Warts are very common. At anyone time something like ten per cent of the population will have a wart or two somewhere on their bodies. Warts are caused by viruses, they are infectious, and they seem to affect children more than adults (we tend to develop immunity to them as the years go by), and most of them will disappear without any treatment.
It is because warts tend to disappear by themselves that there are so many marvellous 'cures' available. Listen to tellers of old wives tales and you will discover that it is possible to get rid of warts by blowing on them nine times when the moon is full, by rubbing them with a slice of raw mea t and then burying it in the garden and by stroking the warts with a tortoiseshell cat's tail in the month of May.
Some of the more modern remedies are not much better and unless a wart is inconvenient, painful or particularly embarrassing it is best to leave it alone. It will probably disappear in time without leaving any scar.
Verrucas Warts that appear on the soles of the feet are, for some reason, known as verrucas and because they get trodden on quite a lot can be painful and annoying. It is worth taking some trouble to get rid of them. You can buy remedies containing salicylic acid from a pharmacist but do read the instructions very carefully and make sure that you do not get any of the application on healthy skin around the wart. It isn't sensible to try removing warts at home without first consulting your doctor.
The question of whether children with verrucas should be allowed into swimming baths always crops up when these warts are mentioned. The consensus of opinion seems to be that it is much more dangerous to stop children learning to swim than it is to let them into pools with verrucas on their feet. The best compromise is to cover the warts with a temporary protective coating, such as waterproof sticking plaster.
You should always see your doctor if you are not certain that what you have is a wart, if a wart changes color, grows in size or bleeds. Warty-looking growths can be malignant and, although this risk is slight, it must not be ignored.
It is because warts tend to disappear by themselves that there are so many marvellous 'cures' available. Listen to tellers of old wives tales and you will discover that it is possible to get rid of warts by blowing on them nine times when the moon is full, by rubbing them with a slice of raw mea t and then burying it in the garden and by stroking the warts with a tortoiseshell cat's tail in the month of May.
Some of the more modern remedies are not much better and unless a wart is inconvenient, painful or particularly embarrassing it is best to leave it alone. It will probably disappear in time without leaving any scar.
Verrucas Warts that appear on the soles of the feet are, for some reason, known as verrucas and because they get trodden on quite a lot can be painful and annoying. It is worth taking some trouble to get rid of them. You can buy remedies containing salicylic acid from a pharmacist but do read the instructions very carefully and make sure that you do not get any of the application on healthy skin around the wart. It isn't sensible to try removing warts at home without first consulting your doctor.
The question of whether children with verrucas should be allowed into swimming baths always crops up when these warts are mentioned. The consensus of opinion seems to be that it is much more dangerous to stop children learning to swim than it is to let them into pools with verrucas on their feet. The best compromise is to cover the warts with a temporary protective coating, such as waterproof sticking plaster.
You should always see your doctor if you are not certain that what you have is a wart, if a wart changes color, grows in size or bleeds. Warty-looking growths can be malignant and, although this risk is slight, it must not be ignored.
