Warts on Hands
There are
many different types of warts.
The type of wart most commonly
found on the hands is the common
wart, or verruca vulgaris.
Common warts appear as small,
fleshy, rough bumps on the
fingers and hands. Another name
for common warts is “seed
warts,” because broken blood
vessels in the wart give the
appearance of tiny black
“seeds.”
Common warts (like all
warts) are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are
more than 100 recognized strains
of HPV, and at least 60 of those
virus strains are known to cause
warts. HPV causes the rapid
growth of cells on the outer
layer of the skin (i.e., the
wart). Warts on hands may occur
as a single wart or as a cluster
of warts. Warts affect only the
surface of the skin. Common
warts are usually not painful.
Warts are not cancerous.
HPV is spread, like any
other virus, through either
direct or indirect contact
(e.g., shaking hands with a
person who has common warts or
handling a towel that had been
used by a person with common
warts). The risk of contracting
warts from another person is
very low, and not everyone that
comes into contact with HPV will
get warts. Children and young
adults and people with
compromised immune systems are
more likely to develop warts. It
takes between 2 and 6 months for
warts to develop after infection
with
HPV. Common warts are most
likely to grow in areas where
the skin has been damaged and
are common on the fingers of
people who either bite their
fingernails or pick at
hangnails.
Warts on hands will usually clear up
without any treatment. This
process may take only a few
months in children but can take
up to 4 years in adults. Warts
that are bothersome, painful, or
multiplying at a rapid rate
should be treated. Prompt
treatment of a wart may prevent
additional warts from developing
or warts spreading to other
parts of the body. Common warts
can be treated at home with
daily applications of salicylic
acid, which comes in many
different formulations (e.g.,
liquid, gel, patch). One home
remedy involves covering the
wart with duct tape for periods
of up to 6 days at a time
followed by soaking. Treatments
that wart sufferers may receive
in their doctors’ offices
include cryotherapy or freezing
with liquid nitrogen,
cantharidin (a topical treatment
that causes a blister to form
underneath the wart, separating
the wart from the surface of the
skin and allowing the doctor to
cut the wart away), and surgical
removal if the wart has been
resistant to other treatments.
Bibliography
Warts information center
[Internet]; c2009 [cited 2010
Jun 15]. Available from:
http://www.warts.org/common-warts.html
Merck Manuals Online Medical
Library [Internet]. Warts [cited
2010 Jun 15]. Available from:
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec10/ch122/ch122c.html
American Academy of Dermatology
[Internet]; c2010. Warts [cited
2010 Jun 15]. Available from:
http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/common_warts.html
Mayo Clinic.com [Internet]; Mayo
Foundation for Medical Education
and Research; c1998-2010. Common
warts [cited 2010 Jun 15].
Available from:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/common-warts/DS00370
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