What are Warts and is Removal Safe?
Warts are unsightly, often hard growths on the skin, which can occur anywhere on the human body. Warts are also the physical manifestation of what can be otherwise non-symptomatic viral infections.
The most common virus known to cause warts is the human papillomavirus (HPV). This virus is transmitted from person to person via skin contact and causes rapid growth of clusters of cells in the top layers of the dermis. The result is one or more warts. Moreover, warts usually grow in places where first or secondary contact with a virus initially occurs.
What Causes Warts?
Wart removal in Toronto is a fast and painless procedure. However, the best way to avoid the need for wart removal treatment is to know how to avoid warts.
Warts occur when a virus infects the outer layers of the dermis. At present, there are over 100 types of known wart viruses. Most, though, can only be transmitted when a virus comes into contact with broken skin. It is, therefore, possible to avoid many warts, simply by covering scratches and minimizing direct skin contact with people who already have a wart.
Wart Removal In Toronto – How it Works
There are several natural ways to treat warts at home. One way is to apply a mixture of organic honey and apple cider vinegar to a wart overnight. There are also several over the counter creams and serums which can treat many warts. However, stubborn warts will often require professional cosmetic removal.
Electrocautery Wart Removal
At our Toronto Skin Care Center, we commonly use heat from electricity to remove warts. This process is referred to as electrocautery wart removal. During procedures, a low-voltage electrified probe is applied to the surface of a wart. This kills the wart virus and wart tissue. Treatments only have to be applied once. Afterward, treated skin areas will heal naturally within a few days.
Laser Wart Removal
The best wart removal methods to use on some warts can differ between patients. As well as electrocautery wart removal we, therefore, also offer laser wart removal.
Commonly used on plantar warts and periungual warts, laser therapy selectively blasts wart cells with laser light. This forces growth to subside and helps increase circulation to affected areas to expedite natural healing.
Cryotherapy Wart Treatment
Freezing warts with liquid nitrogen is the most common wart removal method in non-professional skin center. However, Cryotherapy isn’t always the best wart removal option for most people.
Freezing a wart can cause scarring and even the spread of warts deeper into the dermis. By comparison, laser and electrocautery wart removal causes negligible scarring and has a far higher success rate.
Wart Removal Benefits
Wart removal in Toronto helps people reclaim their self-confidence and reduce pain associated with stubborn warts like Plantar warts.
In most cases, a wart can take several months (and sometimes several years) to heal without treatment. Some warts like Periungual warts can also cause significant social anxiety, and interfere with intimate relationships. Investing in wart removal, therefore, allows people to reclaim their looks and life back, often after just a single skin center appointment.
Common Warts
Wart removal in Toronto is most often performed on so-called ‘common warts.’
Periungual Warts
Periungual warts are similar to common warts. However, infections usually see warts cluster in groups around fingers and toenails.
Filiform Warts
Filiform warts are the most common warts which occur in facial areas. Filiform warts can, therefore, make sufferers feel quite self-conscious.
Initially appearing as a small bump, Filiform warts commonly occur around the mouth and noise and resemble skin tags. However, Filiform warts can occur in any body location.
Plantar Warts
Plantar warts are one of the most painful common wart varieties. First appearing as a small hole in the skin.
Flat Warts
Flat warts are visually ambiguous warts which can look similar to patches of rough or dry skin. Typically occurring on the face and soft tissue on arms and legs, flat warts are completely flat and often look as though the skin has been scraped or rubbed with an abrasive object.
Mole Removal
Frequently Asked Questions
Typically, wart removal using laser therapy and electrocautery will involve treatment sessions which last approximately 30-minutes. However, when treating large Plantar warts or wart clusters, treatment may take longer.
Wart removal is usually permanent. However, it is important to remember that some large warts and wart clusters may require multiple treatments. Occasionally, warts may also reoccur in other locations after removal. However, this is not due to treatment failures. Instead, it is usually the case that a wart may have spread before treatment, and was not visually noticeable at the time.
Most wart removal treatments do not require an anesthetic. However, wart removal using Cryotherapy may see areas numbed first using a local anesthetic.
Minor cosmetic wart removal procedures are not required by law to be performed by a licensed medical doctor. However, at our skin care clinic in Toronto, we do employ specially trained cosmetologist to carry out wart removals.
Most wart removal treatments will not require a prolonged recovery period. Wart removal is an outpatient procedure, after which wart sufferers can resume life as usual. Some warts like Plantar warts, though, may continue to impede personal comfort until treatment takes full effect.