Warts for the Whole Family!

[sparky13]

A few years ago, my brother-in-law came down with warts on his hands. My niece, his daughter, developed warts on her hands within a year. Her mother speculated that they were caused by "hormones," since the girl was 14 at the time. Her mother subsequently began noticing warts on her own hands. Although I don't know very much about warts, I felt they were probably being caused by a virus, bacteria or some other contagion, otherwise they would not suddenly appear on three members of the same family.

A year ago, the father left his wife and child and came to live with his sister, another sister-in-law of mine. Her family now has warts. I am a little concerned about allowing my children to visit over there, since I don't want them to suddenly start sprouting warts hither and yon.

So, my questions are: Are warts contagious? If so, by what mechanism? Once a person develops warts, what is the most effective treatment with the least amount of medical input (my husband's family is full of people who believe blue-green algae will cure cancer/let them live forever/bring their vision back to 20-20, etc.)? Assuming someone pulls themselves together long enough to actually see a doctor, does anything a regular physician can do yield better results than over-the-counter treatments?

Thanks for your advice!
Sparky

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

One reason so many interesting treatments are suggested for warts is that warts disappear by themselves when they're good and ready, just as you report.

Thanks.

Dr. Rockoff

[2mini]

My gr-daughter's warts just disappeared after a year or so!          
I have read to use "fresh" pineapple juice on them,or crushed vitanin-C, I would take vitamin-C with this treatment.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Interesting....

Although as a virus, warts are contagious in theory, in practice they are not.  I say this as someone who (literally) sees warts every day.  Every now and then, more than one family member has a wart at a given time, but in the vast majority of cases, nobody else has them.

How then to explain that your brotherin-law's daughter and mother came down with warts?  Coincidence--warts are so common (universal, really) that it's not that remarkable for more than one person in the vicinity to have them too.

I therefore think it's not necessary to treat your brother-in-law as a kind og warty Typhoid Mary.  Feel free to shake hands, even.

Hand warts often respond promptly to freezing with liquid nitrogen.  Over-the-counter applications (salicylic acid) are tedious and usually don't make the warts go away any faster than they would have on their own.  But warts do go away themselves when they're good and ready, and since they aren't contagious, it's OK to wait.

I have to try some of that blue-green algae . . .

Best.

Dr. Rockoff