Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with warts

Germs: pretty much everywhere

Busoni — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:37:21 -0800

Epidemiology-and-Germ-Theory-Filter: are bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc. that cause common conditions (such as warts, conjunctivitis, and ringworm, for instance) pretty much everywhere (already)? The relevant literature suggests that they are fairly contagious, and spread by contact. But while one can take precautions towards limiting contagion, doesn't it seem that given the prevalence of these diseases and the lack of precautions most people take, that the agents that cause these diseases must already be pretty ubiquitous, and that the only reason that not everyone has warts and pink eye is that people's immune systems are functioning properly?

In other words, am I right in saying that: although you probably want to avoid wrestling nude in the shower room at the Y, and farting bare-assed on people's pillows, people usually get warts and pink eye not because they failed to take these precautions, but because the germs that cause them are already pretty much everywhere, and happened to catch these people on a bad day, immunologically speaking?

Alternative treatments for molluscum contagiosum?

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:24:37 -0800

Have any of you tried any at-home treatments for molluscum contagiosum? I was diagnosed with it a month ago, and had the existing papules removed at the Dr.'s office. More have sprung up, and I would prefer to try and treat them at home, as the treatment from my Dr. left some unattractive scars. I've been doing some research online, and it seems everyone has a different opinion on whether tea tree oil, salicylic acid, lemon myrtle etc. have any effect on clearing up the molluscum. Are all of those treatments just snake oil/ a placebo to make you feel like you're treating the virus, while it just slowly clears up on it's own? Any advice would be appreciated.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the Human Papillomavirus

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:03:28 -0800

Why does a healthy adult keep getting warts? How to prevent? How to cope? I’m 24 years old, relatively healthy, and seem to be uniquely susceptible to warts. I also have tendencies towards obsessive-compulsive behavior, and lately, I’ve been showing symptoms of depression. I’d really appreciate some medical information and psychological counsel, as well as some personal anecdotes.

Right now, I have a very small wart on the bottom of my left big toe, and something that seems to be developing into a wart on my left thumb. Probably wouldn’t be a big deal for most people, but it’s affecting me pretty significantly, especially this last discovery with the thumb. I keep looking at it constantly and prodding it and seeing if there’s any new development.

In the past, I’ve had warts crop up here and there, which have thus far been eliminated (after a lot of stress and multiple different treatments were thrown at it), with the exception of my most current warts, obviously. Even the giant plantar wart that was three inches in diameter (pretty amazing, really) was eventually eliminated with cantharidin treatments my freshman year of college.

Still, these warts take their toll psychologically, and recently, I’ve been led to do some thinking. It strikes me as odd that a healthy adult, especially one with OCD tendencies, would keep getting warts like this. So my first question would be: is there anyone who, as adults, have or have had the same problem? My guess is that there are, but I’d like to hear about it.

Second, is it even worth stressing over warts like this? What are the real dangers of having warts? Also, should I now be keeping my thumb covered at all times? Because I more or less did that for my foot (although I have been going to bed barefoot) and yet here I am with another wart, on my thumb, of all places.

Which leads to the third question: is HPV pretty much everywhere? Because I was originally going to ask a question a while back on MeFi about how to kill/inactivate HPV on surfaces, like the floor, for instance, but I’m now led to believe the attempt would be futile and impractical. Am I right? Am I to worry about shedding on my instrument (a string instrument, so made of wood and covered with varnish)? (Viral shedding, not shredding.)

Fourth, anything else I should be aware of, from a medical standpoint? I’m wearing flip-flops in the shower, drying my feet (which I didn’t do before, figuring I was safe). I’m treating my toe with salicylic acid and waiting on the thumb. Anything to help my immune system?

Fifth, probably the most important. As I mentioned, this latest discovery of the possible wart on my thumb has gotten me pretty down. I guess it’s partly because I was more or less coming to terms with the one on my foot, which seemed like it was on its way out, and now I have this new thing on my thumb, which is worse, since I’m a musician and I work with my hands. And let’s not forget the fact of my dealing with OCD.

Now, I’m thinking these are the thoughts, conscious and subconscious, that are running through my head:

I shouldn’t be getting warts.
In a just world, this wouldn’t happen to me.
I did everything and it didn’t make a difference.
Nobody else seems to be getting warts. Especially not the cool kids, who seem so worry-free.
These warts are going to get worse.
These warts are going to multiply.
They’re going to get on my hands, my face, and my groinage area.
I’m going to turn into the treeman like that guy from Indonesia. (Probably unlikely.)
I’m going to contaminate the things around me, especially my instrument.
I won’t be able to do my job.
I’ll keep passing them on to myself.
I’ll pass them on to others.
I’m going to have to deal with this stress, with treatment and “quarantining” and just the general fact of having warts, for months to come. (I’m stressing over stress.)

Now, these are examples of distorted, irrational thinking. I think. I mean, some of them might have an ounce of truth to it, but it’s getting magnified and twisted beyond what’s reasonable. I haven’t gotten beyond Chapter 4 of David Burns’s The Feeling Good Handbook, so my final question: how do I deal with these thoughts? How do I learn to stop worrying and love the Human Papillomavirus? Any help would be welcome. Repeating “It’s not your fault” like Robin Williams might not hurt, either.

If you made it this far, congratulations. I’ve put hours into editing this, and because I have so many questions and now would just like some answers, I’m posting this as is. Thanks for any help with any of the questions in advance. IANAD disclosures for the medical questions would be appreciated.

Postscript:
I really don’t know if this thing on my thumb is a wart or not. I noticed some rough skin on the nail groove, next to the nail, and I pruned it with a nail clipper. It’s still a bit hard, so, I really don’t know. I wish I did.

As for why I’m not seeing a professional psychiatrist, it’s because I’m cheap, and due to my circumstances, geographic and otherwise, it’ll take forever to get an appointment, and it’ll be expensive, and by the time I get an appointment I might not be here.

My obsessions and compulsions arise mostly out of thoughts dealing with contagion. I didn't originally respond to the notion of actual germs, just the notion of general filth, passed on by touch (ad infinitum), but since moving, I've noticed that my thoughts started dealing with actual pathogens. Less so now, but it's become a factor.

Now that I’ve thought about it, I’ve pretty much gotten warts while I was away from home: away at college, away at a summer program, and now while I’m in Europe. So stress seems to be a big factor. Doesn’t make it easier, though.

How do you get rid of extremely stubborn plantar warts?

inatizzy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:42:19 -0800

Advice for treating some ridiculously persistent plantar warts? What remedies do you know that have been successful after all others have failed? Is there anyone who specializes in treating plantar warts? (In the Boston area.) The details, as briefly as possible.

- Have had a wart on the bottom of my foot for almost 8 years, right where I put my weight. Got it treated within months of noticing it, but it didn't respond to freezing or salicylic acid so I home-treated by cutting it down with nail clippers whenever it got too big and painful to walk on. (I picked at it enough to create a little crater, usually.) Thought it would go away on its own in time.

- Fast forward to two years ago. Wart still going strong as ever and has grown into a mosaic wart. (lots of little warts together.) I get serious about treatment and try freezing, Compound W equivalent, duct tape, topical steroid, candida antigen, led meditation (aka hypnosis), and most recently, Heal Warts. (Has anyone actually had success with Heal Warts? I thought I saw a reduction in the number of blood vessels after I'd used it for awhile, but I'm skeptical that they were related, and the wart is still as big and painful as ever.)

- Now, the wart is still alive and going strong. In fact, within the past few months while I've been using Heal Warts, I've developed warts on the top of my big toe by the nail, on the knuckle of the toe next to it, and on one of my fingers. (Before this, it had been at least 6-7 years since I'd developed new warts.)

- I have read a lot online and on Ask MeFi. I know that it is caused by a strain of HPV. I have heard of people whose warts were cured with Gardasil (HPV vaccine) and I am about to start the 3-shot series, but I don't know if I can really rely on that since the HPV strain that causes warts is not included in the vaccine.

- I have seen the articles online that debunk the idea that duct tape, banana peel, etc. are better than placebo.

- At the top of the leg with the warty foot (the same side as the warty finger), I have a swollen lymph gland. I don't have this on the other side (which has no warts) so I wonder if this is somehow related to my body trying to fight this virus. I noticed it a few weeks ago and it may have been enlarged for who knows how long before that; I've not seen an improvement in my warts since noticing it, though.

- I am not interested in surgical removal (cutting it out) or laser treatment. The wart is huge and I am afraid of scarring which could leave me with just as much discomfort. (except then, it would be permanent.) Also, since it's caused by a virus, the warts could just come back. (though at this point I'll admit I'm becoming increasingly focused on getting rid of this one rather than eradicating warts forever.)

::phew:: I'm sorry that was not very short. I would be extremely grateful for any advice you can give me, especially coming from situations similar to mine, where the warts are mosaic and have been extremely hard to treat. If you have personal experiences with treatments (successful or not) I'd love to hear them, as well as any specialists or websites or medical papers you can point me to.

Thank you!!

Do I have HPV or not?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:12:01 -0800

Do I have HPV or not? I engaged in unprotected oral sex in early December (dumb, I know). About a month later I had a terrible cold and after I recovered I noticed that there was a small soft flesh-colored bump on my scrotum about 2mm in diameter. I thought it was a skin tag and ligated it off with a piece of thread. It popped right off and didn't leave a scar. Now I can not even find the exact spot where it was. Shortly after I read an article about HPV and began to wonder if what I had just removed was in fact a genital wart. Since then, there has been no reoccurrence in that area or anywhere else as far as I can find.

There is some conflicting information out there on the Internet about HPV. Some make it sound like the end of the world, some make it sound like it is no big deal, especially if you have the strain that may cause warts (They almost always go away eventually and these are the strains that don't cause cancer, supposedly).

Two prevailing ideas I hear though is that most people who have HPV either don't know it or don't develop symptoms and diagnosis for men is not easy. Most pictures I have found look like something different than what I had or worst-case scenarios.

I went to a urologist today to ask about it and he says that it is probably not HPV. His reasons were: 1. Although genital warts can appear on the scrotum, they mostly appear on the shaft and near the head of the penis. 2. If it were a HPV wart, it probably would have returned and spread due to the way I removed it. Tying off a wart, according to him, is not very effective because in order to remove it, one needs to go a bit deeper into the skin in order to remove the immediately infected tissue.

My Questions: Does this sound feasible or should I get a second opinion? I'll probably get one anyway. If not a genital wart, what could it have been?

Throwaway email: eyedunno63@gmail.com

Plantar wart filter ... again

Jaie — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:07:24 -0800

Okay, okay. I read all the recommendations in the previous wart posts. My question is a bit different. Will it be detrimental to wart removal if I run on them? Wait, let me explain. After years and years of trying everything I could find, been going every three weeks for at least 9 months to have plantar warts frozen; have made some progress but the warts are still there. Much smaller, and they actually stick out now instead of being holes in my foot. Right now, my doc is out on maternity leave and I'm treating them with salicylic acid and keeping them covered, which is slowly working. (Any tips anyone has for keeping duct tape/bandaids/whatever on the edge of my heel are more than welcome.) Since they're sticking out now, will I set back my treatment if I run and force them back into the foot? In other words, can I hop on the treadmill or should I wait until they are gone to resume my regular workout schedule?

I've been diagnosed with viral warts which happen to be around the base of my penis, does that mean I have a form of HPV?

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 06:53:25 -0800

I've been diagnosed with viral warts which happen to be around the base of my penis, does that mean I have a form of HPV? A couple years ago, I noticed a small wart hidden amoungst my pubic hair down there. A couple years pass and a few other buddies grew in to keep it company just around the base of my penis and a couple on my scrotum. I have kind of a tanned complexion (I'm half white and half black) and these warts are slightly browner and mostly flat and pretty small compaired to the giants I see on google images. The biggest one being um maybe like 1/8th the size of a pencil eraser or so? I think maybe.

I was sleeping only with my wife for 2 years with them(she hasn't grown any warts after sleeping with me for 2 years) and got a divorce recently and finally decided to have it checked out since I'm back in the dating scene (I wasn't even sure they were warts, but the DR verified). So she says they are a form of viral warts and not genital warts because of their small size, color, shape (they aren't all cauliflower lookin). She said they are viral warts like the kind most people get on your feet or fingers, and is as common as acne.

She asked me a series of questions and concluded that they probably popped up down there because I used the same hair clippers on my head as I do down there to trim up.

She gave me a freeze treatment and told me to buy my own freeze treatment from Walgreens because it may take a few more treatments. So here are my ultimate questions:

Since they are around my penis, could this possibly be some form of human papillomavirus (HPV)?

After my freeze treatment, after the scabs fell off, the skin tone was a lot lighter, will the color eventually return? And they sorta itch now, is this normal? They did not itch before. And they didn't puss before, but they don't leak puss now either. She said they would itch or puss if they were some form of genital warts.

Also, if they are viral warts and I freeze them all off, should I still be worried about spreading them to someone?

Is it really serious at all if it is as common as acne? If this is HPV I'm a little reluctant to sleep with anyone because apparently it causes cervical cancer in women.

Please leave an email if you have any questions. I'm afraid to leave mine in case someone googles my email and finds this post. :-/

Looking for a last ditch plan for getting rid of these warts - before I make the doctor's appointment...

bradn — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 09:36:57 -0800

Looking for a last ditch plan for getting rid of these warts - before I make the doctor's appointment... I have several warts on my left hand. The oldest, a 1/4 incher on my middle finger (around 2 years old), the second, a slightly smaller one on my ring finger, and 2 small ones on my pointer finger.

I know about duct tape, I've tried it and it simply does not stay in place on a finger.

Dr Scholl's Freeze Away DOES NOT WORK and is a huge rip off at $20. It actually made the ring finger wart BIGGER.

I have spent the last many months using salicilic acid products, re-applying several times a day and covering with a band-aid. I 've tried filing them down daily, and soaking in water for 5 minutes before applying. I have scraped, peeled and cut them off but they always come back.

Has anyone successfully defeated a wart that is this persistant? Is the doctor's liquid nitro my only option at this point?

Lose the warts, keep the foot

schroedinger — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:27:53 -0800

Duct tape wart removal. Details, personal experiences, suggestions needed. How do you keep the duct tape dry in the shower? Is it OK if you don't? What if you have to replace it more than once a week? Grossish details inside. I've been using the duct tape method of wart removal on a cluster of warts on the bottom of my foot. I tried freezing and salicylic acid first, but they spread. I've now been using the duct tape for about a month. I have to replace the duct tape about twice a week, usually after it falls off in the shower. I keep it secured with paper tape the rest of the time. When it falls off, I replace it immediately. I clip off surrounding skin as it dies.

Herein is the problem. See, the warts are as hale and hardy as ever, but any skin underneath the duct tape is looking pretty sad and coming off like crazy. Is this normal?

Also, the thing I said about the warts being hardy isn't entirely true. See, I couldn't keep the duct tape dry in the shower (plastic bags and wrap didn't work), and I read you don't want to leave it off ever, so I've been leaving it on, secured by paper tape. And now when the duct tape falls off, the warts and surrounding skin are a disturbing greenish gray. Is this normal? I'm not rotting my foot off, right?

OK, so does anyone have anything more specific about what I should be doing? Even the medical study of the duct tape effect is sadly detail-less on what to do about replacing duct tape and keeping it dry in the shower.

How to get rid of plantar warts

Verdant — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 14:24:16 -0800

Mildly embarrassing dermatology filter. I'm in need of advice and anecdotal remedies for Plantar Warts. Recently, I've come to play host to a number of plantar warts. These small round little relatives of HPV reside on the sole (or plantar surface) of my left foot. My doctor treated them with a somewhat painful does of liquid nitrogen (intended to freeze the wart and its circulatory system). Great. After a bit of pain, they seemed to fade and I thought I was done.

Alas, alack, my little friends have returned. When i spoke with my doctor, she indicated that they sometimes do return. My options, according to her, are to re-freeze them or I could apply duct tape to the affected areas (they don't understand the how, but apparently duct tape has proven effective) until the warts "fall out."

Recommendations, experience, and anecdotal remedies are all appreciated.

Why does my IE jump like a Kangaroo?

zaelic — Sun, 22 May 2005 04:16:57 -0800

When I use IE Explorer, the page images sometimes start jumping up and down uncontrollably. How can I fix this? (MI.) I use IE explorer - yeah, I know, Mozilla, firefox et al... tried 'em, didn't like them. I recently had a virus related crash, cleaned it up and re-installed Windows 98. Yes, I know it's a Flintstones system, but it is what I have for my old paleolithic PC. Now when I view web pages the image screen starts to jump up and down, making it impossible to use the cursor. It stops after a while, but returns. Is there a patch or fix for this? Upgrading to Windows 2000 will not work on my PC.