Hand Warts: What Are They?

Hand warts are extremely common. In fact the hand area (fingers, palms and the backs of hands, and alongside the finger nails) is the most likely part of the body to develop warts. The two most frequent types of hand warts are the common wart, and flat warts. Both of these can appear as either raised, rough skin patches or as single “lumps”, or common warts can often develop as groups or clusters of small warts, which can be described as having a cauliflower appearance. These clusters of common warts often appear on the fingers. They can vary in color from white, to skin colored, to a red shade.

It’s true that hand warts are benign, and on almost all occasions, harmless. For these reasons many people choose to let nature run it’s course, and wait until they disappear on their own. However because the hands are so publicly visible, most sufferers will attempt to have the warts removed, particularly if the warts on the hands are rather unsightly as this can be highly embarrassing and uncomfortable.

What Are The Traditional Treatments for Removing Hand Warts

Because warts are caused by the Human Papillomavirus, there is no one real “cure”. However there are several effective treatments or procedures for removing hand warts.

Generally these fall into three categories:

Freezing, burning, or cutting them off.

Freezing usually refers to the application of liquid nitrogen, burning typically refers to the application of an acid solution (such as salicylic acid) or other topical treatments, and having them surgically cut off (or more accurately, cut out, as usually the wart extends deeper than just the surface of the skin).

While most hand warts will respond well to these wart treatment methods, often they will reappear over time. This is because while the wart is being treated, there is no cure for the underlying HPV. And it’s always important to consider that most times hand warts will disappear over time by themselves.

Why Have I Developed Hand Warts?

No….you haven’t developed hand warts because you’ve been playing with toads, or by doing anything else untoward. You’ve got them, like so many other people, because the Human Papillomavirus has been lying dormant in your body and the warts are a manifestation of HPV being “activated”, or you have come into direct contact with someone else suffering from them.

Just remember hand warts are not harmful, but if you find your self-esteem being affected, or your social interactions, there are effective wart treatment and solutions available. Some will need a doctor to administer and some wart treatments can be purchased over the counter. And it is usually advisable to seek professional advice as to what solutions will be better suited for particular case of hand warts.