A wart is a common, non-cancerous skin growth caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Warts are especially common in children and teens, but they can show up at any age, and they tend to last longer in adults. They are contagious, both to other people and to other parts of your own body. Many go away on their own. When they do not, or when they hurt or spread, a dermatologist has several ways to remove them.
Types of warts
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) describes several kinds:
- Common warts: round or oval rough bumps, often on the fingers, around the nails, and on the backs of the hands, elbows or knees.
- Plantar warts: rough, thickened growths on the soles of the feet, often with small black dots.
- Flat warts: smaller and smooth, often on the face, and on the cheeks or forehead in children.
- Filiform warts: thread-like growths, often around the mouth, eyes or nose.
- Genital warts: flesh-colored, pink, gray or brown growths in the genital area. The AAD recommends a dermatologist for any wart in the genital area.
How you get them
HPV enters through a break in the skin: a cut, a scrape, or a tear too small to see. Shaving creates those tiny tears. The virus can be picked up from towels, socks, locker room floors and pool decks. The AAD lists biting or picking at your nails, walking barefoot in pool areas, communal showers, gyms and locker rooms, and a weakened immune system as risk factors. A wart usually takes a few months to grow large enough to see.
Do warts go away on their own?
Often, yes. The AAD says most warts are harmless and clear on their own in people with a healthy immune system, though it can take a few months to years. DermNet reports that in children, half of warts disappear within six months and 90% within two years without treatment. Adults’ warts tend to last longer. People with a weakened immune system may not clear them at all.
When to see a dermatologist
The AAD recommends seeing a dermatologist for:
- Warts on the face or genitals
- Many warts
- Diabetes, or a weakened immune system from cancer, HIV or an organ transplant
- Warts that home treatment has not cleared
- A wart that is changing, painful, itching, burning or bleeding
- A growth you are not sure is a wart
That last point matters. Not every rough bump is a wart, and a growth that bleeds or changes is one to have looked at rather than treated at home.
What a visit involves
Dermatologists usually diagnose a wart by looking at it. DermNet notes that dermoscopy, a magnified look at the skin, shows the wart’s small blood vessels. If a skin cancer such as squamous cell carcinoma cannot be ruled out by looking, the dermatologist may take a small sample for a biopsy.
How dermatologists treat warts
The AAD lists several in-office treatments, and your dermatologist explains which suits your wart.
- Freezing (cryotherapy): the wart is frozen with a very cold substance, then scabs and falls off. DermNet describes repeat sessions every one to two weeks.
- Cantharidin: a liquid that makes a blister form under the wart.
- Electrosurgery and curettage: burning the wart off and scraping it away.
- Excision: cutting the wart out.
- Laser: for stubborn warts.
- Immunotherapy: treatment that helps the immune system fight the virus.
- Medication injected into the wart, or an acid applied after the wart is pared down.
There are also prescription treatments used at home. For one or a few small warts, the AAD describes over-the-counter options such as salicylic acid, duct tape and home freezing products. It advises talking with a dermatologist or healthcare provider before using salicylic acid if you have diabetes, nerve damage in the area, or poor circulation.
Soaking in very salty water is a newer option done at home. In a small study published in 2025 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 15 of 17 people with stubborn warts on the soles of their feet cleared completely after soaking them in saturated salt water for 30 minutes a day for 8 weeks, and none of the warts came back over the next 6 months. The study had no comparison group, so larger trials are still needed. Ask your dermatologist whether it suits your wart.
Preventing spread
The AAD’s advice: wash your hands after touching a wart, keep warts covered, do not shave over a wart, and do not pick or scratch it. These steps help keep the virus from spreading to new skin.
How to choose a dermatologist
Ask which treatments they offer and why they would choose one for your wart. Ask how many visits to expect. If the wart is on a child, ask whether they treat children and which methods they use for them. Check with your insurer whether you need a referral and whether wart treatment is covered under your plan.
The city list below shows dermatologists who name warts on their own websites.