Wart Removal in Los Angeles

What Are Warts?

Warts are skin growths caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). They typically develop on weight-bearing areas of the foot, such as the heels or balls, and cause discomfort when walking or standing. Warts may appear as rough, grainy bumps with tiny black dots, which are clotted blood vessels.

Signs and Symptoms of Warts

Not to be confused with other skin conditions, warts symptoms typically include the following:

• Thickened, rough skin with a cauliflower-like texture
• Pain or tenderness when walking
• Black pinpoint spots (clotted blood vessels)
• Warts growing in clusters (mosaic warts)

Causes of Warts

Warts are caused by direct contact with HPV, which enters the skin through tiny cuts or cracks. They are commonly contracted in public places like locker rooms, swimming pools, and gym showers, where the virus thrives in warm, moist environments.

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Wart Treatment Options

Dr. Soomekh offers effective and minimally invasive treatments to remove warts and prevent them from returning.

Over-the-Counter Medications

Most of these products are acid-based materials that attempt to kill the virus cells on the skin's surface. They come in the form of topical solutions or adhesive pads. These products can work well with very small warts or on the skin of the top of the foot or toes. However, their success is limited because they cannot penetrate deep enough to the source of the virus cells. When they do work, multiple treatments are needed.

Prescription Medications

Creams

These medications are topical-based materials that work to kill the virus cells within the skin. One of the main products is called Efudex. These work better than the OTC products but are also limited to working well for those warts on the top of the foot or toes, and smaller lesions.

Cimetidine (Tagamet) Pills

You have seen it advertised on TV many times. It cuts down on the overproduction of stomach acid. Many people do not know it, but it also stimulates cell-mediated immunity, the branch of the immune system that fights off warts. I have found it helpful for grown-ups with warts to take the 400 mg Tagamet pill twice a day during the wart treatment period and for about a month after the wart is gone. Tagamet, in my experience, works best for little kids. The dose is half of a 200 mg tablet twice daily for about one to two months. Several kids with large numbers of warts have gotten rid of all the warts with just Tagamet alone and no other treatment.

Minimally Invasive Treatments for Warts

SWIFT Immunotherapy

The most advanced treatment now used for new and chronic warts is immunotherapy via microwave technology. Dr. Soomekh’s philosophy is to treat the virus, not the symptoms of the virus. Rather than attacking the symptom of the issue (the wart), SWIFT targets the root cause: the HPV Virus. Swift Microwave Therapy uses low-dose Microwave energy to stimulate a natural immune response in the body. Targeted tissue is heated to between 43 and 46 degrees, creating a release of Heat Shock Protein 70, which alerts the body to the presence of the HPV virus. Once alerted, the body’s immune system does the rest, destroying the virus and thus clearing the warts over the course of three to four treatments. There is no aftercare treatment and virtually no pain after the procedure.

Liquid Nitrogen / Cautery

These therapies rely on extreme cold (cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen) or heat (cautery) to penetrate the top layers of skin and kill the wart cells. Each is more effective than the above treatments. However, they are only offered in a doctor’s office. The limit of these therapies is that several painful treatments are needed to eradicate the wart.

Injection Therapy

In stubborn cases and most warts on the bottom of the foot, Dr. Soomekh offers a more predictable treatment option with a single injection therapy. Bleomycin is an anti-cancer medication used for skin lesions. It is an antibiotic produced by specialized bacteria. The therapy works by injecting the medication just into the wart lesion. The medication will then kill all the wart cells and the surrounding poor skin. The patient returns to the office 10 days later to have the wart completely removed. A small wound is created that heals with healthy, normal skin within two to three weeks. This procedure is more effective and has more predictable results, returning you to normal activity sooner than other therapies.

Surgical Treatment for Warts