Some increased pigmentation in the skin may appear around the affected area, particularly for those with darker skin, although this is minimal and will disappear over time.

Yes, if your doctor decides that is the right treatment for you, the wart or verruca can be carefully cut out using a surgical scalpel.

Yes, you should be able to go back to your normal daily activities. If this is not the case your doctor will discuss this with you in your initial consultation.

There are of course various topical treatments you can use at home which are cheaper but less effective. Some may prove ineffective as warts become resistant and continually return.

All of the treatments should not leave a scar but it may take several weeks or months for the area to return to normal. 

The level of comfort depends on the removal technique recommended. Laser removal is virtually pain-free. In more sensitive areas, it is described as feeling like the flick of an elastic band. If you’re having either excision removal or cryotherapy, the area will be numbed with a local anaesthetic to ensure you are comfortable. After treatment the skin left behind may be tender for a few days and will need to be covered. It’s also best to use a high-factor sunscreen on the area for six months, as it will be more sensitive to sunlight.

Warts are easily contracted through direct contact from a wart to healthy skin. It is also possible to develop a wart through contact with objects that have been touched by someone with a wart, for example towels, shoes and socks, or swimming pool floors. As warts are contagious, the best prevention is to treat them as soon as possible to avoid them spreading to other areas of your body, or to other people.

The wart removal treatment at sk:n uses a Pulsed Dye laser to target and destroy it without damaging the healthy skin around it. The laser cuts off the blood supply to the wart, thus safely taking the wart out of the picture.

Your doctor will assess the size and location of the wart or verruca and advise you accordingly. Previously untreated or uncomplicated warts may be resolved in one treatment, in other cases further treatments may be needed to ensure optimum results. Where more than one session is required, a treatment is carried out every four weeks.

Although you may feel some mild discomfort, the laser does not generally cause any pain. Sometimes, patients with sensitive skin benefit from the use of anesthetic cream to numb the area during treatment.

While some mild discomfort may be felt, the procedure is quick and so most clients are happy to undergo treatment without the use of anaesthetic or painkillers.

Your doctor will assess the number of warts and verrucae to be treated during your consultation and advise cost.

The black or red-brown dots that are sometimes visible are smothered capillaries which are tiny blood vessels under the skin. The wart virus causes layers of skin to grow, so the capillaries die, hence the back dots.

You should wear comfortable shoes and make sure you don’t share shoes or socks with others, keep your feet clean and dry and change your socks daily. When your wart or verruca has been removed, make sure you don’t use the same nail file, pumice stone or nail clippers. 

Immediately after treatment the skin treated may be pink and tender for a few days. In some cases there may also be some blistering and you might need to keep it covered. Once the area has healed, you might notice some darkening of the skin where the wart or verruca used to be. This is temporary and the skin will go back to normal. Once the wart or verruca has been successfully treated, it will naturally dry up and fall off just as any other dead skin would.

Immediately after treatment, your doctor will apply cooling sk:n Aloe Vera Gel and Avène Thermal Water to the area to help soothe and hydrate the skin. There are no specific steps that you need to take after treatment and you can resume normal activities immediately. If you require more than one treatment, your doctor will advise you on how you can look after the area in between treatments.

You should definitely seek the advice of a medical practitioner if you are worried that the wart or verruca is growing, keeps coming back, it is painful, bleeds or has changed shape. Also if you have a wart on your face or genital area, you should seek medical advice as soon as possible. Read about our team of experts.

You can have a wart or verruca removed from anywhere on your body. Our doctors have years of experience removing them from faces and sensitive and hard to reach places. We will choose the right removal method according to the area to be treated, in order to achieve the best possible results.

In some cases, yes, but this could take months or years. In children, they are more likely to heal on their own, but in adults and people with a weakened immune system, this is much less likely.

The same wart or verruca will not grow back. Although if the virus that caused the wart or verruca is still active in your body, there is a possibility that new warts or verrucae may grow.