How are warts removed?
A word of warning: This article focuses on the methods employed by doctors and over the counter remedies to remove warts. If the very suggestion of using scissors on a wart makes you squeamish, you may want to skip this one.
That said, most HPV infections will clear up on their own. You don’t need to go see a doctor or even buy any ointments or treatments to remove a wart. If you eat healthy, take in plenty of vitamins, sunlight, and exercise, your immune system, nine times out of ten, will get rid of your wart for you within one or two weeks.
The problem only occurs when a wart infection is persistent, when it just won’t go away, or keeps coming back. That is when you should start looking into over the counter medication. When over the counter wart treatment does not work, that’s when the doctor comes in. You don’t need to jump right into wart removal. If you can get rid of your wart by eating a little better, there’s no need to waste time on a doctor visit, as warts are not really a serious health risk. Some forms of HPV are certainly dangerous, but, even with genital warts, there are no recorded instances of visible warts leading to serious illness or cancer. The HPV types that lead to further health complications usually don’t have any visible symptoms.
So, with that in mind, if nutrition has failed you, here are some of your options:
Acid based wart removers
Most of these are over the counter. The way they work is basically that you just apply a dab to the surface of the wart, then cover the skin with a band-aid. Do this on a daily basis, and even the most persistent warts should be gone within a week. Believe it or not, you can even do this with vinegar or bits of garlic, so long as you’re careful to wipe away any garlic or vinegar that makes contact with healthy skin.
Surgery
In 99% of wart cases, going under the knife is a little excessive. If you have a wart infection that just plain will not go away, though, surgery can help. Here are a few methods…
1. Scalpel or scissors
Simply put, your doctor will cut the wart away. There is a small chance of scar tissue being left behind if the wound does not heal properly, of course.
2. Laser
Much safer than the scalpel. The laser works to simply burn or scrape away dead tissue.
3. Torching and freezing
Warts can be removed with extremely low or extremely high temperatures. In both cases, chemicals are usually employed, but it’s entirely possible to simply burn or freeze a wart away with surgical tools.
Alternately…
Your doctor may deem surgery excessive, and might just prescribe you some antibiotics or some drug store wart remover, or he or she may simply make some suggestions regarding your diet.
If you do contract HPV, don’t be embarrassed. Some 90% of people contract hand warts, plantar warts or some other form of wart sometime in their life. It’s honestly no big deal, unless it happens to be a form of HPV that leads to cancer, which is why prevention is so important.