Learn how to keep you and your clients safe from this unsightly and contagious skin condition.
by Tracy Morin
A wart is one of those skin conditions that is common enough to have spawned an entire mythology. We've all heard the stories about warts being spread by frogs or toads (and even witches), along with the dozens of folk remedies supposedly proven to heal them. However, warts themselves are less straightforward than you'd think. Caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), warts, like other viruses, can lie dormant for months or years before signs of them physically manifest. That's why they often seem to appear from nowhere—and can disappear just as suddenly. However, warts are extremely contagious, and as a nail technician you need to know exactly how to keep you and your clients safe.
Wart Statistics* |
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the name of a group of viruses that includes more than 100 different strains.
- Approximately 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV.
- About 6.2 million people become newly infected with HPV each year.
- In 90% of cases, the body's immune system clears an HPV infection naturally within two years.
- Flat warts tend to grow in large numbers—20 to 100 at any one time.
*Sources: American Academy of Dermatology, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention |
Getting the Facts
According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), several types of warts exist:
Common warts grow on fingers, around nails and on the backs of hands, commonly appearing where the skin has broken. Clients who tend to bite their fingernails or pick at a hangnail may be prone. They can also be called seed warts, due to the appearance of black dots on the wart (the dots are actually blood vessels).
Plantar warts most commonly appear on the soles of the feet. When they grow in clusters, they're sometimes called mosaic warts. This type of wart is usually flat, not raised—the pressure of walking often flattens them. Plantar warts can cause pain; people often complain that it feels like they're walking on a pebble.
Flat warts are smoother and smaller than other types, and often grow in multiples. In children they may appear on the face while adults get them on the beard area (men) or on the legs (women), possibly caused by irritation from shaving.
Regardless of type, warts can take a while to appear on skin after HPV has entered the body. "Warts are caused by a virus that usually gets into the skin from a cut, and it can take up to two years from exposure to when the warts actually appear," says Sandra Marchese Johnson, MD, FAAD, from Johnson Dermatology in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and author of Warts: Diagnosis and Management: An Evidence Based Approach. She notes that some people, including those with weakened immune systems, are more likely to catch the virus than others.
 Unfortunately, working as a nail technician where you are frequently touching and working with other people's skin, you're likely to be exposed to the virus. "People get warts from other people," says Dr. Robert Brodell, professor of internal medicine, dermatology, at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Warren, Ohio. "For example, they can occur from walking on the ground with bare feet or through skin-to-skin contact. They can be spread from one person to another, or on the same person from one body part to another area of the body."
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