Is this your child's symptom?
- Small raised growths that have a rough surface
- Viral infection of the skin
Symptoms of Warts
- Raised, round, rough-surfaced growths on the skin
- Skin-colored or pink
- Most commonly occur on the hands, especially the fingers
- Not painful unless located on the sole of the foot (plantar wart). Also can be painful if on part of a finger used for writing.
Cause of Warts
- Warts are caused by several human papilloma viruses
- Different types of warts are caused by different papilloma viruses
Prevention of Spread to Others
- Avoid baths or hot tubs with other children. Reason: Warts can spread in warm water.
- Also, avoid sharing washcloths or towels.
- Contact sports: Warts can spread to other team members. Warts should be covered or treated.
- Time it takes to get warts after close contact: 3 months
When to Call for Warts
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
- Redness or red streak spreading from wart with fever
- Your child looks or acts very sick
Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
- Redness or red streak spreading from wart without fever
- Boil suspected (painful, non-itchy, red lump)
- You think your child needs to be seen
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
- Wart on bottom of foot (plantar wart)
- Wart on face
- Wart on genitals or anus
- 4 or more warts
- Pus is draining from the wart (Apply antibiotic ointment 3 times per day until seen)
- On treatment more than 2 weeks and new warts appear
- On treatment more than 8 weeks and warts not gone
- You have other questions or concerns
Self Care at Home
Seattle Children's Urgent Care Locations
If your child’s illness or injury is life-threatening, call 911.
Care Advice for Warts
- What You Should Know About Warts:
- Warts are common (10% of children).
- Warts are harmless and most can be treated at home.
- The sooner you treat them, the less they will spread.
- Here is some care advice that should help.
- Wart-Removing Acid:
- Buy a wart medicine with 17% salicylic acid (such as Compound W). No prescription is needed.
- Apply the acid once a day to the top of the wart. If there are many warts, treat the 3 largest ones.
- Since it's an acid, avoid getting any near the eyes or mouth. Also try to keep it off the normal skin.
- The acid will turn the wart into dead skin (it will turn white).
- Duct Tape - Cover the Wart:
- The acid will work faster if it is covered with duct tape. Do not use regular tape.
- If you don't want to use an acid, use duct tape alone.
- Covering warts with duct tape can irritate the warts. This will turn on the body's immune system.
- Cover as many of the warts as possible. Cover at least 3 of them.
- The covered warts become red and start to die. Once this happens, often all the warts will go away.
- Try to keep the warts covered all the time.
- Remove the tape once per day, usually before bathing. Then replace it after bathing.
- Some children object to having the tape on at school. At the very least, tape it every night.
- Remove Dead Wart:
- Once or twice a week, remove the dead wart material. Do this by paring it down with a disposable razor.
- This is easier to do than you think. It shouldn't cause any pain or bleeding.
- Soak the area first in warm water for 10 minutes. Reason: The dead wart will be easier to remove.
- Some children won't want you to cut off the layer of dead wart. Rub it off with a washcloth instead.
- Prevention of Spread to Other Areas of Your Child's Body:
- Discourage your child from picking at the wart. Picking it and scratching a new area with the same finger can spread warts. A new wart can form in 1 to 2 months.
- Chewing or sucking on them can lead to similar warts on the face.
- If your child is doing this, cover the wart. Use a bandage (such as Band-Aid).
- Keep your child's fingernails cut short and wash your child's hands more often.
- What to Expect:
- Without treatment, warts go away in about 2 years.
- With home treatment, they can usually be cleared up in 2 to 3 months.
- There are no shortcuts to treating warts.
- Return to School:
- Your child doesn't have to miss any child care or school for warts.
- There is only a mild risk that warts spread to others.
- Call Your Doctor If:
- Warts develop on the feet, genitals, or face
- New warts develop after 2 weeks of treatment
- Warts are still present after 12 weeks of treatment
- You think your child needs to be seen
And remember, contact your doctor if your child develops any of the 'Call Your Doctor' symptoms.
Disclaimer: this health information is for educational purposes only. You, the reader, assume full responsibility for how you choose to use it.
Last Reviewed: 10/11/2023
Last Revised: 12/30/2022
Copyright 2000-2023. Schmitt Pediatric Guidelines LLC.
FAQs
Bleomycin: Bleomycin is an anti-cancer medication that a doctor injects into the wart. It can have side effects, such as loss of the nails if treating a wart on the finger.
Do over-the-counter wart removers work? ›
Over the counter options may be convenient, but they are often not the most effective treatment and they may take a lot longer to remove the wart than a visit to our office would.
How do you know if a liquid wart remover is working? ›
With wart medications, such as salicylic acid, the wart should peel away in stages until it is as flat as the skin. If this does not happen, the treatment may not be working.
Does a wart go black when it's dead? ›
The wart will turn black as it begins to die.
Does vinegar really get rid of warts? ›
Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a popular home remedy for a number of conditions, including warts. Some people claim that the acid in the vinegar works in a similar way to salicylic acid. However, there is no firm evidence to suggest that ACV works for this purpose.
What's the fastest way to remove a wart? ›
Freezing therapy administered at the office of a healthcare professional involves applying liquid nitrogen to a wart. This method also is called cryotherapy. It works by causing a blister to form under and around the wart, killing the tissue. The dead tissue sloughs off in a week or so.
What happens if you pick a wart and it bleeds? ›
Contact your provider if: You have signs of infection (red streaking, pus, discharge, or fever) or bleeding. You have a lot of bleeding from the wart or bleeding that does not stop when you apply light pressure. The wart does not respond to self-care, and you want it removed.
Why does duct tape work on 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.
What is the best DIY wart remover? ›
You can treat warts at home by applying salicylic acid, available without a prescription. Concentrations range from 17% to 40% (stronger concentrations should be used only for warts on thicker skin). Before applying the salicylic acid, be sure to soak the wart in warm water.
Can you use too much wart remover? ›
Wart removers are medicines used to get rid of warts. Warts are small growths on the skin that are caused by a virus. They are usually painless. Wart remover poisoning occurs when someone swallows or applies more than the normal or recommended amount of this medicine.
However, other visual and tactile signs can indicate that the wart has died: Its colour gradually changes from flesh-coloured to black or dark brown; It turns white, if it has been treated with liquid nitrogen or a salicylic-acid solution.
Is a wart dead when it turns white? ›
Wart-Removing Acid:
If there are many warts, treat the 3 largest ones. Since it's an acid, avoid getting any near the eyes or mouth. Also try to keep it off the normal skin. The acid will turn the wart into dead skin (it will turn white).
Should I cut the dead skin off my wart? ›
Remove dead tissue daily or once or twice a week. Carefully use a file or as instructed on the medicine package. Dead tissue contains living wart virus, so dispose of the dead skin carefully. The file will also have living wart virus on it, so throw it away after using it to avoid spreading the virus.
Can you pull out a wart? ›
Pulling out a plantar wart yourself is extremely painful, and it's unlikely that you'll get all of it. This means it's more likely to grow back. Pulling out plantar warts with tweezers can also possibly injure healthy skin tissue and lead to a serious infection.
Why does banana peel remove warts? ›
People may tape banana peel over a wart and leave it on overnight to treat this virus. While there is no scientific evidence that banana peels can remove warts, bananas do have other health benefits, such as antimicrobial properties .
What is stronger than salicylic acid for warts? ›
Trichloroacetic acid is a stronger acid than salicylic acid, and it can be used if the first option fails. The acid is related to the acetic acid in apple cider vinegar, which is used as an at-home remedy. It helps burn off the wart while attacking the virus that caused it.
What is the best treatment for severe warts? ›
Warts are often treated with a salicylic acid solution or cryotherapy. These are also the best-studied treatments.
What is the highest salicylic acid over the counter for warts? ›
Compound W is the top brand that our dermatologists recommend. Compound W's Maximum Strength Fast Acting Gel is formulated with 17% salicylic acid. “This is a product I like to recommend to my patients as the best overall OTC wart remover,” Dr.
Is 40% salicylic acid good for warts? ›
Most drugstores sell salicylic acid over the counter to help remove warts. A common brand name is Compound W. These products usually contain about 17 percent salicylic acid. However, some companies sell 40 percent salicylic acid treatments for foot and plantar warts.
