What does wart removal treat?

Warts are rough growths caused by a viral infection of the outer skin. Common warts often appear on fingers, hands, or around the nails, while plantar warts develop on the soles and may hurt when walking because pressure pushes them inward. Removal may be considered when a wart is painful, catches on clothing, interferes with activity, keeps returning, spreads to nearby skin, or has not responded to simpler care. The procedure does not remove the virus from every part of the body, so recurrence can happen.

A clinician may use freezing, scraping, cutting, cautery, laser treatment, or a prescribed topical approach, depending on the wart's site, size, thickness, and your health. Keep the treated area clean and follow dressing instructions. Do not cut or burn a wart yourself, and avoid sharing towels, nail tools, or shoes. Covering a wart and washing hands after touching it can reduce spread.

Ask for an examination before removal if the growth is bleeding, ulcerated, unusually pigmented, rapidly changing, very painful, or not clearly a wart. Contact the treating clinic for increasing redness, warmth, swelling, pus, fever, or pain that is worsening after the procedure. People with diabetes, poor circulation, reduced sensation, or a weakened immune system should obtain tailored medical advice before treating a foot lesion.

Ask which removal method fits the location, how to care for the wound, whether activity needs to change, and how recurrence or spread will be handled. Confirm whether a sole lesion is a plantar wart or another type of thickened skin before treatment.