The wart, viral and highly contagious

The wart is caused by a virus of the family papillomavirus (some of which are responsible for cervical cancer). It can be vaginal but it is more generally housed on the feet , hands , knees and elbows . There are several types of warts depending on the type of papillomavirus. The two most common are:
- The vulgar wart that has a hard and rough dome shape.
- The plantar wart , more discreet since it grows towards the inside of the epidermis.

The wart is a contagious lesion of the skin : it suffices for example to scrape a wart to self-contaminate and see it spread. The virus that causes the wart is particularly resistant: it can for example remain encrusted between the floorboards for months. Free to our body to develop or not then the virus. You can live well without ever having warts or see a wart forming anywhere on our body at any time. And the treatment to cure a wart is not often easy.

The main treatments to cure a wart

There should be no fragments of the wart to be fully cared for. The main treatments used scour the skin to go to the root of the wart .
- Verrucides sold in pharmacies are useful for treating beginner warts that are just pointing the tip of their nose. They use the action of cold (Pen Anti-Wartner Wart or Urgo warts) or formic acid (Pen Objective ZeroVerrue Meda Pharma).
- Cryotherapy sessions by application of liquid nitrogen . They take place at a dermatologist and are intended rather for stubborn warts . It takes several sessions approximately 5 weeks apart.
- The treatment of acid wart that also takes place in a dermatologist's office for the most stubborn warts. 5 to 7 sessions are usually required to eradicate a wart.
- The laser ablation of the wart under local anesthesia. But again, it takes several sessions (4 on average) to dislodge the most resistant warts.

But be careful, regardless of the preferred treatment, you can never be sure that a wart is treatable. These skin lesions are at their head and treatment failures are not uncommon. In this case, it is better to ignore the wart. In most cases, it ends up disappearing spontaneously.

Thanks to the dermatologist Dr. Noël Schartz.