Warts are a common skin condition and aren’t usually harmful to your health. However, if you have warts that are painful or affect your self-confidence, you can find treatment solutions at California Dermatology Physicians. Board-certified dermatologists Joseph Sedrak, MD, and Laura Cohen, MD, provide minimally invasive wart treatments, including cryotherapy, laser therapy, and minor surgery, to eliminate bothersome warts and prevent them from coming back. Call the Huntington Beach, California, office to schedule a diagnostic evaluation for warts or book an appointment online today.
Warts are small skin growths that frequently develop on your hands or fingers due to an infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are more than 150 types of the contagious virus, but only a few strains cause warts.
You can get or spread the infection through skin contact. The virus settles into your body through small cuts or other breaks in your skin.
Warts appear as bumps on the skin that may feel grainy or rough. You might notice small black dots at the center of the wart, which are blood vessels that have clotted.
California Dermatology Physicians offers comprehensive care for warts that affect how you feel about your appearance or that spread to other areas of your body.
You can schedule a diagnostic evaluation at California Dermatology Physicians for warts that are painful, change in color or size, or are large enough to interfere with activities. You should also book a consultation if you have new skin growths and aren’t sure if they’re warts.
Your California Dermatology Physicians provider examines the wart. They may also remove layers of the wart for further evaluation under a microscope.
While some warts go away on their own, others can persist. Over-the-counter wart treatments can be effective, but warts can return and spread to other parts of your skin.
The dermatology specialists offer customized treatment plans to eliminate warts and prevent them from coming back.
Your treatment plan depends on the location and size of your warts. The California Dermatology Physicians specialists provide several in-office wart treatments, including:
Prescription-strength acids peel away layers of the wart. The providers use acids that are stronger than you can buy in retail stores.
Cryotherapy uses freezing technology to destroy warts. The specialist applies liquid nitrogen to your wart, which causes a blister to form. Within a few days, dead tissue falls off.
This treatment can also stimulate your immune system to attack the wart-causing virus and prevent future warts.
Laser therapy targets the tiny blood vessels inside the wart to cut off its blood supply, so the wart shrinks and falls off.
When other therapies aren’t working, your provider may use a surgical tool to cut out the wart.
Call California Dermatology Physicians to schedule a wart consultation or book an appointment online today.