What Causes Warts

What causes warts? Believe it or not, warts are caused by a virus, just like colds, the flu, and chickenpox. Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the virus that causes warts and like most viruses, it’s contagious. You can catch warts from other people and if you have warts, you can spread them to others.

Most of the time, warts are harmless. They may not look attractive, but they won’t hurt you. Warts can grow on any part of the body, though, and warts in some areas, like on the bottoms of your feet, can cause discomfort. Even if they aren’t harmful, people usually want to know how to cure warts, especially if they grow in highly visible places, like on your face or hands. People with genital warts also want them removed so they don’t transmit them during intimate activity. We’ll tell you about how you can get warts and how you can treat them.

Direct Contact

hand with warts isolated on white background

Direct contact is what causes warts most often. If you touch someone with warts in the area in which they have warts, you can get warts, too. If you shake hands with someone that has warts on their hands, for instance, you may end up getting warts on your hands, too.  

You could prevent getting warts by avoiding direct contact with people that have them, but from a practical standpoint, that doesn’t always work. Because warts are often fairly small and flesh-colored, you won’t always notice when someone has them. It can take as long as 18 months for warts to develop after you’ve contracted HPV, so in many cases, you won’t know exactly when or from whom you got the virus.

Indirect Contact

You can also get warts through indirect contact. If you share a towel with someone that has warts, you might get HPV from the towel. If you walk barefoot on a locker room floor where someone with warts on their feet walked, you might get HPV from that floor. Since sharing towels can spread other types of infections, such as scabies, and walking barefoot on locker room floors can lead to other types of infections, like athlete’s foot, using your own towel and wearing flip flops or shower shoes in locker rooms is a fairly easy way to protect yourself from what causes warts as well as other infections.

Here is more information on what is a wart.

How to Cure Warts

According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), there is no cure for the human papillomavirus, which is what causes warts. There are treatments, though, that can remove warts from your skin. In some cases, warts go away eventually on their own without any treatment, but that can take a long time. Many people prefer to have them removed instead. Since removing warts doesn’t kill the virus that causes them, though, it is possible that they may return at some point.

Dermatologists use a number of techniques to remove warts, including cryotherapy (freezing them off), electrotherapy (burning them off), cutting them off, and applying a solution called cantharidin, which causes a blister to form under the wart. After the blister forms, the dermatologist can easily trim off the wart. These treatments are generally safe but may cause some discomfort, skin irritation, and/or scarring.  

Less commonly, dermatologists use laser therapy, immunotherapy (which stimulates your own immune system to fight the virus that causes warts, essentially triggering an allergic reaction) or strong anticancer drugs that are injected into the affected areas to treat warts. These treatments carry the risk of more serious side effects and are also more expensive. They are usually reserved for cases in which warts have not responded to more commonly-used treatments.

How to Cure Warts Naturally

Some people prefer to use a natural treatment for warts, which carries a much lower risk of side effects. Natural treatments are also more affordable than things like laser therapy. Of course, if you prefer a natural treatment, you want to make sure you choose an effective one.

We like the wart removal treatment from Naturasil, which contains homeopathic remedies and essential oils like cedar leaf oil and tea tree oil, which work together to treat warts, causing them to dry up and fall off painlessly. Naturasil contains only safe, natural ingredients. To learn more about our preferred treatment for warts, just follow this link to the Naturasil Website.

Additional Reading:

Deep Plantar Warts – How to recognize a plantar wart. Comparison of treatment options. Read the plantar wart home remedy guide to learn about popular home remedies.

Lip Warts – Types of lip warts. Removal options.

Living With Genital Warts – causes of genital wartsearly signs of genital warts, treatment, prevention. Photos of genital warts to help you recognize the condition.

Can Genital Warts Be Cured? – Comparison of ways to remove genital warts. 

Remove Warts Naturally – Comparison of natural treatments and home remedies for warts.