Nothing can be as unsightly as a wart obtruding from the skin. Somehow, having a wart may be worse than having a pimple due to negative connotations attached it. If you find yourself with one of these unsightly skin elevations or you’re looking to help someone else rid their obtrusion, you’ve come to the right place.

There are several procedures that are both safe and effective in removing warts. Some of these techniques require doctor intervention but others can be done at home. Doctor involved procedures work with greater speed than at home treatments but at home treatments may be a lot less expensive and some doctor related treatments may not be offered to patients except during extreme circumstances.

At Home Treatments –

Step 1 – When treating warts at home the first thing you must do is clean them. To do this simply soak them in soapy warm water and then blot them dry with a clean hand towel.

Step 2 – Take a clean metal nail file or a clean emery board and scrape as much of the hard wart surface away as you can without damaging the skin or causing excessive pain.

Step 3 – Using a wart treatment cream such as Wart-Off, Compound W, Transversal, Occusol, and Mediplast, cover the wart with the supplied applicator according to the container’s instructions. Remember to take care not to get cream on unaffected skin. If you do get cream on unaffected skin, however, wipe it off immediately.

Step 4 – Medicated warts should be covered to prevent loss of medication. Covering medicated warts also prevents medication from rubbing against and possibly staining clothing and furniture and the like.

This type of at home treatment must be performed daily or nightly (every twenty-four hours) until the wart disappears. This could take as many as three months.

Hospital/Doctor’s Office Treatments –

Having warts treated by a medical professional allows you to get out of doing the work. The procedures are relatively simple and are performed on an out-patient basis.

Procedure 1 – The simplest medical procedure may be freezing using liquid nitrogen. After warts are frozen using this procedure blisters form on them and they fall off in about a week’s time.

Procedure 2 – Cantharidin is used along with other chemicals to formulate blisters on warts. After blisters form a medical professional lifts the wart from the skin.

Procedure 3 – Bleomycin Injections are used to kill the wart virus.

Procedure 4 – Surgery is used to cut warts at their base. Electric needles or deep freezing may be used for this technique.

Procedure 5 – Laser surgery is used to destroy warts by burning them with high powered beams of light.

Whichever procedure used for wart removal, patients should note that warts can return and patients can catch the human papillomavirus that causes them again. To prevent this, wash your hands frequently and avoid touching known wart carriers or objects you know the carriers previously touched that have not been properly cleaned.