Wart Removal

Warts are a common skin condition caused by a virus and transmitted through touch. Although harmless, warts can be embarrassing, which is why Joseph Sedrak, MD, a highly skilled dermatologist at Texas Skin Center, in Houston, Pearland, Kingwood, Texas, provides professional wart removal to patients of all ages. As a dermatologist with more than 10 years of experience, Dr. Sedrak expertly removes warts and other benign growths in his office.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What causes warts?

Common warts come from the human papillomavirus (HPV) and transfer between people through physical contact. There are at least 150 different types of warts, but only a few types cause hand warts. Other types of warts spread through sexual contact, and others come from shared towels or other infected items. The virus that causes warts enters your skin through a scrape or cut. Everyone’s immune system responds differently to HPV, so even if you come in contact with the virus, you may or may not develop warts. And when you do, it can take 2-6 months to develop after you’ve been exposed.

What do warts look like?

Common skin warts often appear as raised and rough spots on the surface of your skin, and usually grow on your hands. You can also get flat warts and plantar warts, which look different than common warts:

Flat warts

Flat warts are smooth, pink, and usually smaller than other types of warts. They appear on your face, hands, and shins in large numbers. Flat warts are less common than other types of warts.

Plantar warts

Plantar warts have a rough, spongy surface. They usually develop on the soles of your feet, sometimes clustered together. Plantar warts can also have dark spots inside them.

How does a dermatologist remove warts?

In some cases, warts go away on their own, but it can take up to a year. If that’s too long for you, Dr. Sedrak offers wart removal options so you can get rid of embarrassing warts without waiting. Depending on your type of warts and where they’re located, your wart removal treatment may include:

Topical salicylic acid applied directly to the wart destroys the affected tissue
Freezing, or cryotherapy, allowing Dr. Sedrak to freeze away the wart using liquid nitrogen
Electrodesiccation, or cautery and curettage, in which Dr. Sedrak scrapes away the wart using a curette and a local anesthetic
Prescription medications for warts that don’t respond to other treatments
Excision to cut the wart out of your skin
Laser treatment to destroy the wart
Immunotherapy to boost your immune system if warts are an ongoing problem