PRINT AN INFORMATION SHEET

WHAT ARE THEY?
Warts are a viral infection. They are very common in childhood, appearing more often as children get older.

Warts are hard, raised skin coloured spots with a rough, scaly surface. Their size and number vary with new warts forming where skin has been injured. They can occur on any part of the skin, but in children are common on the hands and the knees. Warts on the sole of the foot are called plantar warts. Warts can also appear as small flat skin coloured spots on the backs of hands or on the face.

HOW ARE THEY TRANSMITTED?
The wart virus enters the surface of skin, especially where it has already been injured. Warts can be spread through direct contact by the injured skin touching another person’s warts. The virus often lives in damp places such as around swimming pools or shower room floors and can be caught by walking with bare feet in these areas. Warts can occur around the nails of children who bite their nails or on the lips in children who suck their fingers.

HOW ARE THEY PREVENTED?
Cleaning baths and showers carefully after use, not sharing towels, and covering warts on the feet with a waterproof dressing when swimming, bathing or showering will help to reduce the spread of warts. An effective way to prevent warts on the sole is to wear thongs or another type of foot covering when showering in communal facilities and when walking around swimming pools.

Covering warts with sticking plaster (bandaids) may help to stop children from biting or picking at them.

HOW ARE THEY TREATED?
At least two thirds of warts disappear within two years without any treatment and without any scarring. For this reason treatment of every wart may not be necessary.

Over-the-counter wart paints from the chemist/pharmacist are a good start, but need to be applied regularly for several months to clear individual warts. Soaking the wart in warm water before application of the wart paint and then regularly removing the dead skin over the top of the wart allows the paint to enter the wart.

If the warts become painful or worrying, treatment from a doctor may include freezing with liquid nitrogen. However, this is a painful procedure and may not always be suitable. Burning, cutting out or scraping warts are less common treatments and may cause long term scarring.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

Plantar wart on the sole of the foot.	Groups of warts on the fingers and around the fingernails.	Warts around the knee and in a line where scratching has caused the virus to enter the skin.	Warts on the palm of the hand.

© 2002, Department of Dermatology, St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 Australia.