×

The skinny on warts: what they are and how to treat them

Parents have been hand over foot asking me lots of questions about their child’s warts. Well, let me see if I can do more than skin the surface on this topic.

Warts are tiny skin infections caused by a strain of human papilloma virus or HPV — but not the same strain that causes genital warts and cervical cancer in adult women. The HPV strain that causes common warts results in a small, hard bump on your skin with a rough surface, similar to a cauliflower.

How common are warts?

Warts are quite common, occurring in about 50% of children at some time in their lives, and are usually found on the fingers, hands, arms and feet. They are painless except sometimes for those on the feet. They are usually passed from person to person by simply sharing towels or from close contact, especially if someone with an open scratch or cut comes into contact with a wart.

Treatments that work

The good news is that warts can be treated and will go away even without treatment, although this may take weeks to months or even years. Over-the-counter medications are available that contain mild acids that will slowly peel off the dead skin cells of the wart and eventually cause it to disappear.

One safe but somewhat controversial treatment appears to be wrapping the wart in duct tape for six days a week, and then leaving the tape off on the seventh day. Repeating this cycle for four to eight weeks appears to rev up the body’s immune system. It is thought this happens becausethe tape mildly inflames the area around the wart, leading to the destruction slowly but surely of the wart itself due to inflammatory cells that form in response to the tape and then attack and destroy the wart.

When to seek

medical attention

On the other hand, if simple over-the-counter treatments or the duct tape method don’t work, speak to your child’s health care professional, who can recommend other prescription medications and treatments that can help.

Can warts be prevented? Not really, but the chance of your child getting one may be reduced if they wash their skin regularly and well, especially after they get a cut or scratch.

Hopefully, you’ll find these tips rewarting when it comes to knowing more about how to deal with common childhood warts.

Lewis First, MD, is chief of pediatrics at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital of Vermont Children’s Hospital and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and NBC5.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.75/week.

Subscribe Today