Wart Treatments

Warts are non-cancerous skin growths caused by a viral infection in the top layer of the skin. Warts are passed from person to person, either from skin to skin contact or through contact with the virus on a fomite (the floor, the doorknob, etc), and can occur almost anywhere on the body. We offer a wide variety of successful treatments for warts and are able to customize treatments for each patient. The treatments for warts include prescription creams applied to the warts daily, an oral pill to enhance the immune system’s ability to fight off the warts, freezing the warts with liquid nitrogen or an injection of medication into the warts. There are two different medications which can be injected into warts. One medication is an anti-cancer drug called Bleomycin. This works because the wart virus makes the skin cells it inhabits grow quickly and cancer drugs target quickly growing cells. Since a very small amount of the drug is used and it is injected locally and superficially, the drug does not have any internal effects. The other medication is a drug called Candida which stimulates an individual’s skin immune system when injected into the wart. With each treatment the warts will become shallower and smaller in diameter as the virus causing the wart is destroyed by your own immune system. The bonus of this treatment is that it also makes less likely for a recurrence of the warts, comparable to receiving a vaccination as well as a treatment. While these treatments are usually successful, each method does require numerous treatment sessions and sometimes combinations of treatments over weeks to months before the warts are completely resolved. It is not uncommon for warts to take three to five treatment sessions before they are gone.