Warts, which are caused by a virus from the human papillomavirus family, grow on the skin and are highly contagious. They spread in particular in public places such as public swimming pools, hammams or sports facilities.
At home, the virus is caught through shared objects (bath towel, razor, etc.). If some warts can cause pain, such as those located under the feet for example, warts are generally painless and not serious. They have the main drawbacks of being unsightly and above all tenacious.
Warts are most often benign conditions. They affect between 7 and 10% of the population. They can appear on any part of the body even if they are generally rather localized on the level of the hands, the feet and the face. Warts take the form of skin growths and fall into three main categories:
Common warts, the most common, have the shape of a rough, light-colored dome. They vary in size and are most often found on the hands
Flat warts, smaller than common warts, are the same color as the skin. Their surface is smooth and soft
Plantar warts, located, as their name suggests, under the soles of the feet. They are often painful because, unlike other warts, they do not grow outwards but inside the skin of the foot. Plantar warts form a hard, white layer of skin with small black spots inside.
If the wart has no serious health implications, it is embarrassing, sometimes painful and most often unsightly. Many remedies, including natural ones, are put forward to get rid of this growth of skin:the orange latex exuded by celandine (Chelidonium majus ) applied to the wart will make it disappear. Sometimes, to get rid of them permanently, it may be necessary to resort to the application of a product against warts, which is more effective.
The treatment of warts by cryotherapy consists of applying liquid nitrogen at -196°C or dry ice at -79°C to the areas to be treated. These products, applied several times, generally every fortnight, cause a second degree burn and gradually and permanently remove the warts. Cryotherapy consists of destroying warts with cold. It is practiced by dermatologists or at home using products in the form of fluids, sprays or even pens. These are available without a prescription in pharmacies.
Keratolytics are the most used products to get rid of warts. They are mainly made up of salicylic acid whose action consists in softening the horny layer of the epidermis, promoting its desquamation to exfoliate the wart day after day and locally destroy the cells infected by the papillomavirus virus.
These treatments are available as concentrated preparations. They are applied daily to the warts which must be scraped off beforehand with a disposable file. These "stripping" treatments against warts must be used with varying amounts of salicylic acid depending on the area of the skin where they are applied. With these keratolytics, the warts disappear permanently after four to eight weeks.
