Over the Counter Wart Treatments

Much of the time, warts that you will get actually end up disappearing on their own. However, if you want to quicken the process of getting rid of said warts, you can always go through some of the over the counter wart treatments that are available to you. Over the counter wart treatments are focused on doing one of two things to your warts. They are focused on either freezing or burning said warts off, which will absolutely eliminate the wart by way of killing the virus responsible for the appearance of the wart in the first place. Here are a few examples of the over the counter wart treatments that are available to you. These are Wartner, Dr. Scholl’s and Compound W. People have to be cautioned that they must not use over the counter wart treatments on warts that are on their genitals or on their faces. These treatments are much too severe for those sensitive places.

Home Remedies

How to get rid of warts can come down to also using the right home remedy. In fact, there are a multitude of home remedies that are around to help you deal with your case of warts. One example of a home remedy is something as unexpected and simple as garlic. You just crush garlic that’s fresh and then rub it over your wart. Follow that up by concealing it with a bandage. If you repeat this process each day, your wart will come off in just about a week. Another home remedy is vinegar. Believe it or not, soaking a cotton ball in some vinegar and then taping that to your wart for a week should shrink the wart meaningfully.

Surgery

Surgery is also an option for people who want to eliminate their wart problem. One example is laser surgery, which is a weak choice because it may leave scarring and no certainty that the warts will not return. You can also try cryosurgery, which involves an attempt to freeze off your wart with liquid nitrogen. However, this involves a lot of scarring, multiple doctor visits and pain. Finally, a basic surgical incision is yet another treatment form, but scarring is common here, too.

If you want to know how to get rid of warts, you have just read about three different options. Only you can decide which one is right for you. It is advised that you play things safely and first attempt the natural solutions like home remedies before jumping to the over the counter treatments and surgical options.

Tips #1. Avoid touching the warts on yourself and on other persons. The virus has better chances of entering the human body through close physical contact, a fact mentioned above.

Tips #2. Do not share personal items that come in close contact with the skin. These include towels, socks and shoes as well as razors, combs and topical products. Take note that even when there are no visible signs of warts on the skin, an infected person still has the virus that can be transmitted through indirect contact.

Tips #3. Be sure to use shower shoes so that your feet do not come in contact with possibly infected surfaces in shower rooms, pool areas and locker rooms. Yes, the tips on warts prevention may seem ridiculous at first but when you come to think about the costs of wart removal, these steps will not seem so ridiculous.

Tips #4. Keep your feet as dry as possible so as to keep warts from irritating their soles. Take note that the virus can easily enter the body through open wounds, no matter how small these openings may be.

Tips #5. Keep your warts covered with either athletic tape or adhesive bandage. In fact, you can remove warts by covering these skin bumps with duct tape for a few hours at a time. Better yet, place aloe vera gel or carrot-olive paste or aspirin-water paste on the wart before covering with adhesive bandage for best results.

With these tips on warts prevention, you should have little to no problems of wart recurring on your body or of transmitting these skin bumps to others. After all, prevention is better than treatment.

Surgery may also be considered for cosmetic reasons like when the warts are too unsightly, too many, or too conspicuous. For example, the warts may be located on visible parts of the body like the face, neck and hands, thus, adversely affecting the person’s self-confidence in social settings.

It should be emphasized that no wart removal surgery procedure is more effective than others. Doctors usually choose the procedure that will produce the least scarring, which will vary from one person to the next depending on the number, size and location of the warts being removed.

Types of Surgery

Let’s first discuss the types of surgery for wart removal. First, electrosurgery and curettage are often used together so as to achieve the best results. In both instances, local anesthetic is first administered on the area being treated. Electrosurgery involves burning the skin with an electrical charge while curettage means cutting off the wart via excision.

Second, laser surgery is just as it sounds – a medical-grade laser is used to burn off the warts from the skin. The doctor uses either a local or general anesthetic before targeting the warts with the laser’s intense beam of light, said choice of which depends on the size and number of warts to be removed. Of the three wart removal surgery procedures, laser therapy is arguably the most drastic since the wound will be painful for several days after the surgery.

Again, the doctor will choose the procedure with the least chances of producing scars. Well, of course, scars may be seen but these are usually kept to a minimum.

Risks Involved in Surgery

In general, wart removal surgery procedures are safe for every relatively healthy individual. There are risks associated with these procedures, which are to be expected, but these are usually minor in nature. Just make sure that the doctor performing the surgery is actually capable of the job.

In both types of surgery, possible complications include bleeding, fever, slight to moderate pain, yellowish discharge that may or may not emit a bad smell, and red streaks on the area treated. Fortunately, these complications of wart removal surgery procedures can be managed with antibiotics for infections, analgesics for pain, and topical ointments for skin reactions. Your doctor should prescribe the medications and provide instructions on after-surgery care.

Costs of the Surgery

The costs for wart removal using surgical methods differ depending on the size and number of the warts as well as the location on the body on one hand and the method of treatment on the other hand. Thus, you will spend more money for the removal of several warts on the genitals as against a single wart on the hand. For laser surgery, the average cost is $360 while electrosurgery can go upwards of $500 including the medicines.

Your doctor should discuss which of these wart removal surgery procedures is most suitable for your condition. One thing is sure: If all else fails in the home remedies front, surgery is your best and last option in wart removal.

Aloe Vera Gel. One of the most affordable and yet most effective home remedies for warts is aloe vera gel. You can either peel off the covering on an aloe vera stalk to extract its fresh juice or purchase aloe vera gel in a tube from the drugstore. In both cases, place the gel on a cotton ball until it is almost soaked, place it over the wart and then cover with adhesive. Leave it on for a few hours at a time at least 2 times a day.

Apple Cider Vinegar. The use of apple cider vinegar as a home remedy for various skin diseases including warts is well-known. Again, soak a cotton ball with the apple cider vinegar, place it over the wart and keep it in place with adhesive tape like Band-Aid. For best results, do this every night before going to bed, leave it on overnight and then remove in the morning. In a few weeks, the wart should fall off naturally.

Aspirin. Many of the home remedies for warts will actually surprise you since these are not often associated with the skin disorder. Aspirin, which is used as an analgesic, can be mixed with either water or olive oil to remove warts. Crush one aspirin pill, mix it with either liquid to make a paste, and apply on the wart. Leave it on overnight and then wash in the morning.

Baking Soda and Water. In a similar manner, making a paste out of baking soda and water will work, too. The mixture will help in softening the wart and helping the body fight the virus that causes warts. Also, try mixing water with Epsom salts to make a paste.

Carrots. Many vegetables are actually effective home remedies for warts, one of which is carrots. This orange vegetable is rich in Vitamin A that helps in fighting off HPV, the wart-causing virus. Grate a few tablespoons of fresh raw carrots, mix with olive oil to form a paste, and apply on the wart. For best results, do this 2 times a day – morning and night – so that the warts are almost always in contact with the carrot-olive oil paste.

Other vegetables that can be substituted for carrots are potatoes and garlic while fruits like lemon, lime and bananas are also good substitutes. As for the oil, try castor oil as well as Vitamin E and A oil in place of olive oil. Just see what works in your case.

With these home remedies for warts, you should not be spending wads of money on surgery like laser and excision. Plus, you can do these at home, thus, doing away with the hassles of seeing a doctor.

What are the Symptoms of Warts?

Before we discuss what causes warts, let’s first discuss their symptoms. Warts can be mistaken for other skin disorders that, in turn, will have significant impact on the efficacy of treatment. For example, corns and calluses can often be mistaken for warts and vice versa. Most warts look like small, fleshy and grainy bumps on various parts of the body from the hands and elbows to the knees and feet. These are often rough to the touch especially when significantly protruding from the skin’s surface although other warts can also be as flat as a crepe. These are also of different coloration than the surrounding skin with colors ranging from dark flesh and tan to white and pink.

What Causes Warts?

Let’s proceed to answering the question of what causes warts. All types of warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) of which there are nearly 200 known types. It should be emphasized that majority of HPVs cause little to no symptoms in most individuals but many can cause a wide variety of illnesses including cancers of the reproductive system in men and women. And of course, we now know that HPV causes warts – not toads and frogs, as folklore says.

Yet another misconception borne of folklore is that simply touching a wart on another person will cause warts to appear on the other individual. Each person reacts differently to HPV, which means that you may or may not develop warts; when you do develop warts, your condition will vary in terms of severity, frequency and duration of said skin bumps. Still, we must emphasize that HOV is transmitted via close physical contact with an infected person or with the infected person’s personal things. The virus is passed from one person to the next as well as from one part of the body to the next. Indeed, the question of what causes warts is often not as important as how it is transmitted.

Transmission of the virus occurs most often through an opening in the skin’s surface. A tiny cut, a small scratch and any other small opening in the skin serves as the entry point for HPV to enter the body. The incubation period for HPV differs from one person to the next with most people developing the symptoms of warts in several weeks.

What are the Types of Warts?

Now that the question of what causes warts has been answered, let’s move on the types of warts. It is important to distinguish one from the other since the options and risks as well as the urgency of treatment are different. The types of warts as stated on the U.S. National Library of Medicine are:

• Common warts may look like small cauliflower heads with black dots inside the heads, thus, giving these small, hard and dome-shaped bumps their characteristic grayish-brown color. These are usually seen on the hands, elbows and knees either in singles and multiples.

• Flat warts are smoother bumps with flat tops. These can have pink, brown or yellow colors with sizes no more than a pinhead. Unfortunately, these warts can grow on faces as well as on hands, arms and knees.

• Plantar warts are probably the most painful type. These are found on the bottom of the foot, thus, leading to the sensation of stepping on a small sharp stone when walking.

• Filiform warts grow in and around the mouth, eyes and nose. These usually blend in with the skin although their shapes – like fingers – make them conspicuous, too.

• Genital warts are sexually transmitted infections that usually appear in and around the genitals as well as the anus. These have been linked to high risks for cancer of the vagina, vulva and cervix in women.

What are the Treatments?

As previously mentioned, the question of what causes warts is as important as the question of what are its most effective treatments. It is worth mentioning that warts are generally harmless so doctors can skip on the treatments. However, individuals can choose from among the various treatment options when the warts are painful, swollen or reddish. When warts begin to bleed blood or ooze pus, haste must be exercises in seeing a doctor for medical and surgical treatment methods. In many cases, the warts can simply fall off or respond to home remedies.

 [Watch this video on how to remove a wart using duct tape]

For cases where home remedies simply will not do, then medical and surgical methods are imperative. These treatment options include over-the-counter and prescription antifungal medications, cryosurgery and laser as well as surgical excision. Unfortunately, what causes warts – the human papillomavirus – remains dormant in the body so warts can still reappear at a later period. The good news is that the risks for recurrence of warts can be lessened with proper hygiene. Preventive measures include avoidance of brushing, clipping and shaving the areas with warts; keeping your feet dry; and avoidance of sharing personal items with others.

Ultimately, the answer to the question of what causes warts should lead you to asking the more important questions of how to treat it and prevent its spread.