Warts: Causes and Treatments
My 12-year-old daughter has broken out with warts on her hand. Her doctor says they will go away at some point in time, but she has quite a few on her hands. We have tried over-the-counter medications and nothing works. She is embarrassed and I do not know what to do.
Question:Robert Steele
Robert W. Steele, MD, is a board certified pediatrician at St. John's Regional Health Center in Springfield, MO. He graduated from medical... Read more
Warts on the palms and soles are caused by a virus. The virus causes excess skin cells to accumulate on the hands and feet. This build up makes access to the virus difficult thus making it difficult to get rid of the warts. Warts have similar characteristics to head colds which are also caused by viruses. They may be spread to other people, and they go away by themselves. The problem is they may not go away for many months which can be quite distressing to any adolescent.
Treatments for warts range from over the counter medications to doctor administered remedies such as freezing them, injecting medications into them, and laser surgery. Over the counter medications work, but it may take many weeks to a few months to completely irradicate them. If any is left, the wart will tend to grow back. Thus, extreme diligence is the key. Therefore, many opt for doctor assistance. The down side to this is most regiments require multiple treatments and tend to be painful.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to get rid of these. Your doctor is right that they will probably go away by themselves, but it may be quite a long time and not before they have spread and multiplied. I suggest you discuss this with your daughter. She is old enough to understand the options. Help her understand that over the counter medications will eventually work, but she will have to be diligent in application of the medication for many weeks. She may want to choose additional freezing, but it may take many several different treaments and some pain will unfortunately be the price for getting rid of them.
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