in individuals with brown or Dark skin.

Stronger peeling medicine

Prescription-strength verruca medications with salicylic acid work by removing a verruca layer at a time. They may also boost your immune system’s capacity to fight the verruca. Your healthcare provider will likely suggest you apply the medicine frequently at home, followed by occasional office visits. It might take weeks to remove the verruca using this method.

Drug treatment

Under doctor’s counselling, you can use some antiviral drugs, such as Yubokang cream, salicylic acid ointment, imiquimod cream, etc. These drugs help promote the metabolism and renewal of skin epidermal cells, thereby removing the verrucas.

Physical therapy

Physical therapy methods include cryotherapy, electrocautery therapy, laser therapy, microwave therapy, local heat therapy, etc. These methods achieve the effect of removing verrucas by destroying the verrucas, causing them to become necrotic and fall off. Carbon dioxide laser and liquid nitrogen freezing are standard options for flat verrucas with small skin lesions.

Surgical treatment

For verrucas that are in severe condition or have poor results from drug treatment or physical therapy, surgical treatment, such as curettage and excision, can be considered. However, surgical treatment usually involves risks and needs to be performed under the guidance of a professional doctor.

Photodynamic therapy 

It is suitable for removing potential infection foci and can cause local verruca cell death through light irradiation. However, photodynamic therapy is more expensive.

Surgical or other procedure

If salicylic acid and freezing dose don’t work, your healthcare provider may suggest one or more of the following verruca treatments:

Minor surgery.

Your health care provider removes or destroys the verruca using an electric needle (electrodesiccation and curettage). This method can be painful, so your healthcare provider will numb your skin first. Because surgery has a peril of scarring, it’s only sometimes used to treat plantar verrucas unless other treatments have failed. A scar on the sole can be painful for years.

Blistering medicine.

Your healthcare provider applies cantharidin, which causes a blister under the verruca. You may need to return to the clinic in about a week to have the dead verruca clipped close.

Immune therapy

This procedure uses medications or solutions to stimulate your immune system to fight viral verrucas. Your healthcare provider may inject your verrucas with a foreign substance (antigen) or use a solution or cream for the verrucas.

Laser treatment

Beat colour laser treatment consumes shut (closes up) little veins. The contaminated tissue finally passes on, and the verruca tumbles off. This technique should be repeated every two to about a month. Your medical services supplier will probably numb your skin first.

Vaccine

HPV vaccine has been successfully used to treat verrucas even though this vaccine is not specifically targeted toward the verruca viruses that cause plantar verrucas. If a plantar verruca goes away after treatment and another verruca grows, it could be because the area was exposed again to HPV.

Early Detection of Viral verrucas: Why It Matters

Revitalise London Dermatology Clinic said that when infected by viral verrucas, the affected area often appears with raised particles and many black spots. The skin’s surface will also usually become thickened, hardened, and rough to the touch, similar to calluses, and it may also appear itchy. If it occurs on the hands or feet, it is easy to be affected by external pressure and cause pain. Some patients have no particular feelings. If it is not treated for a long time, it may continue to grow and spread and even cause infection from your right hand to your left hand or other parts of the body, which may impact your appearance and life. Doctors have encountered patients with dozens of viral verrucas on their hands and feet and even formed large signs of disease. It is worth noting that if viral verrucas do not improve for a long time, a few case studies have found that skin cells may continue to be affected by the virus, causing the cells to become cancerous, which may lead to skin cancer. Like skin cancer melanoma, viral warts often appear as black spots on the fingers and toes. Even if there is no cancer, it may be misdiagnosed. That is, there is actually skin cancer, but the patient always mistakenly thinks it is a virus. Verruca. These two points are also something that the public needs to pay attention to. If black spots appear on your fingers, checking them as soon as possible is better.

Risk factors

Anyone can develop plantar verrucas, but this type of verruca is more likely to affect:

• Children and teenagers.
• People with weak immune systems.
• People who have had plantar verrucas before.
• People who walk barefoot in areas where a verruca-causing virus is common, such as locker rooms and swimming pools.

Frequently Ask Questions

Are verrucas contagious?

Verrucas are a contagious skin disease that is mainly spread through contact. Either direct or indirect contact can lead to the spread of the virus. The spread of the virus primarily occurs between people in close contact and some public places, such as public bathrooms, swimming pools, gyms, etc. In these places, especially when people walk barefoot, the risk of infection is higher.

How to avoid verrucas?

Avoiding verrucas includes maintaining good skin hygiene, which is especially important when “skin verrucas” appear. First, do not scratch the skin verruca and then touch other parts to avoid spreading the virus to healthy skin and causing the wart to spread. Wash your hands frequently after touching the affected area. In addition, the skin is our body’s most important protective layer. If the skin is damaged, pathogens can more easily enter the body. Therefore, timely treatment of skin diseases and moisturising the skin with moisturiser can help keep the skin intact and healthy. Public supplies, such as slippers, towels, etc., should be minimised to avoid direct contact with the skin. At the same time, avoid walking. 

Can you remove verrucas yourself?

It may worsen if you try to remove the verruca by scraping or touching it yourself. In rare cases, verrucas may also be malignant tumours. If you notice a verruca that bothers you, visit a dermatologist.

How long does it take for common verrucas to heal?

Treatment verrucas may get better on their own, but it takes time. In children, two-thirds will improve spontaneously within two years. Natural recovery is slower for adults than children, taking several years or more.

In nursing, what is a verruca?

The medical term for verrucas that appear on the skin and mucous membranes, such as the face, neck, limbs, and genitals, is “verrucas.” It can be divided into viral and non-viral. Verrucas are not painful or itchy and are often harmless. 

Is common verrucas contagious?

If you touch another part of the body with the same hand that touched the verruca, the infection may spread, and new verrucas may form. It is rarely transmitted from other people in pools or baths but can be transmitted through direct skin contact.

Can I go to the pool with common verrucas?

There are usually no noticeable symptoms, such as pain. Left untreated, it can sometimes occur frequently and take a long time to heal. Treat it patiently. It is not highly contagious to others, so there is no need to refrain from going to pools or baths.

Take Action: Protect Your Skin Health Today

When people have black spots on their fingers, toes, and other skin parts, or even feel a little thicker, it always makes people a little worried and confused, and they are concerned that it may be—skin cancer. Revitalise London Dermatology Clinic, 22 Harley Road, Maryleb and Westfield Mall, Stratford, pointed out that there are many possibilities for black spots to appear on the skin. If they appear thickened, hardened, and like calluses, they may be infected by a virus. For viral warts, it is recommended to seek medical treatment as soon as possible to stay away from affecting the appearance and life of the patient, possibly causing cancer or covering up the warning signs of skin cancer.

Revitalise London Dermatology Clinic, 22 Harley Road, Maryleb and Westfield Mall, Stratford, pointed out that the possible factors for the appearance of black spots on the skin include moles, spots, staining by external factors, minor wounds caused by trauma, and it may also be caused bymelanomaCommon skin cancers include viral warts. Viral warts are an HPV virus infection, that is, human papillomavirus. It is the same virus as the commonly heard cervical cancer, but the type is different. The route of infection is through contact, including indirect infection. For example, many people need to wear slippers at home. If you are used to not wearing slippers when visiting relatives and friends’ houses, you may be infected if there are viruses in the environment.

Conclusion

verrucas are non-cancerous skin growths that develop due to viral infections. It is infected on the skin surface or mucous membranes through contact, with an average incubation period of four months. These viral viruses belong to the “Human Papilloma Virus”. The clinical signs of verrucas depend on where they grow. Verrucas are a common skin infection caused by specific human papillomaviruses (HPV). Verrucas can occur in different places on the body, but they are more common on the hands, feet, neck, face, and scalp. In medicine, we usually name warts according to their location or shape. However, treatment is something that takes time to be done. After all, the infection is generally deep, especially in the hands and feet. The course of verruca treatment varies depending on the patient’s situation. Standard cryotherapy will require five to ten times or even more. Patients are reminded to be patient. The best solution is to continue treatment according to the doctor’s instructions, confirm with the doctor whether you have recovered, decide whether you need to return for a follow-up visit and continue to observe whether there are signs of recurrence.