Warts and verrucas: which type you have, what works, and when to treat
Last updated September 3, 2026.
Warts are harmless skin growths caused by common human papillomavirus strains, and most of them go away on their own if you can stand to wait. The wait can be long: months, sometimes up to two years, with children clearing them faster than adults. Treatments speed things along, but nothing works overnight, and the best-evidenced home option is cheap pharmacy salicylic acid used with more patience than the packet suggests.
Which type do you have?
Common warts are rough, raised, cauliflower-surfaced bumps on hands and fingers. Verrucas (plantar warts) sit on the sole, grow inward under pressure, feel like standing on a pebble, and show the tell-tale signs: tiny black dots (clogged capillaries) and skin lines that swerve around the lesion rather than running through it. Plane warts are smooth, flat-topped, and cluster on the face and hands. Filiform warts are little skin-colored fronds near the mouth and nose. Genital warts are a different conversation: those go to a sexual health clinic, not the pharmacy.
What actually helps?
- Masterly inactivity is legitimate: given that most warts self-resolve, doing nothing is a medically respectable choice, especially for painless warts in children.
- Salicylic acid, done properly: soak the wart in warm water for 5 to 10 minutes, gently file the dead surface skin with an emery board or pumice (never shared, never used elsewhere), dry, apply the acid to the wart only, and protect the surrounding skin with petroleum jelly. Repeat daily. This takes weeks to a few months of consistency, which is where most people fail.
- Freezing (cryotherapy): clinic liquid nitrogen every two to three weeks until clear, typically several sessions. It hurts and blisters, and home freeze kits are weaker versions of it. Evidence says it roughly matches diligent salicylic acid for common warts.
- Stop spreading them: warts spread by picking, shaving over them, biting nails with periungual warts, and walking barefoot in communal wet areas. Cover verrucas with a plaster in swimming pools and gym showers, and do not share towels or pumice stones.
- Skip the folklore: duct tape, banana skins, and the rest have no reliable evidence. If a wart is painful, multiplying, or stubborn past a proper salicylic course, that is the point to see a doctor or podiatrist for stronger options.
When is it an emergency?
Warts are never an emergency, but some need professional eyes: any growth you are not certain is a wart (especially a changing, bleeding, or pigmented lesion in an adult, which needs skin-cancer ruled out), warts on the face or genitals, warts in anyone immunocompromised (where they can run wild), and verrucas in people with diabetes or poor circulation, because foot self-surgery there is risky. A verruca painful enough to alter how a child walks is worth treating rather than waiting out. Pymander's escalation routing is built and tested specifically for this class of decision; see the safety architecture working paper.
What a Pymander AI doctor consult looks like
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Common questions
Will warts go away on their own?
Usually, yes. The immune system eventually recognizes and clears the virus: a majority of warts disappear without treatment, typically within months in children and up to two years in adults, though some persist longer. Waiting it out is a legitimate medical choice for painless warts, especially in kids. Treating is reasonable when they hurt (verrucas), spread, embarrass, or simply will not leave, and treatment still relies on your immune system finishing the job.
How do I get rid of a wart at home?
Salicylic acid from the pharmacy, used with more discipline than most people manage. Soak the wart in warm water for 5 to 10 minutes, gently rub off the loose white surface with an emery board or pumice used only for that purpose, dry thoroughly, protect the surrounding skin with petroleum jelly, and apply the acid to the wart itself. Repeat daily for weeks to a few months. The soak-file-protect-apply sequence, not the acid alone, is what separates success from a half-used bottle in a drawer.
Are warts contagious?
Moderately. The virus spreads by direct skin contact and through contaminated wet surfaces like pool decks and communal showers, and it enters through tiny breaks in the skin. You spread them on yourself fastest: picking, shaving over them, and biting nails around periungual warts seed new ones nearby. Cover verrucas with a plaster in pools and gyms, wear flip-flops in communal showers, do not share towels or nail tools, and wash hands after touching a wart.
How do I tell a verruca from a corn?
Three reliable clues. Black dots: verrucas have them (tiny clotted capillaries), corns do not. Skin lines: they swerve around a verruca but continue straight through a corn. Pain direction: pinching a verruca side to side hurts more, while direct downward pressure hurts more on a corn. Verrucas also interrupt footprints where the sole is printed. When genuinely unsure, a pharmacist or podiatrist settles it in seconds.
Why does my wart keep coming back?
Usually because it was never fully cleared: treatment stopped when the surface looked better while infected skin remained underneath, so it regrew from the base. Less often it is re-infection from the same environment (a shared shower floor or your own old razor), or an immune system not mounting a strong response, which is why persistent warts are more common in immunosuppressed people. Finish the full treatment course even after the surface looks clear, and disinfect or replace the tools that touched it.
When should a wart be seen by a doctor?
When you are not sure it is a wart (any changing, bleeding, or pigmented skin growth in an adult needs checking), when it is on the face or genitals, when it hurts, multiplies, or fails a proper home treatment course, and in anyone immunocompromised or with diabetes affecting their feet. Children with warts usually just need time. A doctor or podiatrist can freeze, pare down, or use stronger prescription treatments beyond what the pharmacy shelf offers.