Warts are caused by viruses from the papillomavirus family. Their penetration through microcracks in the skin will cause cells to multiply in a given location. A small, characteristic growth then forms. These viruses are contagious through direct contact with an infected person or through danger, for example, in gyms or swimming pools. A few months pass between the moment of contagion and the wart’s appearance. Warts also spread by self-contagion from one part of the body to another. 65% of warts vanish spontaneously within two years, but some can persist longer. Eradication of the virus is rarely possible, and recurrence of warts is common. Warts appear as small swellings on the surface, corresponding to skin growths. They are caused by skin pollution caused by an infection of the human papillomavirus type or ” Human Papillomavirus ” (HPV).

That’s why warts are called viral papillomas. The development of warts is benign. The ”  Human Papillomavirus” (HPV) viruses involved in the occurrence of warts are not responsible for skin cancer, unlike high-risk papillomaviruses. Affecting the mucous membranes and is involved in the occurrence of cervical cancer. Most moles vanish precipitously within a couple of months, yet some can endure for a long time. It is likewise noted that mole repeats are regular. Ordinary among kids, young people, and the old, moles are innocuous. However, they are contagious and can become annoying from an aesthetic point of view. Very often, warts disappear spontaneously after a few months. If this is not the case, the doctor can remove them.

Where Where do warts come from?

And I had time because, for me, it started when I was young. It must be said that between the swimming pool’s footbaths and the dojo’s tatami mats, I was still determining where I was setting foot: in areas with maximum risk 10/10 on the variometer scale! Indeed, warts are, above all, viruses and are highly contagious, like a bad flu or an STD. Moreover, the virus responsible for our misfortunes is none other than HPV or papillomavirus, which is a type of virus that also affects the genital area by increasing the risk of cervical cancer in women.

30% of genital warts can heal independently, so if genital warts do not cause discomfort, there is no need for treatment. But if you have symptoms such as itching, burning, pain, or psychological distress, your doctor can help you solve the problem with medication or surgery. However, the underlying virus is generally not eliminated, so genital warts may still recur after treatment.

WHY DO WE HAVE WARTS?

Warts appear after skin contamination by a virus, ” Human Papillomavirus, ” of which there are different types. Most often, viruses penetrate under the skin at the level of a lesion that breaks the protective skin barrier.

Viruses that cause warts are contagious and are transmitted.

The viruses in the wart cells spread on the skin when the person scratches. This spread of viruses on the skin can create new warts through self-contamination.

• The virus can also be transmitted to another person through skin contact.
• The viruses present in warts are deposited on contact surfaces (floor, tools, etc.) and then penetrate the damaged skin (small skin cut, abrasion, etc.) of another person who comes into contact with these contaminated surfaces.
• Hand warts frequently influence experts who are presented with miniature injuries to the skin of the hands (butchers, fishmongers, slaughterhouse workers, and veterinarians).
• Plantar moles are brought about by unreasonable perspiring of the feet. They frequently result from viral tainting in a rec centre, an aggregate shower, or a pool. They happen all the more rapidly in the wake of swimming in warm water, which relaxes the horny layer of the feet. Unpleasant surfaces around pools and on pool plunging sheets energise skin harm and infectious diseases.

How do you recognise warts?

Warts appear as small, hard growths on the skin. They generally do not exceed the size of a pinhead, but some can reach the size of a pea. There are different types of warts.

• The most common are warts, yellowish grey growths with an irregular surface that form especially on the fingers and the back of the hand. They grow singly or in groups.
• Plantar warts show on the soles of the feet and penetrate deep into the skin.

What are the possible complications of warts?

• Warts generally do not cause complications. However, untreated warts can spread or infect other parts of the body or other people. Warts are so unsightly that we prefer to keep them private. And let’s be honest, we always hope they will disappear as they came, almost like magic. We like to hide them under a sock, hoping it was just a hallucination, a vision, a speck of dust in the eye, perhaps?
• But there you have it, on closer inspection: these little blisters with a black dot and this slightly sensitive bulge. It can only be a wart, and the probability is that it will evaporate as the great Houdini did in a cloud of smoke—there is little chance of performing on stage or elsewhere. Therefore, several scenarios are possible, from the goriest horror film style to the softer ones worthy of a little house on the prairie. So, rather Jack the Ripper or Laura Ingalls? You can ask me; I’ve tried everything.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF WARTS ON THE SKIN

There are several types of skin warts.

Common warts

Also called common warts, they can have various appearances. They are often round and rough, dome-shaped, and sometimes furrowed with cracks. Single or multiple warts measure a few millimetres in diameter. They are located mainly on the fingers and the back of the hands. They can also be located under the nails or on their periphery. In the latter case, the warts are sometimes very painful and can cause deformation or detachment of the nails. They can also be elongated in shape. In this case, the warts are said to be filiform. This type of wart appears mainly on the face, particularly around the mouth, and in men’s shaving areas.

Flat warts

They appear as small elevations, 1 to 5  mm, of the skin with a flat top. These warts may have the same colour as the skin or be a little darker. Grouped into plates, they have a geometric shape with several angles. They are commonly found on the face, backs of the hands, and limbs.

Plantar warts

They form on the soles of the feet and generally on the support areas. There are two kinds.

The single plantar wart

This wart is single or very small in number. It is deep and well-demarcated by a horn ring (skin thickening). Its centre is spotted with blackish dots. These tiny blood vessels explain why this wart can sometimes bleed. Walking is also painful because of the pressure exerted by the body’s weight.

Multiple mosaic plantar warts

They are superficial and grouped in patches of thickened skin, resembling mosaics. They are much less painful than a single wart.

Several solutions to warts

Liquid nitrogen

When I was little, it was the appointment with the dermatologist and his liquid nitrogen tank. It looks like he’s going to go for a dive into the underwater world, but after investigation, I found that what he prefers is to bring oceans of tears to little children. It’s so painful, and no one denounces this torture from another age. Except for my sister, she will hate me for revealing this well-kept secret, but at the age of 5-6, she screamed, “Assassin!!! » to the dermatologist who was burning his foot. It was heard in the waiting room, and when we left, we were looked at funnily. But ultimately, the truth comes out of children’s mouths, right?

A few years later, I had confirmation, having this damn wart burned off when I was in Lyon. My yoga practice and serene breathing delighted the practitioner, who saw it as a golden opportunity to burn to the bone without me sighing. I came by tram and could never get home; putting my foot on the ground was impossible. The best? The wart never went away.

Popular beliefs

So I opted for the piece of onion in the sock, the chants in the moonlight. I was in the middle of an empirical process, ready to believe everything that presented itself to me with eyes full of stars. Only failures.

The brutal method

Seeing this, I told myself a few months later that I was going to extract it barbarically; equipped with a sharp knife, I extracted the monster alive. Anything and everything rather than seeing that liquid nitrogen tank again. It was indeed nonsense—another failure. Besides a scar and excruciating pain, I’ll spare you the details of the crime scene.

Formic acid

One evening of despair, before 8 p.m. on TF1 (there was still Claire Chazal), an advert came on which extolled the merits of a kit that could be bought without a prescription in a pharmacy and which made warts disappear in one go, one go. It is a sort of liquid nitrogen kit for dummies or masochists. Why not? Filled with hope, I consulted my favourite pharmacist (because he was nearby at the end of the street): no kit! But she tells me about formic acid. Ant acid, yes, yes, it’s the same one that they use to fight, this super-burning thing from red ants. It was a light blue bottle that saved my day—several times. So either, it has been effective many times because I can catch a wart in the same place every six months. Or, in fact, it never worked. I’ll leave you alone to judge. That said, it’s a painless and relatively quick solution worth discussing. That’s when I got fed up with spending my life applying formic acid to my feet every night with a brush, even if it has a painterly side that’s attractive to people like me who don’t can’t draw!

Essential oils and warts: the solution

And essential oils have arrived. Essential oils and warts are a couple that works! I’ve only tested one, and I won’t change it for fear that it won’t work. But in reality, the goal is to choose an extremely dermo caustic essential oil that is aggressive for the skin, apply it pure to the wart, and burn it—the same principle as formic acid. Pour a drop on the wart directly from the bottle of essential oil. The problem is that we put it everywhere, especially on healthy skin. Apply a layer of cream around the wart and wipe it off after application. Pour a drop on a cotton swab (it will remind you of liquid nitrogen) and apply it to the wart. I use this technique; it works very well; it avoids putting it next to it, and we target the wart well. Recycle a bottle with a brush like those with commercial formic acid. All those that are dermocaustic will do the trick, especially since they are also excellent antivirals. For my part, I use Ceylon Cinnamon leaf with great success. Others use cloves or mountain savoury, for example, or sometimes a mixture. Should it be diluted? No, it is not necessary because we do not want to protect the skin from dermocaustic action.

On the contrary! It has to burn the growth. It also means that you must be careful not to put any aside! You need regularity, not once every three days when you have time! If you have already successfully used essential oils on a wart, share your experience in the comments.

Diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous viral warts

The prevalence of cutaneous viral warts in the general population is approximately 7%- 12%. Many patients attend primary care because of pain, discomfort, and other symptoms (e.g., disfigurement). Despite the prevalence of cutaneous viral warts, there is currently no precise, effective treatment.

Most viral warts are self-limited, and most patients respond to simple recommended treatments. For these reasons, potential treatments must have minimal side effects and treatment risks.

Due to confounding factors (such as high spontaneous healing rates), there needs to be more high-quality, evidence-based research on this disease. Some subtypes of viral warts are ineffective against most treatments. In medicine, the more potential treatment options there are, the less effective they seem to be, and viral warts are a testament to this.

Overview

Benign papillomavirus warts are skin or mucous membrane infections with human papillomavirus. This article focuses only on warts that infect the skin. The 2010 Worldwide Weight of Illness Study indicates that cutaneous warts are a significant economic and public health problem.

Risk factors include:

• Immunosuppression.
• Close contact with infected people.
• Behaviors like nail biting and walking barefoot.

In general, cutaneous viral warts are rare in infants, common in children, and less common from the beginning of the second decade. Clinically, viral warts can be divided into several subtypes—the most common warts, which present as hyperkeratotic papules and are most common on the hands. Plantar warts often present as thick, keratotic plaques, particularly at pressure points on the soles of the feet, and can be very painful. When plantar warts are clustered together, they are called “mosaics.”

Warts around the nails are called periungual warts and are seen in people who frequently bite their nails. Planar warts may be more subtle and often appear as single or grouped flat-topped pimples on the face.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Viral Warts

Diagnosing viral warts is usually straightforward and can often be made based on clinical findings. However, in some cases, uncertainty may arise. Facial warts may be misdiagnosed as syringomas, molluscum contagiosum, or lichen lustre. Typical warts may be misdiagnosed as hypertrophic actinic keratoses or basal cell carcinomas. Flat warts may be misdiagnosed as flat seborrheic keratoses or melanocytic lesions. Giant keratotic warts may be confused with squamous cell carcinomas. Clinical course and timing of treatment Observational studies have shown that most viral warts become self-limited after a few years without treatment. A study of children in home care found that two-thirds of viral warts that lasted more than two years resolved without treatment. Immunocompetent patients with malignancies are not at a significantly increased risk of developing cutaneous viral warts. Therefore, it can be assumed that asymptomatic warts in non-cosmetically important areas do not require treatment. However, many patients request therapy because of pain or discomfort, cosmetic concerns, or prolonged persistence of the lesion.

The evidence supporting further treatment of viral warts (particularly in school children) is that they can be transmitted when infected, so precautions should be taken (such as covering the affected foot with a sock as a physical barrier to prevent transmission). Topical treatment aims to ablate viral warts or stimulate an immune response using physical or chemical methods. Salicylic acid can remove epidermal cells infected with human papillomavirus and soften the stratum corneum associated with viral warts. Treatment is generally well tolerated, and salicylic acid is suitable for any part of the skin except the face. In a recent Cochrane systematic review meta-analysis, six studies comparing salicylic acid with placebo found evidence of benefit from salicylic acid treatment. Patients receiving clear instructions and adhering to medication compliance are critical to achieving the most significant response rate. Daily soaking in warm water for a few minutes, filing and trimming, and then applying salicylic acid under occlusion should be done. Patients should also be informed of potential irritation. No examinations have assessed the ideal term of salicylic corrosive treatment; in any case, in the creators’ training, treatment should last 12 weeks before different medicines are considered.

Power of Cryotherapy for Wart Removal

Cryotherapy Cryotherapy is another standard treatment for viral warts on the skin. It can directly destroy the wart and induce secondary inflammation. In Revitalise London Dermatology Clinic in the UK, liquid nitrogen cryotherapy is commonly used in secondary care or specialist communities due to logistical difficulties in obtaining and storing liquid nitrogen in primary care. Liquid nitrogen can be used in several ways.