How to Get Rid of Your Child’s Wart
Did you know that it’s pretty common for kids to get warts? They usually appear on their hands or feet. Even though warts can take weeks or even months to go away, they are fairly easy to treat.
In this article, we will talk about treatment for common and plantar warts that can occur in kids in places like their fingers, hands, elbows, feet, and ankles.
Different Ways to Treat Warts on Kids
It may be comforting to know that warts often go away on their own, but this can take weeks, months or even longer. If the wart is not painful or in danger of catching on anything, or is not in an area that makes your child uncomfortable or embarrassed, you don’t necessarily need to treat it.
However, since warts are caused by a contagious virus, the first thing you should do right away is cover the wart with a waterproof bandage or skin-safe, waterproof tape. This will help keep the wart from spreading to other parts of the body or to anyone else.
If you want to treat your child’s wart so it goes away faster, you have a number of options. Safe wart treatments for kids include:
- Using over-the-counter treatments – There are three main types of treatments that can be purchased without a prescription to help treat warts
- Topical Treatments– These treatments are salicylic acid gels or liquids that work to remove the wart safely and effectively over the course of several weeks. Many of these treatments come with adhesive patches or bandages to cover the wart after applying the ointment, gel, or liquid.
- Bandages – These medicated bandages contain salicylic acid that removes the wart safely and effectively over several weeks. These treatments are easier and more convenient to use on children since they are easier to apply. Our One Step Strips for Kids are easy to apply and have a fun design that kids like.
- Freeze-Off (Cryo) Treatment – These treatments remove the wart faster by freezing it. The freezing technology reaches deeper into the wart help to remove it in as little as 1 treatment. Our Compound W® Freeze-Off for Kids is specifically made for kids ages 4 and up and contains our unique AccuFreeze™ wart removal system that targets the wart while helping protect healthy skin from irritation or damage.
- Using safe home remedies – There are certain natural home remedies, such as duct tape, asprin paste and certain oils, that may help suppress the virus caused by warts or help remove layers of the infected skin. However, the effectiveness of these remedies is often anecdotal.
- Removal by a doctor – In some cases, it’s best to have a doctor remove or treat your child’s wart. This includes if the wart is:
- on your child’s face, genitals or rectum
- on a toddler or infant
- painful, red, swollen, oozing or bleeding
It’s important to use any over-the-counter products exactly as directed and keep the medicine on the wart only. This is because wart treatments can damage healthy skin if not used properly. Also, we know this can be difficult with kids, but make sure your child does not rub or pick at the wart. Doing so could cause a separate infection and/or spread the virus that caused the wart.
Despite what you might read online, please do not try to cut off your child’s wart (or your own)! Not only could this cause infection, but it also won’t cure the infection that caused the wart in the first place. This means the wart will most likely grow back.
If you think your child has a wart, do not panic! At least one third of children get them at some point. Warts on kids typically occur on the hands and feet and are easy to identify. However, if you are unsure if your child has one, or it is appearing in a less common area, such as the genitals, you should talk to your doctor to find the most appropriate treatment.
Treating Your Child’s Wart with Compound W®
Compound W® has several wart removal products that can help, including our new Compound W® Freeze Off™ for Kids Wart Remover , described above, and our Compound W® One Step Strips For Kids–the first salicylic acid wart removal treatment that is safe, effective, and designed specifically for kids ages 3 and up. It comes with medicated bandages in a fun, kid-friendly, waterproof design so you can easily and safely treat, cushion, and conceal any common wart or plantar wart on your child.
