Warts

Yes. The two most common skin cancers, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, can look similar to warts. They all may be raised, and feel rough or crusty. It is important to regularly visit our office for professional skin screenings. During these visits, we monitor for changes and can evaluate and accurately diagnose specific skin concerns.

You can protect against warts or recurrences by being vigilant about cleansing and covering up wounds. It’s important to keep your towels and other belongings isolated from others in public spaces; for instance, ensure that your towels do not come in contact with other individuals and their belongings. Always wear shoes, especially in public showers, pools, and other moist environments where HPV can thrive. Practice good handwashing hygiene, and refrain from biting your nails or cuticles as this habit can produce tiny tears in the skin that allow for HPV to break through.

This solution is applied to the wart. It affects only the upper layers of the skin. So, it is not associated with scarring. As the product takes effect, it causes the wart to blister over in a safe, controlled fashion. Eventually, the blister dries out and sloughs off naturally along with the wart.

When injected into the base of a common wart, this antiviral therapy damages the blood vessels that supply and sustain it. Also, bleomycin generally works by destroying HPV-infected cells. This treatment is highly targeted, and is not associated with a risk of scarring or damage to the lower layers of skin.

Applied to the skin, this medication selectively targets infected skin cells. Slowing down the growth of these cells causes the infected tissue to begin to break down. Eventually, the wart will slough off. Since treatment is so selective, only the infected cells and tissue are damaged.

With cryotherapy, we freeze off the wart. This is a common treatment for warts. If it is an appropriate option for you, we carefully apply a very cold substance directly to the wart. This causes the wart to scab and fall off. As your skin heals (typically 4-7 days), it’s normal for the treated area to crust and blister.

Recommendations are based on what we find from a thorough evaluation of your wart. We may recommend one (or a combination) of different treatments after carefully considering the following factors:

• Location – For instance, plantar warts on the feet require different products and therapies than facial warts.
• Age – Children may not be appropriate candidates for injections or treatments that may not be tolerated as well.
• Response to OTC or home treatments – When these products do not get results, we may recommend in-office procedures like cryotherapy.
• The severity or persistence of warts – Complex or stubborn cases may require a combination home/in-office approach.

We also review your medical history and consider any underlying conditions or medications that you may be taking before developing a safe and effective treatment plan.