Types of Warts Including the Hand Wart, Foot Wart and Flat Warts

What causes wart to be a hand wart versus another type of wart? A wart is a small benign but harmless growth which has been caused by a viral infection and will occur on a persons skin or their mucous membrane (this tissue lines the nose, throat, digestive tract and other body openings). The viruses which are associated with what causes a wart are members of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) family and the warts can be transmitted from one person to another as well as being able to travel from one part of the body to another.

The people who most commonly get warts are children, young adults and women and affect between 7 to 10% of the population. There are nearly 60 different kinds of HPV which can cause warts and each type of HPV prefer a certain part of the human body. There are some HPV's which will produce warts on a person's skin whilst there are others which will produce warts inside your mouth and others which will produce warts on the genital and rectal areas of a person's body.

The HPV enters the body through the skin or mucous membrane and normally no symptoms will appear for between 1 to 8 months after it has entered the person's body. Often when warts appear they are usually skin colored and will feel rough to touch, but there are others which can be dark, flat and feel smooth to touch. A wart remedy needs to analyze between the hand wart and other types of warts.

Also people who suffer with HPV will differ in their sensitivity to the virus and some people may find that they get warts over and over again, whilst others will only get them on odd occassions. Unfortunately for those with damaged skin the HPV is able to penetrate the body more easily. Plus people who suffer with a weakened immune system are especially sensitive to HPV and will suffer with wart infections.

Warts as previously mentioned can appear on different parts of the body and below are some descriptions relating to warts found on hands, feet and flat warts types.

1. Hand Warts: These are common and will grow around the nails, on fingers and on the backs of a person's hand. They will often appear where the skin is broken on the hands. This can make a student self-conscious in class and it is something that one feels a lot as we use our hands for so many applications.

2. Foot Warts : These are also known as plantar warts and generally occur on the ball of the foot, the heel and the bottom of your toes. These areas of the body are subject to weight, pressure and irritation and will have a tendency to crack and break open which provides a way for the virus to enter the body. These types of warts do not generally stick up above the skin and people of all ages are susceptible to these warts. They are most prevalent in adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16. Often they will pick up the virus in locker rooms (at school), at swimming pools or just by walking barefoot on a dirty surface. Also people who suffer from diabetes mellitus are likely to develop plantar warts and they develop in areas where sores did not heal properly before.

3. Flat Warts. These are smaller than the two mentioned above and tend to grow in large numbers as well as appearing anywhere on the body. However flat warts appear most often on the legs of women and faces of children and young adult males. These are different than the common hand wart.

So the what causes wart? As you can see the main reason for a wart is the Human Papilloma Virus.