When a wart is treated, the skin goes through several stages of the wart falling off.
First-line wart treatments help the wart fall off by slowly killing the skin damaged by the virus.
They may also trigger an immune response to fight the virus and help contain its spread.
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As this skin dries, it shrinks and peels off in layers.
Knowing how your skin reacts after a wart treatment can help you look for signs of success or failure.
Salicylic acid is widely available in formulations that include a gel, liquid, or adhesive pad.
Salicylic acid can be effective and rarely painful, though it is a slow process when used as instructed.
This treatment involves applying liquid nitrogen to freeze the affected skin.
The treated area may be lighter in color.
Treatment of a plantar wart, which grows inward, may leave a hole after wart removal.
Over time, normal skin growth should help reduce the hole.
Many warts require follow-up treatment with four to six weeks between treatments.
What Delays Wart Healing?
Predicting the timing of wart healing and what will affect the healing timeline can be challenging.
The factors that can interfere with this process are hard to predict.
There are many treatments available to eradicate stubborn warts.
The blister pushes the wart up until it separates from your skin.
After a week, you return to your dermatologist’s office, where the dead wart is clipped away.
Electrosurgery and curettage: Electrosurgery (burning) involves using an electric gear to burn off the wart cells.
These procedures are often used together.
Since this treatment can be painful, the wart may be numbed with an anesthetic injection before treatment.
Chemical peels: Chemical peels may be appropriate for flat warts that often appear large.
The treatment involves applying a peeling medicine at home daily.
These treatments may include prescription-strength salicylic acid, tretinoin, and glycolic acid.
Bleomycin: Bleomycin is a chemotherapy drug that is injected into the wart.
It works by disintegrating the wart.
This treatment can be painful.
It can also cause other side effects, like nail loss when applied to the fingers.
Immunotherapy: This treatment uses your immune system to fight severe warts when other treatments fail.
It involves applying a chemical calleddiphencyprone(DCP) to the warts.
This results in a mild allergic reaction around the treated warts, which may cause them to die away.
A wart treatment can kill the wart and help you restore normal skin.
It may also trigger your immune system to attack the virus that causes warts.
While effective, these treatments can take time for the wart to die.
During that period, your skin may look much worse before it gets better.
Peeling and blisters are common effects of first-line wart treatments.
Keeping up with treatments and care as advised can help you support the best results.
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