A wart is a small growth on the skin that may look like a small cauliflower or a solid blister. These appear typically on a person’s hands and feet though it can also appear on other parts of the body. Warts are always the same color as the person’s skin and have the same tone s the surrounding skin. HPV causes the hard protein on the top layer of the skin called keratin to grow very quickly.
Warts are caused by a virus called human papilloma virus or HPV. Since there are several kinds of HPV, the type of warts they result in also differs. HPV infections are spread through contact with the shoes or towels of someone with the infection though most often, skin to skin contact is responsible for an HPV infection that leads to the development of warts.
HPV can also spread to other parts of the body of a person bites an existing warts or scratches it, sucks his fingers, bites fingernails which may result in the warts to grow around fingertips and nails. At times, shaving legs or face can also cause HPV to spread to these areas from an infected part of the body.
Since different strains of the virus have different potencies, they may be easy or difficult to pick up. A person’s own immune system may also have a role to play in how easily they pick up such an infection. A relatively healthy person may not pick up HPV as easily as a person with a weakened immune system may.
Another point to remember is that person-to-person HPV infection is relatively uncommon though it does exist. Also, genital warts are a lot more contagious than any other strain of the skin-to-skin HPV though it can easily be prevented by simply using adequate protection.
