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What Are Common Warts?
Common warts are noncancerous, rough skin growths caused by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). They usually appear on the fingers, hands, or around the nails and may look flesh-colored, gray, or grainy. Children and young adults develop them often, although a wart can affect people of any age. Most are harmless, but they can spread to nearby skin or to other people.
Symptoms
Common Wart Symptoms
- A rough or grainy surface
- A raised, round, or irregular shape
- A flesh-colored or gray appearance
- Black pinpoint dots that may be visible in the wart
- A location on the fingers, hands, or around the nails
How It Spreads
How Common Warts Spread
HPV can enter the skin through small cuts, cracks, or other breaks in the skin. Warts are contagious and may spread by touching a wart, sharing towels or grooming tools, walking barefoot in communal wet areas, or moving the virus from one body area to another by scratching or picking. This is how do you get warts in many everyday situations, although contact does not always lead to a visible wart.
- Avoid picking, scratching, or biting a wart
- Wash your hands after touching a wart
- Keep a wart covered when appropriate
- Do not share nail tools, razors, or towels
- Avoid walking barefoot in shared changing rooms, showers, or pools
Risk Factors
Common Wart Risk Factors
| Risk factor type | Examples |
|---|---|
| More changeable factors | Picking or biting skin; sharing personal items; walking barefoot in communal wet areas |
| Less changeable factors | Childhood or young age; frequent minor skin injuries; weakened immune defenses |
| Skin barrier factors | Broken, irritated, or frequently injured skin |
| Close-contact factors | Living with or having close contact with someone who has warts |
| Nail-care habits | Nail biting or picking around the fingers and nails |
Complications
Common Wart Complications
- Pain or bleeding after the wart is injured
- Spread to nearby skin
- Recurrence after treatment
- Bacterial infection after picking or damaging the wart
- Embarrassment or self-consciousness
Get a skin lesion checked
Not every growth is a wart
A rapidly changing, persistently bleeding, very painful, or uncertain growth should be examined by a healthcare professional because not every skin growth is a wart.
Diagnosis
How Common Warts Are Diagnosed
A healthcare professional usually diagnoses a common wart by examining its location, surface, color, and pattern of small dark dots during a skin examination. These features can help distinguish a wart on a finger or hand from other skin growths.
Scraping, dermoscopy, or a small biopsy may be considered when the growth looks unusual, does not respond to treatment, keeps bleeding, or could be another condition. Testing is not usually needed when the appearance is typical.
Treatment Options
Common Wart Treatment Options
Common warts may disappear without treatment as the immune system controls HPV. If treatment is wanted or a wart persists, options may include salicylic acid, cryotherapy, or other procedures chosen according to the wart’s location, symptoms, the person’s age and immune health, and previous treatment.
Salicylic Acid
Salicylic acid softens the wart and gradually removes its thickened surface when applied regularly. Follow the product directions carefully and protect the surrounding skin as advised. People with diabetes, poor circulation, reduced sensation, or a weakened immune system should ask a clinician before using it. Improvement can take several weeks, and stopping too early may allow the wart to remain.
Cryotherapy and Other Procedures
Cryotherapy is performed by a clinician, who freezes the wart so the treated tissue can gradually clear. It may cause temporary pain, blistering, or tenderness, and more than one session may be needed. Persistent or difficult warts may require other specialist procedures, particularly when they interfere with daily activities or have not responded to earlier wart removal attempts.
Prevention
How to Prevent Common Warts
- Keep cuts clean and covered
- Avoid picking or shaving over warts
- Wash your hands after contact with a wart
- Do not share towels, nail clippers, or other nail tools
- Wear footwear in communal wet areas
- Keep your feet clean and dry
Outlook and Prognosis
Common Wart Outlook and Prognosis
Common warts are usually harmless and may clear on their own as the immune system controls HPV. Resolution can take months or longer, and a wart may recur even after successful treatment. Some people need repeated or different approaches before the visible growth clears.
When Should You See a Doctor
When Should You See a Doctor for a Common Wart?
When to get medical advice
Have an unusual or persistent growth checked
Arrange medical advice if a growth is painful, bleeding, rapidly changing, infected, spreading widely, near the eye or genitals, interfering with walking or daily activities, or not improving with appropriate home treatment.
- Seek assessment when the diagnosis is uncertain.
- Ask for guidance before self-treatment if you have diabetes or reduced immunity.
- Contact a clinician if over-the-counter treatment has not worked as directed.
