Palmar warts (Concept Id: C5397992) - MedGen (2024)

FAQs

How do you get rid of Palmer warts? ›

Palmar warts and plantar warts

These warts are caused by HPV types 1, 2, and 4. They occur on the palms and soles. Palmar and plantar warts are flattened by pressure and surrounded by cornified epithelium. They are often tender, and plantar warts can make walking and standing uncomfortable.

Warts are caused by certain strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV).

But most are spread by casual skin contact or shared objects, such as towels or washcloths. The virus usually spreads through breaks in the skin, such as hangnails or scrapes. Biting your nails also can cause warts to spread on your fingertips and around your nails.

Cutting the wart off won't cure the core infection (so the wart is likely to grow back anyway), and if you do it improperly you can make the situation much worse and greatly increase your risk of a painful infection.

Cryotherapy. Cryotherapy uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and destroy a wart. Research has shown cryotherapy effectively removes warts in 50–70% of cases after 3–4 treatments. Cryotherapy may remove warts more quickly than salicylic acid.

Finger or common warts spread through direct contact with the contagious human papillomavirus (HPV). However, they are not sexually transmitted (cannot spread through sexual contact). Finger warts, also called common warts, are small, grainy, rough-textured skin growths.

Warts grow from the top layer of skin. The misperception of “roots” may be from the fact that warts may grow down into the second layer of skin (the dermis) and displace layers of skin as they grow downward, which makes them more difficult to remove. So, we can see why this myth came about, but warts do not have roots.

One theory is that the tape deprives the skin cells of oxygen. By “suffocating” the wart, the duct tape makes it more likely that the skin cells will die. The process of applying and removing the duct tape may also remove additional skin cells, which can make the wart less bulky and noticeable.

Over-the-counter salicylic acid is a commonly used medication to treat your warts. The salicylic acid is slowly and painlessly absorbed into the skin causing peeling of the skin cells that contain the wart virus.

What autoimmune disease causes warts on hands? ›

Warts, Hypogammaglobulinemia, Infections, and Myelokathexis (WHIM) syndrome is a rare genetic disease of the immune system. Its name is an acronym for its main clinical manifestations: warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis.

A seborrheic keratosis is a noncancerous (benign) growth on the skin. It's color can range from white, tan, brown, or black. Most are raised and appear "stuck on" to the skin. They may look like warts.

Salicylic acid may be the most effective topical wart-removal treatment. It's available over-the-counter in several forms, including as a concentrated liquid, gel, or adhesive pad. It's also available in varying strengths. Before using, talk to your doctor about the type and strength of salicylic acid you should use.

Common Warts

These flesh-colored growths are most often on the backs of hands, the fingers, the skin around nails, and the feet. They're small -- from the size of a pinhead to a pea -- and feel like rough, hard bumps. They may have black dots that look like seeds, which are really tiny blood clots.

Common warts are raised and have a rough surface on which tiny, dark dots can often be seen. They may grow around the nails, on the fingers and on the backs of hands. Common warts never turn cancerous. They may bleed if injured.

Conventional treatment focuses on removal, while alternative approaches emphasize gradual remission. Whatever you do, do not try to cut off a plantar wart yourself because you may injure yourself and cuts in your skin allow the warts to spread.

Plantar warts are caused by an infection with HPV in the outer layer of skin on the soles of the feet. The warts develop when the virus enters through tiny cuts, breaks or weak spots on the bottom of the foot. If left untreated, warts can last from a few months to 2 years in children, and several years in in adults.

Cryotherapy. In this procedure, a doctor will freeze off warts using liquid nitrogen. Cryotherapy is often a quicker treatment than salicylic acid, but a person may still require three or four treatments spaced 2 to 3 weeks apart. This treatment has a success rate of 50–70%.