Effective Wart Treatment: What your Doctor can do

Warts may not be a serious condition, and they may eventually go away on their own, but most people do not like sporting the ugly growths any longer than absolutely necessary. Some, like plantar warts, can also become large and painful if they are left untreated. Because of this, many folks will seek out an effective wart treatment when one of those unsightly growths begins to make an appearance. And the good news is that there are plenty of good wart treatment options available. Some you can buy over the counter, while others will require a doctor's assistance. If you have tried over the counter remedies for your wart to no avail, it is time to find out what your doctor can do.

Freezing
Cryotherapy is the process of freezing a wart using liquid nitrogen. This substance will create a blister around your wart that actually lifts the growth away from the skin. Although this type of wart treatment is generally effective, it may need more than one round before the wart is finally gone. It can also be a bit uncomfortable for some, which is why it is not used on children as often. However, this treatment will work when over the counter solutions have not, and it leaves little or no scarring of the area.

Medication
Cantharidin has been used as a wart treatment for centuries, although it has yet to be approved by the FDA for this purpose. This medication is usually injected directly into the wart, causing a blister to develop and lift the wart off of the skin. After about a week, your doctor can then clip the dead part of the wart away, leaving smooth skin underneath. While this can be another effective wart treatment, the discomfort and the fact that it is still waiting for FDA approval makes some doctors hesitant to use it.

Surgery
For really challenging cases, surgery may become the best wart treatment option. There are a number of methods that can be used for wart removal, including electrosurgery, which burns off the wart with an electrical current. Curettage involves cutting the wart off using a small scalpel or other sharp tool designed for this purpose. Electrosurgery and curettage are often used in tandem for best results. Another type of surgery that can be used as a wart treatment is laser surgery, in which the wart is burned off with a light ray. Surgery can be a more expensive option that may leave scarring, so it is generally done as a last resort.

A wart may be harmless, but that doesn't mean you want to live with it until it goes away on its own. If you have found over the counter wart treatments to be ineffective, talk to your doctor about other options in removing the ugly growth once and for all.