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Warts are abnormal growths of the skin and mucosa caused by an infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Warts are contagious. The infection is transmitted by direct person-to-person skin contact from an HPV-infected person from one part of the body to another, or indirectly through contaminated surfaces such as public areas (e.g. swimming pool, gymnasium). It can take up to a year for the wart to appear for the first time. HPV infects the cells in the outer layer of the skin, causing them to grow and form a wart.
The HPV family is made up of more than 100 different types. The common types in the skin include HPV-1, HPV-2, HPV-4 and HPV-27. These cause skin warts that are benign and are commonly found on the face, and can appear in large numbers. Some HPV strains may cause specific wart types on specific body parts such as genital warts, which are high-risk types which can lead to cervical and genital cancers.
Modern laser skin surgery procedure uses CO2 laser or plasma electrosurgery to treat diseased tissue such as warts. CO2 laser can effectively remove skin tissue affected by HPV. The heat from the laser will be absorbed by water in the skin, gradually vaporizing the infected cells. The fine CO2 laser beam can prevent damaging normal surrounding cells during treatment, which keeps the downtime minimal compared with conventional treatment. The procedure can be completed as a day procedure and patients may resume daily activities immediately after treatment.
The procedure is simple and usually a local anesthetic or numbing medicine may be used on the location of the warts to reduce discomfort during treatment. After the procedure, you will notice only minor swelling and redness of the treated skin areas. The tiny wound surface is healed within 1-2 days and the wound should be cleaned by alcohol free antiseptic daily. Sterile topical wound dressing is also applied to it to promote wound healing. After 1-2 days you will see only a thin crust is formed covering the wound, which disappears on its own after 7-10 days, revealing a clean, smooth skin without any visible signs of a scar. Over the next month your skin in this area fully restores, and you can enjoy your renewed smooth and healthy skin. It is important to avoid direct sunlight and apply sunscreen of SPF50+ PA+++ to the newly healed skin for at least 2 months to prevent sun damage.
Infection is the biggest risk of laser wart removal as it is deemed a surgical procedure. Whenever the skin is cut, infection risk is always an issue. Our staff will provide written instructions of proper wound care after laser surgery. However, you still have to be aware the following signs if you develop infection:
Individuals on a treatment plan must be followed up on a regular basis to monitor the effectiveness of the laser surgery and potential adverse reactions. Sometimes treatments will need to be repeated or different treatments may need to be combined in order to eradicate the wart. In any event, once the virus is in the body, there is always the possibility of the warts recurring. To reduce the chance of recurrence, it is important to look for other skin area that may also be affected by warts and treat accordingly. Once started, it is important to persist with the treatment until the wart is completely eradicated.
As the high-risk types of HPV have the potential to cause cancers such as cervical cancer, penile cancer, oral or anal cancers, HPV vaccinations are available to prevent anogenital warts. For more details please refer to Vaccination & Others.
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