Warts are a common infectious skin condition that occurs worldwide. Warts are caused by the human papilloma virus, or HPV, and are spread by direct contact. Warts can occur anywhere on your skin including the genital tract. There are 70 different types of HPV that cause warts, twenty of which can cause genital warts. Warts can be treated using a variety of methods but they are also known to resolve without treatments.
Freezing
Freezing is a common treatment method. A physician applies liquid nitrogen to the wart on your leg thereby freezing it and destroying it. A blister forms around the wart, which will fall off on its own in approximately a week. This treatment may have to be used multiple times and is usually painless.
Cantharidin
Cantharidin is another common and effective treatment for warts on the leg. Cantharidin, which is a poisonous chemical found naturally in blister beetles, kills the wart allowing your physician to strip away the dead wart. The application of this substance is not painful but the ensuing blister may cause discomfort.
Surgery
Surgery is usually the final option for wart treatment. Cutting away warts is only performed after other treatments have failed. The anesthetic injection before the surgery may be painful and scars may develop on your leg after the surgery. Laser surgery is also performed on warts that are difficult to treat. This procedure can be expensive and has the same drawbacks as conventional surgery.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Health: Common Wart Treatment
- "Preventive and Social Medicine"; K. Park, J. E. Park; 1995
- "Control of Communicable Diseases Manual 18th Edition"; David L. Heymann; 2004
