Plantar Warts Treatment in Toowoomba & Warwick

The human papillomavirus is the primary cause of all warts and verrucas. It is a contagious virus and spreads directly through skin-to-skin contact, or indirectly via contaminated surfaces. Warts can also spread through something known as autoinoculation – where you can reinfect other parts of your body when you pick, scratch or shave over a wart.

You won’t always know if you have close physical contact with someone who has warts, but certain factors will increase your chances of contracting the virus. People with a weakened immune system due to a medical condition, or people who take certain medications like those used for organ transplants, are more likely to pick up the virus and develop more persistent, or extensive warts.

Visiting our wart specialists is important to clarify there is nothing else going on, especially if you have a compromised immune system.

Age plays a part, and warts are most common in children and teenagers, with habits like nail biting and finger sucking helping to spread warts to the fingertips and around nails. Damaged or wet skin makes it easy for the virus to enter the body, especially through tiny cuts or scratches, or where skin has become soft and wet after long periods in water, or heavy sweating.

Non-direct contact of warts and verrucas is even harder to avoid, especially if you visit public places or communal areas like swimming pools, gyms and communal showers. The virus thrives in the warm, moist environment of communal changing rooms and pool decks, and the skin on your feet become more vulnerable too.

Heavy barefoot traffic in such places increases the likelihood of a person shedding skin cells infected with the virus, and vulnerable skin that is wet from swimming or showering is more susceptible to tiny cuts and abrasions, creating minor entry points for the virus.