Wart Removal for Children

Warts are small bumps caused by the human papillomavirus that form on a person's skin and have a tough surface. Often flesh colored, they can also appear tinged with white, gray, pink or brown. Contagious skin infections, warts affect both children and adults and can form on any part of the body, though they are commonly found on the feet and hands. They can be removed from children in several ways.

Home Treatment

• If you suspect that your child has a wart, take her to the doctor for a diagnosis, especially if this is the first time she's had one. It's possible that she could have another type of skin condition. If your doctor confirms that your child has a wart, ask about starting treatment at home. This can spare the child painful medical treatment as well as the fear she may have of medical procedures performed in the doctor's office. Also, consider waiting for a wart to go away on its own, but this can take a long time.

  Get your doctor's approval to treat your child with an over-the-counter medicine designed specifically for warts. This type of medication uses acids to deteriorate the wart's dead skin cells. In time, such a treatment should cause the wart to slough off altogether. These treatments come in solution or patch form.

  It may help to soak the wart in warm water for several minutes before you apply the treatment, and then file the dead skin away. Follow up with the treatment you purchased. Be careful when applying the treatment to your child's skin, as such medications can damage the healthy skin that surrounds the wart.

Duct Tape

• If you are uncomfortable applying chemicals to your child's delicate skin, opt for the duct tape method. Cover his wart with duct tape for several days. Remove the tape and soak the wart in warm water, following up by filing it to get rid of dead skin. Finally, apply a fresh piece of duct tape and wait several days before soaking and filing it again. This is a long process that could take a couple of months to prove effective, but it may be helpful for children who are frightened by other treatment methods.

Medical Treatment

• Sometimes warts can be stubborn and require medical treatment. For a stubborn wart, visit your child's doctor and ask him to freeze it off. This treatment, called cryosurgery, involves applying liquid nitrogen to the wart, which freezes and destroys the offending tissue. According to the Mayo Clinic, this is an effective method of wart removal, causing the wart to fall off within several days. However, your child may need more than one treatment, and this method can be a bit uncomfortable.

  Laser surgery is another option for treating warts, but it's used less often in children because it can cause scarring. Additionally, it tends to be more expensive than other methods.