Warts are small, harmless growths that appear most frequently on the hands and feet. Sometimes they look flat and smooth, other times they have a dome-shaped or cauliflower-like appearance. Warts can be surrounded by skin that is either lighter or darker. They occur in people of all ages and can spread from person-to-person and from one part of the body to another.
Warts are benign noncancerous and generally painless. They may disappear without any treatment. However, in most cases eliminating warts takes time. Common warts can appear anywhere on the body, although they most often appear on the back of fingers, toes and knees. These skin-colored, dome-shaped lesions usually grow where the skin has been broken, such as a scratch or bug bite. They can range in size from a pinhead to 10mm and may appear singly or in multiples.
Filiform warts look like a long, narrow, flesh-colored stalk that appears singly or in multiples around the eyelids, face, neck or lips.
They are sometimes called facial warts. They may cause itching or bleeding, but are easy to treat with over-the-counter medications. Flat plane warts appear on the face and forehead. They are flesh-colored or white, with a slightly raised, flat surface and they usually appear in multiples. Flat warts are more common among children and teens than adults. Genital warts appear around the genital and pubic areas. It is also possible to get genital warts inside the vagina and anal canal or in the mouth known as oral warts.
The lesions start small and soft but can become quite large. They often grow in clusters. They are both sexually transmitted and highly contagious.
