Verruca vulgaris (common wart)

Ver­ru­ca vul­ga­ris is a benign skin growth cau­sed by human papil­lo­ma­vi­ru­s­es. It is one of the most com­mon skin chan­ges in child­ren and ado­le­s­cents. Many warts heal spon­ta­neous­ly within one to two years.

Cau­ses

The viru­s­es enter the epi­der­mis through the smal­lest of inju­ries and sti­mu­la­te the hor­ny cells to grow exces­si­ve­ly. They are trans­mit­ted by direct skin cont­act or via sur­faces, for exam­p­le in swim­ming pools, show­ers and chan­ging rooms. Moist skin, wal­king bare­foot and a wea­k­en­ed immu­ne sys­tem encou­ra­ge infection.

Sym­ptoms

Typi­cal are firm, skin-colou­red to grey-brown nodu­les with a rough, fis­su­red sur­face, fre­quent­ly on the fin­gers, backs of the hands and soles of the feet. On the sole they grow inwards due to pres­su­re and can hurt when wal­king. Small black dots within the wart cor­re­spond to tiny blood vessels.

Tre­at­ment

Available opti­ons are kera­to­ly­tic solu­ti­ons con­tai­ning sali­cy­lic acid, cryo­the­ra­py, spe­ci­fic laser pro­ce­du­res and, in stub­born cases, fur­ther the­ra­pies. Pati­ence is important, as seve­ral ses­si­ons may be neces­sa­ry. To avo­id spre­a­ding, warts should not be scrat­ched open and towels should not be shared.

Rela­ted tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Wart rem­oval