Skin Problems & Treatments Health Center

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If home treatment, cryotherapy, or medicine does not eliminate your wart, your doctor may try to surgically remove the wart. Options include:

• Electrosurgery and curettage. Electrosurgery is burning the wart with an electrical current. Curettage is cutting the wart off with a sharp knife or a small, spoon-shaped tool. The two procedures are often used together.
• Laser surgery, which is burning the wart off with an intense beam of light.

For electrosurgery, curettage, and laser surgery, a local anesthetic is used to numb the skin before the procedure.

What To Think About

Nonprescription salicylic acid is as effective as or more effective than other treatments, with minimal risk and pain.¹

Other treatment options include the medicines 5-fluorouracil and cimetidine and using light or lasers (photodynamic therapy).

Factors to consider before treatment

• Cost. Home treatment is often as effective as treatment by a doctor and costs less. But home treatment may take longer. Less expensive home treatments include tape occlusion or nonprescription salicylic acid.
• Ability to tolerate pain. Quicker but more painful methods include some topical medicines (such as cantharidin) or cryotherapy. You may want to pick a slower, less painful method of wart removal. These methods include tape occlusion and salicylic acid treatments.
• Potential for scarring. Scarring is the most important thing to think about when choosing a wart treatment. Scarring from treatment may be permanent and can be as painful as the wart itself. The bottom of the foot is especially sensitive, a consideration in the case of plantar warts. Scarring is also a cosmetic concern. Treatments that are less likely to leave a scar include salicylic acid, cryotherapy, and laser surgery.
• Risk of infection. Treatment can sometimes cause infection. If you have an impaired immune system or a condition such as diabetes or peripheral arterial disease, discuss your increased risk of infection with your doctor. You may need to take special precautions.
• History of recurrent warts. If you have a history of warts that come back, you may want to discuss more aggressive treatment methods with your doctor.
• Location and number of warts. Large areas covered by warts may be better treated with salicylic acid than with more painful, potentially scarring methods.
• Age. Painful treatments, such as cryotherapy, may not be appropriate for young children. If you are older than age 60 and have never had warts, you may want to see a doctor to check any skin growths for skin cancer.
• Time needed for treatment. Topical (putting medicine on the wart) treatment is often slower than surgical treatment. Some treatment methods, such as immunotherapy applied by a health professional, require repeated office visits. In such cases, the expense and inconvenience may outweigh the benefits of therapy.