Skin Warts in Kids: Why They Form and How to Treat Them

Warts in Kids Powder Springs, GA

Warts in kids are a common, mostly harmless skin condition. They often form on the skin of the feet, and they’re caused by a virus. (That means warts can spread from one part of the body to another, as well as from one child to another.) While not dangerous, warts are unsightly and can become painful. That’s why our podiatrist in Powder Springs treats warts in kids quickly and painlessly, to prevent spread and keep children moving comfortably!

What causes warts in kids?

As we mentioned, warts form when some strain of the human papillomavirus enters your body. Because there are different types of papillomavirus, there are also different types of warts—and that means, you may need different treatments, depending on where these growths form.

Types of Skin Warts

There are many different types of warts, and each presents differently. Common warts are brown or gray-to-yellow, with rough surfaces. These mostly form on face, elbows, fingers and knees.

Plantar warts grow on the bottom of your feet, sometimes in groups we called mosaics. Because of the constant pressure on your feet, these growths are often painful. These warts are common in kids because they enter your body through skin breaks or cuts, and the bottom of the feet are also more likely to be exposed to the virus on surfaces like pool decks, shower or locker room floors. Plantar warts are notoriously tough to treat—on your own—but they do respond well to our in-office wart treatments.

How Do Warts in Kids Spread?

Warts spread with direct, skin-to-skin, contact. But they can also spread with indirect contact—so, if one of your kids has a wart, and touches a surface that another child touches soon after, that could cause warts to spread between kids. The spread is far more likely when kids have exposed skin with cuts or cracks.

Are they ‘contagious’?

Yes, warts can spread, but they aren't exactly ‘contagious.’ Yes, they can spread from one child to another, but typically only with close contact, or on wet shared surfaces like a swimming pool deck or a locker room floor. It’s also easier to protect your children from warts than from a contagious condition like the common cold.

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Warts in Kids: Common Symptoms

Symptoms will vary depending on the type and location of the growth. Usually a wart will be visible, and won’t be painful unless it forms on the bottom of the foot.

Which kids have the highest risk for warts?

Anyone can develop skin warts, but children tend to develop these growths more often than adults, likely because they’re barefoot more frequently. On top of that, some children will have an increased risk for warts if they:

•   Hang out closely with other children or family members who have warts
•   Have weakened immunity
•   Regularly go barefoot, especially at swim lessons or after team sports

Is it normal for kids to have warts?

Developing warts is a normal part of childhood, but that doesn’t mean kids should have to live with these contagious growths. True, many warts will resolve on their own, but clearing without treatment could take months—during which time, spread and pain could be a problem. Luckily, we can effectively treat warts in kids during a short appointment with our Lost Mountain neighborhood kids’ podiatrist.

Warts in Kids: Diagnosis and Treatment in Powder Springs, GA

Warts are diagnosed with a physical exam, based on the growth’s location and appearance. In some cases, we may need to gently scrape away the top layer of the wart to expose more of the wart’s characteristics and form a proper treatment. Rarely, you may need to biopsy a wart to rule out any other conditions, or to form an appropriate treatment plan.

While some over the counter treatments may be effective, they can take months to work, and could actually damage your child’s delicate skin. Plus, they may be painful—especially when you’re dealing with plantar warts on the bottom of kids’ feet.
In the office, we can effectively treat your child’s warts with several different treatment options. We even offer laser treatment for warts that's highly effective. We will make our treatment recommendations depending on the location of the growth, as well as its size, number of warts and how long they have been on your child’s foot. Common treatments for warts in kids include:

Topical medications
Applying liquid nitrogen to the growth to freeze it off
Exposing the wart to an electrical current
Excising the wart from your child’s foot
Laser treatment for the wart
Swift® wart treatment

Can warts in kids cause complications?

These skin growths almost never cause a serious heath complication. Still, they can be difficult to treat and may linger or return, even after they seem to disappear. That’s because many over-the-counter treatments don’t get to the wart’s root cause—the infecting virus—so it lingers in your child’s body, waiting to regenerate a wart when the time is right.

Preventing Skin Warts

If you want to protect your children from these growths, make sure to:

Always wear shoes, even at the beach or pool.
Avoid sharing towels, socks or shoes with other children
If kids have one wart, cover it so that the child doesn’t touch other body parts with that wart
Don’t bathe or shower children together if one child already has a wart

When should I call my child's podiatrist?

Make an appointment with our children’s podiatrist if your child has warts that:

Cause pain or embarrassment
Are on the bottom of the foot
May spread to other children in the family, at school or on teams or in lessons
Haven’t responded to over-the-counter treatments

Furthermore, if your child has diabetes and develops warts on the foot, it is critical to make an immediate appointment with Dr. Alvin Cowans. Diabetic feet are delicate and even small changes to the skin surface can result in serious complications. Plus, harsh chemicals in drugstore wart treatments could be too strong for diabetic feet. The safer, and more effective option is to seek immediate in-office treatment.