This information is approved and/or reviewed by U-M Health System providers but it is not a tool for self-diagnosis or a substitute for medical treatment. You should speak to your physician or make an appointment to be seen if you have questions or concerns about this information or your medical condition. Exención de responsabilidad en Español | Complete disclaimer
Warts are raised, round, rough-surfaced growths on the skin. They occur most often on the hands. Warts are not painful unless they are on the bottom of the foot (called plantar warts). Unlike a callus, a wart has brown dots in it and has a clear boundary with the normal skin.
Warts are caused by papillomaviruses.
Warts are harmless. Most warts disappear without treatment in 2 or 3 years. With treatment they are usually gone in 2 to 3 months.
Cover the wart with a small piece of duct tape (not regular adhesive tape). Warts deprived of air and sun exposure sometimes die without the need for treatment with acids. Remove the tape once a week. Wash the skin and rub off any dead wart tissue. After it has dried thoroughly overnight, reapply duct tape. The tape treatment may be needed for 8 weeks.
To get faster results with the duct tape, use a medicine such as salicylic acid.
Your child's medicine is _________________________.
Put the medicine on the wart once a day, enough to cover the entire wart. Cover the wart with duct tape after you put the medicine on the wart. Make sure that you don't get any of the medicine near the eyes or mouth.
The medicine will turn the top of the wart into dead skin (it will all turn white). Once or twice a week, remove the dead wart material by paring it down with a razor blade. If that is hard for you to do, rub the dead skin off with a pumice stone or washcloth. The dead wart will be softer and easier to remove if you soak the area first in warm water for 10 minutes. If the cutting causes any pain or minor bleeding, you have cut into living wart tissue.
Encourage your child not to pick at the warts because this may cause the warts to spread. If your child chews or sucks the wart, cover the area with duct tape and change it as often as necessary. Encourage your child to give up this habit because chewing on warts can cause warts on the lips or face. Warts are not very contagious to other people.
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