Flat facial warts, also known as verrucae plana, are caused by a common skin infection called human papillomavirus, or HPV, according to SkinSight.com. Although flat facial warts are generally nothing to worry about, they can persist for years if they aren't treated by a dermatologist. Consult your doctor for advice before you try to take matters into your own hands.
How They Spread
Flat warts can spread from person to person through direct skin contact with infected people, according to Discovery Health. Alternately, you may develop flat warts if you touch an object that has been touched by someone with flat warts. You may start out with one flat wart but then develop multiple warts if you pick them, scratch them or shave over them.
Signs and Types
Flat warts are about 1 to 5 mm in size, according to SkinSight.com; this is about equivalent to the size of a pin's head. Flat warts aren't all the same color; they can be light brown, yellow or pink, according to KidsHealth. Flat warts may also appear in large groups in line formations on the face, due to spread through shaving or scratching. The severity of the outbreak is based on group size. One to a few painless warts is a mild case, between 10 and 100 painless warts make up a moderate outbreak and more than 100 painful warts is considered severe, according to SkinSight.com.
Risk Factors
Although flat facial warts can appear on anyone, some people are more likely to have outbreaks than others. According to SkinSight.com, kids between ages 12 and 16, lighter-skinned people and people who have compromised immune systems through health problems, such as HIV, are more likely to have flat warts than others.
Diagnosis
A doctor can generally diagnose an outbreak of flat warts based on where they are and how they look. However, he may decide to do a wart biopsy, which involves cutting into a wart, to be sure that the lesion isn't another type of growth, such as a corn or skin cancer, says MedlinePlus. Tell your doctor if your flat facial wart or warts have caused you any pain or if any wart has changed in appearance or color, recommends MedlinePlus.
Treatment
Over-the-counter wart medications and removers are generally not an adequate means of removing outbreaks of flat warts, because flat warts tend to break out in large quantities, says the American Academy of Dermatology. If you seek help from a dermatologist, she may offer you facial surface "peeling" treatments that include active ingredients, such as salicylic acid, glycolic acid or tretinoin, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Alternately, she may recommend freezing off the warts with liquid nitrogen, using an electric needle to burn the warts, using a laser treatment or injecting the warts directly with a medication that should remove them, says SkinSight.com.
