Warts & Verrucas
How can warts and verrucas be treated?
A Verruca is a plantar wart (also known as “Verruca plantaris”) caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV) occurring on the sole or toes of the foot. HPV infections in other places are called warts, but not plantar warts. This type of lesion can be very difficult to eradicate completely as the virus may still exist elsewhere in the body. Vascular lasers are the most successful method of treatment, as they can accurately target the blood supply to the wart without causing painful peripheral damage.
Other methods include:
- Painting the Wart with a topical solution that can eventually kill the virus. This can take months with numerous daily applications and has a low rate of success.
- Liquid nitrogen can be applied to kill off the infected tissue, this can be very successful but often needs several treatments and can sometimes leave a wound
- Electro- cautorisation can be used to mechanically introduce an electric current into the blood supply to the wart. This method although successful can be painful.
At Beauty Within Cosmetic Clinic we use our Dornier Medilas Vascular laser to treat Warts and Verrucas. The pain involved is much less than cryosurgery or electrocautorisation and one treatment is sometimes enough to kill the growth entirely. If the wart does not recede completely with one treatment, further treatment will be needed to ensure that the growth is killed.
What does the treatment feel like?
The treatment of warts and verrucas can be painful. The Dornier laser uses a powerful high energy concentrated onto a small area but only for a very short time. Direct cooling prior to, during, and after treatment minimises any pain. Side effects with the Dornier are minimal and although the treatment will cause discomfort, the area is not usually painful afterwards. Over a period of a few weeks the lesion will disappear completely. Larger lesions may need a short course of treatment.