How to Remove Warts
Warts are unsightly and vexing, and they never seem to go away quickly enough. Treatment may hasten their departure. Warts are generally harmless and often go away on their own, but they're unsightly, and some, such as those found on the soles of the feet, can make walking and exercise painful. Wart removal can be difficult, but the most effective treatments are the least invasive. Warts develop in the epidermis, the top layer of skin. The surface of a typical wart is raised and rough. (Some may be smooth and flat, such as those on the face.) A wart's centre may be flecked with dark dots, which are capillaries that supply it with blood. What exactly are warts? Warts form when skin cells grow faster than usual due to infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Approximately 10 of the 150 HPV strains cause cutaneous (skin) warts, including common, plantar, and flat warts (see "Common types of skin warts," below). Other strains are responsible for anal and genital w...