Warts in Children

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Children have immature immune system and this means that they are more vulnerable to warts.

The HPV virus or human papilloma virus, that causes warts, is opportunistic and will take advantage of any small scratch, cut or wound in the skin to invade warm moist places particularly on the fingers, hands and feet. Of course children being children will have more of these small scratches, cuts or wounds than adults.  Children also tend to have more skin-to-skin contact with other children than adults would plus they also share lots of items like towels, clothing, toys and more.

Fortunately for children, warts are mostly painless unless they are plantar warts on the soles of the feet.  These become painful when they start to grow inwards because of the pressure and weight of being walked on all the time.

You can try to educate your children to avoid warts by practicing good hygiene; washing their hands thoroughly in soap and water at appropriate times; wearing footwear when in public damp places like around swimming pools, in showers or locker rooms; and resisting the urge to bite their fingernails or to pick at hangnails.  In spite of these measures, there is still no guarantee that your children will avoid picking up the warts virus.

There are three main types of warts that affect children:

• Common warts which usually appear on fingers, hands, knees or elbows.  They look like a small, hard bumps shaped like a dome and a brown to grey color.  Their rough surface sometimes reminds people of a tiny cauliflower.
• Flat warts which are very small and about the size of a pinhead.  These warts have flat smooth tops and are usually the same color as your flesh.  Although commonly occurring on the face, they can also grow singly or in clusters on arms, knees or hands.
• Plantar warts are those painful warts that appear on the soles of the feet.  It is important to treat plantar warts as soon as possible as they become more stubborn and more painful the longer they are around.