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Warts and Moles

Denice Moffat
Warts and Moles 1

Warts, Moles and Skin Discolorations

Definitions:

Warts (also called Verruca): Can be viral or non-viral in origin and cancerous or non cancerous growths proliferations of skin cells. The most common virus responsible for warts is the Human Papilloma Virus. A Mother Wart is a single wart when, over time, appears to put forth seeds so that new warts grow up around it.

Moles or Nevi: These can be proliferations of tissue inside as well as outside the body. Predisposed areas inside the body surround the ovaries and uterus. Moles usually appear after birth and are not flat like birthmarks. Did you know that you can even have your moles read (like in a face reading only they read your moles?) This is part of the Chinese Art of “Mian Xiang” (check it out at https://www.flickr.com/photos/hey-gem/75173087 .)

Tag Warts or Cutaneous Papillomas or Skin Tags: Are proliferation of skin that cause an appendage, flap or polyp on the skin. These are usually flesh colored or brown.

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Red Spots and Marks: Strawberry Birthmarks, Red birthmarks, Stork bites, Angioma Cavernosum, Capillary Hemangioma, Hemangioma Simplex, Strawberry Mark: Colored vascular skin markings which develop at or shortly after birth. They are usually painless and harmless with unknown cause most commonly on the face, scalp, back, and chest. 95% of these disappear by the time a child is 9 years of age.

Angioma Cavernosum or capillary hemangiomas are red blue and spongy and also go away without treatment.

Port Wine Stains and Hemangiomas are flat and usually appear on the face. They are not harmful, but emotionally annoying as people point at you all the time.

Salmon Patches or Stork Bites are extremely common in newborns. These are pink or red, flat and common on the head. Generally they fade as the infant grows. Those on the back of the neck may never fade, but the hair usually covers them up.

Pigmented Birthmarks, Birthmarks also called Cafe-Au-Lait Spots, Congenital Nevus, Hairy Nevus, Mole, Nevi, Nevus Sebaceous : Are skin that is pigmented with an extra dose of melanin (the hormone that causes you to tan). The color ranges from brown to black, bluish to grey.

Red Moles or Small Cherry Angiomas: Small cherry angiomas that are seen in virtually every individual over 25 years of age. Occasionally they occur sooner. They are not associated with any significant abnormality to my knowledge. They tend to increase with age, and the extent in number probably is genetically determined.

Spider Mole Nevi (Spider angioma or Nevus Araneus) : Red skin lesion in the shape of a spider common in pregnancy and in liver disease most common on the face and trunk these can be about ½ inch in diameter.

Mongolian spots or Mongolian Blue Spots are a non-harmful, non-cancerous type of birthmark that appears on dark skinned people. These look like a bruise and don’t usually go away. They are usually located on the low back, buttocks, trunk and arms.

Causes & Prevention of Warts and Moles:

Warts are an infection of the skin that become those unsightly bumps on various parts of your body or the soles of your feet, and are caused by specific wart viruses. They come and go, sometimes with or without treatment, and sometimes won’t go away no matter what treatment is given. Some individuals are more susceptible than others to having warts. As any virus, warts are contagious, but not in the normal sense of being contagious as in catching someone else’s cold. The other person needs to be susceptible to the virus. Only genital warts and those around the anus are contagious in the normal sense, and care must be taken not to spread them to others.

Plantar warts, those on the soles of your feet, are also contagious and are frequently picked up in moist areas, such as bathrooms, locker rooms and around swimming pools. Keeping your feet dry after being in one of these areas is the best method of prevention.

General Information about Warts: A wart is a non-cancerous skin growth caused by a viral infection in the skin. There are several types of warts: common warts can grow anywhere, but are hard to treat when on fingers or around nails; plantar warts usually grow on the soles of the feet; and flat warts are smaller and smoother than other warts and tend to grow in large numbers at any one time.

In general, warts are pale, skin-colored growths with a rough surface, even borders, and blackened surface capillaries. Normal skin lines do not cross a wart’s surface. And contrary to popular opinion, warts are very shallow growths—they don’t have “roots” or “runners” that go down to the bone.

Moles are spots on the skin, collections of pigment cells, and can appear brown, blue, black, or flesh colored. Some moles have a high risk of becoming cancerous and exposure to the sun can trigger malignant melanoma in moles or previously normal skin.

Forty to fifty percent of all warts eventually disappear on their own, typically within two years. Children in particular often lose warts spontaneously.

Check with your physician if you notice a change in any mole.

There are five types of warts and moles:

  1. The Common wart has an elevated, rough, dry surface, and may occur anywhere on the body;
  2. Flat warts are usually flat, multiple lesions that can occur anywhere: faces, arms, backs of hands and legs are the most common areas. This type is especially common in women who shave their legs and also in bare areas of men;
  3. Plantar warts are found on the soles of the feet;
  4. Genital warts are found around the genital areas of men and women and around the anus. They can be large and fleshy or look like regular warts;
  5. Warts can also be found on the lips and in the mouth. These appear as small, moist, whitish bumps. This type is not common.

Are you sure it’s a wart? Normally, you’d think it would be pretty easy to identify a wart, but it’s amazing how many people end up treating skin cancers or other growths as warts. So if you have the slightest doubt about what you’re dealing with, see a doctor.

Should you treat your wart? That really is left to personal preference. Plantar warts are painful, so treatment for these is usually necessary. Genital warts or those around the anus also need to be treated by a physician so they don’t spread. Don’t try to treat this type yourself. Other warts may go away on their own, or you may want to treat them. Vanity and personal comfort, as in having warts in areas that need shaving or where clothes rub them, may be the determining factor. If you do decide to treat them, start with the simplest method and if that hasn’t worked in three weeks progress to more aggressive methods.

You must treat all the warts in a given area so they don’t continue to spread. If they are in an area you shave, stop shaving if you scrape them or use a hair removal cream, as the scraping will spread the wart virus. For plantar warts, start with the tape or tape and castor oil methods, then, if they aren’t effective, progress to a more aggressive method. Use a pumice stone or some other type of scraper to get off the dead skin before applying more medicine. Plantar warts are difficult to get rid of and may take three to six weeks before any progress is noted.

Symptoms: Generally raised, darkened areas on the body.

Cause: Warts and moles are usually the result of a nutritional deficiency (often potassium) and they should be treated internally, as well as externally.

Home Remedies for Warts and Moles:

Medical (Allopathic) Treatments for Warts:

Treatments such as anti-cancer drugs, new vaccines, cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen), acid preparations, laser therapy, and surgery have been used in the management of warts, with cure rates ranging from 32 to 93 percent. However, most of these therapies are expensive, painful, or labor intensive. Here’s a list of what’s out there:

However, most of these therapies are expensive, painful, or labor intensive. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Links to Pictures of Warts, Moles, Nevi, Birthmarks:

Genital Warts Pictures (or condyloma, or condylomata acuminata)

Please be advised that these links will take you to genital wart pictures that are graphic.

From: https://cancer.about.com/od/hpv/a/HPVpictures.htm

From Wikipedia:

Links to picture of moles (nevi):

 

Predisposing Factors for the Increased Susceptibility to Wart Viruses:

Factors that increase your risk of becoming infected include:

If you have had genital warts, you should be tested for cervical cancer at least once every year. Cervical cancer can be prevented with regular screening (Pap smears), and can be cured in most cases when it is detected in early stages.

Rule Outs:

Helpful websites for Warts, Moles and Skin Discolorations:

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