4 Great Treatment Options for Warts

You’ve developed some warts on your skin — perhaps on your hand or the bottom of your foot — and you’d prefer that they didn’t take up residence on your skin.

You’re certainly in good company — warts affect about 10% of the general population. Another key piece of information about warts is that there are several quick and easy solutions for banishing warts from your skin.

As a dermatology practice, the team here at Magnolia Dermatology, led by Dr. Samantha Robare, serves as a center of care for all skin conditions, including pesky, unsightly, and sometimes uncomfortable warts.

Here’s how we help patients remedy warts.

Where did those warts come from?

The reason warts are so common is that they’re viral and can be passed from one person to another. The virus that causes warts is called the human papillomavirus (HPV), and there are more than 100 different types of HPV, although only a few lead to warts.

Common warts mostly set up on your hands and feet — the ones on your feet are called plantar warts. From a medical standpoint, warts aren’t considered a serious medical condition, but they can be troublesome from both cosmetic and comfort perspectives. For example, plantar warts can be very uncomfortable on the bottom of your feet.

Making quick work of warts through professional care

While you can find over-the-counter products to get rid of warts, these aren’t medical-grade and can take a considerable amount of time to work, if they work at all.

If you want faster and more effective options, we offer several, including:

1. Cryotherapy

First in our wart treatment arsenal is cryotherapy, a technique that uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the wart off. After we administer the liquid nitrogen, which we do in just a few minutes, it may take a week or two for the effects to subside.

1. Electrosurgery

Going in the opposite direction from freezing, we can also use heat to remove the wart. With electrosurgery, we use a heated needle to burn away the growth quickly. 

2. Chemical cantharidin

Another effective wart removal option is chemical cantharidin, which is applied topically. This ointment leads to a blister under your wart that cuts off the blood supply to the growth, causing it to die off.

3. Surgical excision

If your wart is stubborn, we can turn to more aggressive techniques, including surgical excision. We perform these procedures in our office using local anesthesia. We can use various tools to remove the wart, such as a curette that scrapes the growth or a scalpel to cut it out.

As you can see, there are many treatment options available for warts, and we’re happy to sit down with you to determine which one will work best for you.

To get that ball rolling, we invite you to contact us at Magnolia Dermatology in Cypress, Texas, to schedule an appointment.