Hand warts, also called common warts, are benign skin growths that grow on any part of the hand and fingers. They are spread by a virus that remains in the body even after the hand warts are gone. Harmless and usually disappearing on their own within two years, hand warts may look unappealing. You can treat them for aesthetic reasons and to keep them from spreading, but know that they may recur.
Identification
You will find hand warts on the palms and backs of your hands and fingers and sometimes near the fingernails. Hand warts appear as rough, small growths with tiny bumps, and may be pink, white or the color of your flesh. There may be only one wart or several, spread out or in a cluster. The tiny black specks you see on hand warts are tiny blood vessels. When cut, hand warts might bleed. They are not usually painful, however. Kids tend to get hand warts more than adults.
Causes
A particular form of the human papilloma virus causes the non-cancerous warts that appear on the hands. Hand warts are spread by contact. The virus passes between people via direct skin contact or introduces itself when you touch an infected object, such as a shower handle. Whether or not you develop hand warts also depends on your particular immune response. Hand warts are less contagious than other types of warts, such as genital warts.
Types
Over a hundred varieties of the human papilloma virus (HPV) exist. Some HPV types cause cervical cancer, others cause the common warts that appear on hands, while still others lead to plantar warts on the sole of the feet, genital warts in and around the genital and anal area, and flat warts found on other parts of the body like the face and legs.
Prevention
To prevent common warts from spreading, keep your hands dry. Avoid touching grooming products, such as combs or nail clippers, to the infected area. If you do use them, disinfect them afterwards. Avoid touching the mouth or hands to the area that has the warts--for example, don't bite a nail that has a wart nearby. If you must touch the hand wart, wash and dry your hands afterwards. Bandage the hand warts if necessary to isolate them from skin contact.
Treatment
You don't need to treat your hand warts. They should go away on their own. However, if you have cosmetic concerns, common warts may respond to salicylic acid treatment. Apply this topical medication daily after soaking the hand wart in warm water. Follow the label instructions. Check with your doctor before using salicylic acid if you're pregnant. Another treatment is cryotherapy, which is the use of liquid nitrogen by a dermatologist to freeze the wart. Other medical treatments include cantharidin and laser surgery. Surgery that "burns" away the wart may be effective but cause pain when the anesthesia is applied.
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