Warts and verrucas (2024)

FAQs

Are warts and verrucas the same? ›

Warts are small lumps that develop on the skin, caused by a viral infection. Verrucas are a type of wart that affect the bottom of the feet. Most people will have warts at some point. They usually go away on their own, but it can take months or even years.

Check if you have a wart or verruca

Warts are usually skin coloured but may appear darker on black or brown skin. You can get verrucas on your feet. They have tiny black dots under the hard skin. Some warts are round, flat and can be yellow (plane warts).

The common plantar verruca, also termed viral plantar wart and verruca vulgaris is caused by the double stranded DNA Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). The genome has approximately 8000 base pairs. It is part of a large family of over 200 identified viruses with cervical cancer and genital warts being included.

A verrucae is the name given to a wart that is on your foot, it is caused by the same virus that causes hand warts. They may be painful when gently squeezed. Verrucae are brownish in colour with rough crumbly surface. They can be small or quite large, single or in a group.

Verrucas Usually Get Worse

They may grow and grow if untreated. It could reach the point where it's over a centimetre wide and bordered or covered by hard skin – a real nuisance. Over time, the pressure you exert on it when standing or in motion may force the verruca deeper into your foot.

Don't scratch or pick your wart or verruca as it's more likely to spread. If you have warts on your fingers, don't bite your nails or suck your fingers. If you use nail files or pumice stones on your wart or verruca, don't share these or use on other areas of your skin.

Verrucas can sometimes leave a depression or small hole in the skin after they resolve or are treated.

They commonly occur on the soles of the feet and toes. Verrucas can be contagious and spread to other people through direct person-to-person contact.

Vinegar burns and gradually destroys the infected skin, making the wart fall off eventually, like the way salicylic acid works. The irritation caused by the acid boosts the immune system's ability to combat the virus responsible for the wart.

Why does duct tape get rid of warts? ›

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.

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.

A verruca is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are numerous strains of the virus but verrucas are only caused by HPV types 1, 2, 4, 27 and 57. The viral infection affects the epithelial cells in the skin of the foot, making them over-grow and thicken, causing small rough lumps known as papules.

If you are actively treating the verruca, as it dies it changes colour; the verruca turns black when the blood supply has been cut off.

You do not have to throw away your shoes after getting a wart. However, it is important to disinfect them and avoid sharing them with others to prevent spreading the virus.

A cutaneous wart is also called a verruca or papilloma, and warty-looking lesions of any cause may be described as verrucous or papillomatous.

You can also spread the infection from one part of your body to another, if you scratch or touch a wart or verruca. You're more likely to develop warts and verrucas if you have a weakened immune system. This might be because you have a medical condition or are taking medicines that suppress your immune system.

Excision is a rarely performed surgical procedure performed by a podiatric or suitably qualified surgeon, where the verruca is cut out. This is still not 100% effective, as adjacent viral particles may remain, that cannot be seen with the naked eye (there is around a 50% reoccurrence rate).