The virus known as HPV (human papillomavirus) causes rapid cell growth on the skin's surface, which can result in the common wart. Though warts are not dangerous and will often go away on their own, some people want to remove them for cosmetic reasons and also to avoid spreading the HPV virus to others or to other parts of their own bodies. Medical professionals use a variety of approaches when trying to get rid of a wart.
Cryotherapy and Cantharidin
With cryotherapy, a doctor will use liquid nitrogen to freeze off the wart. After spraying the wart with this extremely cold substance, a blister will form at the site--both under and around the wart. The blister then literally will lift the wart out, and the dead skin should fall off within about a week of the initial treatment. However, keep in mind that due to the stubborn nature of the HPV virus, warts can recur and the freezing treatment might have to be repeated several times.
Cantharidin is extracted from the aptly named blister beetle; the doctor will dab cantharidin, which is often mixed with other chemicals, on your wart and cover it with a bandage. A blister will form, lifting the wart out of its resting place, just as with cryotherapy, and then the doctor can remove the dead wart.
Surgery
There are two surgical options to remove warts. With the first one, electrodessication and curettage, a doctor first numbs the area with an injectable anesthetic, then uses an electric needle to cut away or destroy the wart. This procedure can be painful and has the potential of leaving a scar. The second option is laser surgery, where a doctor uses high-energy pulses of light to cut away or destroy the wart after first numbing the area with an anesthetic. Laser surgery can be costly, and, just as with electrodessication and curettage, it can still leave a scar where the wart was removed.
