What is a Warts?
A wart is a benign growth on your skin. It is usually skin-colored and feels rough to touch. A wart can grow anywhere on your skin most common on the hands ,feet and face.
What is the cause of Warts?
Warts are caused by a virus called Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). You may catch this virus if you have a cut or broken skin. Warts may be contagious. They spread from one part of your body to another. They also spread from one person to another.
Warts are particularly common in children, adolescents and sexually active adults. People with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS or people who've had organ transplants.What are the types of Warts?
There are different types of warts depending on their location:
- Common warts: grow anywhere on the skin; usually on the hands, around the nails, and on the fingers. They look like hard, raised lumps with rough surfaces usually painless.
- Foot or Plantar warts: Usually grow on the soles or bottoms of the feet. they look like small, hard bumps, and can have tiny black dots on them. they can be painful, making you feel as if you have stones in your shoe.
- Flat warts: grow anywhere. They look like smooth, flattened lumps usually occur in large numbers at one time.
- Genital warts: grow on the genital or pubic area. They are sexually transmitted.
- Mosaic warts :usually grow on the hands and soles of the feet. They appear as a group of tightly clustered warts.
How are Warts diagnosed?
In most cases, your doctor can diagnose a common wart with one or more of these techniques:
- Examining the wart.
- Scraping off the top layer of the wart to check for signs of dark, pinpoint dots — clotted blood vessels — which are common with warts.
- Removing a small section of the wart (shave biopsy) and sending it to a laboratory for analysis to rule out other types of skin growths.
What is the treatment of Warts?
The treatment of warts depends on your age, its location and type.
Treatment by your doctor includes:
- Freezing the warts using Liquid Nitrogen.
- Burning the warts.
- Shaving the warts off.
- Applying a special cream.
- Injecting medication inside the wart to fight the virus that causes it.
Do not try to burn, cut, scratch, or pick the wart on your own.
Do not try to treat warts that are on your face or your genitalia on your own. See your doctor instead. In case you have been diagnosed with sexually transmitted warts, you should alert your partner. In those cases it is advisable to see a specialist doctor and follow-up regularly in order to prevent any malignant degeneration.How can I prevent Warts?
- Wash your hands frequently.
- Do not touch another person’s wart. If you do, wash your hands directly.
- Do not walk barefoot in public toilets and showers, lockers, or around the pool.
- Keep your feet dry.
- Don't bite your fingernails. Warts occur more often in skin that has been broken.
- Don't use the same emery board, pumice stone or nail clipper on your warts as you use on your healthy skin and nails.
- Do not use towels, flannels or shoes and socks of people who have warts.
- Do not brush, comb, shave, clip areas that have warts.
- Wear gloves in the gym if you have warts on your hands.
- Cover your wart or verruca with a waterproof band-aid when you go swimming.
Does my Insurance Policy cover Warts treatment?
Yes. according to CCHI unified Policy terms and conditions, health insurance policies in Saudi Arabia cover the treatment of warts except vaginal warts(venereal).
Please Click Here to access the Unified CCHI Policy Wordings.References:
"Warts." Diseases and Conditions. N.p., Apr. 2015. Web. Aug. 2016."Warts." Warts. N.p., 2016. Web. Aug. 2016.
"Warts." Warts: Causes, Diagnosis and Treatments. N.p., June 2015. Web. Aug. 2016.
"Warts Rules." N.p., n.d. Web. Aug. 2016.