Wart and skin growth treatment

If you're showing signs of warts, consider making an in-person visit at your local MinuteClinic for wart evaluation and treatment. There, your provider will discuss your symptoms and your medical history. They'll examine your wart(s) and create a personalized treatment plan. They can also give you advice on how to prevent the spread of warts.

1. Prior to scheduling your appointment, you may have to answer a few questions about symptoms to help us prepare for your visit.

2. Check-in varies depending on how you scheduled your appointment.

   If you made your appointment online:

   Check in using the email or text message we sent to confirm your appointment. If you prefer to check in using the electronic kiosk, make sure you have your confirmation code.

   If you made your appointment in the clinic:

   Sign in at the electronic kiosk.

   If you made a MinuteClinic Virtual Care® appointment:


   To join your virtual visit, use the link in the email or text message we sent you to confirm your appointment. Please join 15 minutes before your scheduled visit time. You will need your date of birth and zip code to join the visit.

3. When it's time for your appointment, a provider will call your name.
   
4. Your provider will conduct a thorough examination based on your reason for visit, presenting symptoms and health history. Charges will be based on examination and services provided during the visit.
   
5. At the end of your visit, you are provided with a visit summary, a receipt and educational material about your diagnosis. At your request, we can send information about your visit to your primary care provider.

HPV viruses can cause warts. These viruses spread through casual skin contact or through contact with shared objects, such as towels or washcloths. The infection usually enters through breaks in the skin, including hangnails or scrapes. A wart might take from 2 to 6 months to develop on the skin after exposure to HPV.

Each person's immune system responds to the viruses differently, so not everyone who is exposed to HPV develops warts. Promptly identifying and treating warts helps prevent the spread of warts to other places on your body and other people.

There are six main types of warts. Each has a distinct appearance and shows up on different parts of the body.

• Common warts: These typically grow on fingers and toes but can also appear elsewhere. They have a rough, grainy appearance with a rounded top. Tiny black dots may also appear on the surface of a wart. These come from clotted blood vessels. Common warts are also grayer in color than the surrounding skin.
• Genital Warts: These are a type of sexually transmitted infection (STI) that causes warts (small bumps or growths) to form in and around your genitals and rectum. Certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) cause genital warts.
• Filiform warts: These grow around the mouth, nose, under the chin or on the neck. They are small and shaped like a tiny flap of skin. Filiform warts are the same color as the surrounding skin.
• Flat warts: These tend to be small and not immediately noticeable. They usually grow on the face, thighs or arms, and they are colored slightly yellow, brownish or pink.
• Periungual warts: These grow around and below the fingernails or toenails. They can interfere with nail growth and can be painful as a result.
• Plantar warts: These grow on the bottoms of the feet. Unlike other warts, plantar warts grow into the skin, rather than growing out above the surface. They appear as a small hole or pit that is surrounded by hardened skin.

Besides potentially being a bit unsightly, warts don't usually come with any major symptoms. Some, however, can become itchy or painful to the touch.

Most common warts eventually go away without treatment. However, it could take up to a year or more for that to happen. During that time, new warts may also develop nearby. Some people may choose to have their warts treated in a medical setting when:

• Home treatment is not working
• It's a cosmetic concern
• Warts are bothersome
• Warts are spreading to other places

Treatments for warts vary depending on the location of the wart and symptoms. Some wart treatments include:

• Freezing (cryotherapy) with liquid nitrogen
• Over-the-counter peeling medicine (salicylic acid)

Cryotherapy is the process of freezing warts off. It may be a good option for warts that do not disappear on their own. It can also be effective in preventing additional warts from forming after warts have been burned off.

You can do cryotherapy at home or a medical professional can do it in a clinic. However, it often takes several treatments to destroy the wart entirely. The warts are then frozen off using a frozen tip that chills the wart and causes it to fall off within several days. If warts return, cryotherapy is still an option if other methods, such as home remedies, have failed.

• Do not bite your fingernails: This might break the skin and make it easier for the virus to enter.
• Do not pick at warts: Cover them with a bandage instead.
• Groom with care: Avoid brushing, clipping or shaving areas with warts. Use an electric razor instead.
• Use separate grooming devices for treating warts: A disposable emery board is a good example of this.
• Wash your hands regularly.
• Wear shower shoes in a locker room or bathing facility.