Today we will discuss about four clients who came to our OPD for treatment of warts.

First client was a 50-year-old male with around 20 warts on his face for the last 3 months. A general practioner treated him but with no results. He got them remove many times but did not stop smoking and didn’t exercise. Even after a thorough counselling I felt that he hardly convince that stopping smoking and doing exercise would make any difference. I did Radiofrequency cautery of his warts and he went to our pharmacy for the medication.

Meanwhile I saw another warts patient who had come for his follow up. I was glad to see that the patient aged 32 had shown amazing results. He had quit smoking on my advice. In his first visit I had given him one Intralesional Injection of MMR. Otherwise I gave him vitamins and advised exercise. In addition, he followed the rule ‘ early to bed and early to rise’ and stopped late night movies. He had more than 200 warts which were cauterised multiple times by many dermatologists, but since he had not worked on increasing his immunity, it didn’t work and he suffered for almost a year. Now within 6 weeks he was free of warts. I made the first patient sit and have a chat with him and now he was convince that immunity plays a major role. Hopefully he mends his lifestyle for better.

The third patient was the mother of the second patient and had 2 warts on one hand and another on the face. This showed how warts are communicable to close contacts. Hence it is very important to get them remove at the earliest, especially if you have kids at home. One should not join any swimming pool or gymnasium as one can spread it to others.

The last patient had venereal warts due to unprotected sex. I got his HIV, Hbsag, HCV and VDRL checked. Luckily all came up negative. But I warn him that his wife or partners will have to get their pap smear done, annually from a gynaecologist to rule out any malignant change, which is caused by human Papiloma virus. My advice is to never go for unprotected sex. Also getting the partners treat is very important otherwise you keep on getting relapses.

Warts are causes by Human Papiloma virus (HPV). They can occur on any body part most common being private parts, face, hands, feet and scalp. We at Dr Walia’s Skin Clinic, Mohali treat them by different methods like Radiofulgration cautery, Cryolipolysis, Intralesional injection, chemical cautery, Co2 laser or just topical medication. Treatment of wart is chosen based on the wart, number, age, skin color, and history of the first treatment. We see what is best for the patient.

One thing is for sure that if your warts are not going away with the treatment your doctor is giving, you may need to boost your immunity through better diet, good sleep pattern, exercise, quitting smoking or alcohol.

Good luck.

Dr Parmjit Walia
Consultant Dermatologist

Dr. Walia Skin Clinic