Spreading common and flat warts

Hi Doc,

I have been somewhat overwhelmed with worry about spreading some very small common and flat warts which appear on my hands.

My biggest concern is spreading these warts to others, as I know I've had tremendous difficulty getting rid of them through freezing, lasers, and finally contact sensitizers (which has worked the best).

I am an active person at the gym, team sports, and interacting with people in my job and I stress that when I sweat and make contact with others or even touch objects others will use that the sweat/residues leftover risks spreading it.

I feel I am becoming slightly OCD about the whole thing, and even though I've read and been told "the chances are small" for spreading it to others, that small chance of spreading it stays in the back of my mind (considering the amount of people I come into contact with)

Can you give me any advice to put my mind at ease?

Thanks.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Sure.  Flat warts are so likely to recur after treatment that I usually don't bother treating them.  Instead I advise people to wait them out, since the body's immune system always kicks in eventually, and they just disappear.  Yours will too.  As to contagion, they basically aren't.  If they were, wouldn't you have them all over your body (and those of people you touch) by now?

Waiting is hard, but it's what you need to do,

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff