Common warts are local growths of the skin caused by infection with Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Warts are particularly common in childhood and are spread by direct contact or autoinocculation. Warts are considered to be contagious. It is possible that if one family member has warts then it can transmit to others also. Warts often affect only one part of the body i.e. the hands or the feet without spreading over to other areas.

If a wart is scratched, the viral spots may be spread to another area of skin. It may take as long as 12 months for the wart to first appear.

Warts are also known as "Verruca".

Types of Warts
Types of warts include:

• Common warts: Usually found on fingers, hands, knees, and elbows. These are dome-shaped of grayish-brown color and have a rough surface that may look like the head of a cauliflower, with black dots inside.
• Filiform warts: These are finger-like shape of flesh-colored, and often grow on or around the mouth, eyes, or nose.
• Flat warts: These are about the size of a pinhead, are smoother than other kinds of warts, and have flat tops.
• Genital warts: These are often transmitted sexually and predispose to cervical, penile and vulval cancer.
• Mosaic warts: Mosaic warts on the sole of the foot are in clusters over an area sometimes several centimetres in diameter.
• Oral warts: It can affect the lips and even inside the cheeks.
• Periungual warts: This type of wart grows at the sides or under the nails and can distort nail growth.
• Plantar warts: Usually found on the bottom of the foot it can be very uncomfortable like walking.

Causes of Warts
Warts can grow on all parts of your body. Causes of warts are:
It can cause by viruses in the Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Warts on the skin may be passed to another person when that person touches the warts.
People get warts from using towels or other objects that were used by a person who has warts.
Warts on the genitals are very contagious and can be passed to another person during oral, vaginal or anal sex.
It is important not to have unprotected sex if you or your partner has warts on the genital area.
In women, warts can grow on the cervix, and a woman may not even know she has them. She may pass the infection to her sexual partner without knowing it.

Signs & Symptoms of Warts
Symptoms of common warts are:

• Small, fleshy, grainy bumps
• Flesh-colored, white, pink or tan
• Rough to the touch

In children, warts often go away on their own. In adults, they tend to stay. If they hurt or bother you, or if they multiply, you can remove them. Chemical skin treatments usually work. If not, various freezing, surgical and laser treatments can remove warts.

Diagnosis of Warts
The diagnosis is most often made on the basis of clinical appearance. The wart also tends to disturb the natural skin lines and creates a disrupted surface. Diagnostic clues include:

• Black dots within the warts
• Pinpoint bleeding after paring down the thickened skin.

A biopsy can be used to confirm clinical suspicion which provide proper diagnosis

Preventions of Warts
Although there's no way to prevent warts, but there are some precautions that can help to prevent warts:

• Kids should always wash their hands and skin regularly and well.
• If the child has a cut or scratch, use soap and water to clean the area because open wounds are more susceptible to warts and other infections.
• Kids should also wear waterproof sandals or flip-flops in public showers, locker rooms, and around public pools

Treatments of Warts
Many people don't bother to treat them because treatment can be more uncomfortable and troublesome than the warts - they are hardly ever a serious problem. However, warts may be painful and they often look ugly and cause embarrassment.

• Physical or chemical destruction of the lesion. In physical destruction, liquid nitrogen, which is extremely cold, is sprayed onto the wart or applied with a cotton-tipped swab. Because freezing is painful, this form of treatment is not tolerated well by young children.
• In some cases warts are treated by burning them by a professional skin doctors.

It has been observed that the warts reappear after some time as these treatments are temporary.

When to seek Medical Advice
Call your doctor if:

• you have a young child or infant with a wart anywhere on the body
• your child has a wart on the face, genitals, or rectum

Also seek for medical help if skin is:

• painful
• red
• bleeding
• swollen
• oozing pus