Wart

Warts are growths on the skin. Very often they resemble solid blisters. Usually,

applying pressure a wart causes pain. Warts are caused by viruses in the HPV family. As there are many types of viruses in the HPV family, there are also many types of wart. In most cases, warts are not dangerous, but may cause a lot of pain.

The virus infects skin cells; if these skin cells move to other areas, new warts can grow there. Warts contain tissue that bleeds easily. A bleeding of this tissue allows the wart to spread to other places. In general, coming in contact with infected tissue spreads the infection.

There are different ways of getting rid of a wart:

There are some over the counter drugs, that usually contain an acid, very often salicylic acid. Getting rid of a wart that way involves cleaning the area around the wart, and treating it with the acid. This will slowly kill wart tissue. Dead tissue can then be removed. Getting rid of a wart that way usually takes several weeks. There are different drugs, with different acids. Some prescription drugs may contain stronger acids, such as chloroacetic acid or silver nitrate. All acids are caustic. This means, healthy tissue around the wart needs to be protected, before the substance is applied.
It is possible to kill off the wart using extreme cold (called cryotherapy). A physician or a specialist doctor for skin diseases usially does this. Before the cold is applied, a local anestetic is used to reduce the pain. Using this method will cause scars.