Read our guide to recognising the signs & symptoms of verrucas in children & find out more about the treatment options available

Warts are not harmful, but some people find them itchy, painful or embarrassing. Verrucas are more likely to be painful – like standing on a needle. Al Aboud AM, Nigam PK. Wart. StatPearls Publishing. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books, last updated 8 August 2022 Do not use Scholl Verruca Removal System if you are allergic to salicylic acid or any of the other ingredients listed in the patient information leaflet. The main indication for treating verrucas is intolerable pain or tenderness on walking. This is usually because of the hard skin that accumulates around the wart. So, in short: Before applying the treatment, soften the wart by soaking it in water and rubbing it with an emery board or pumice stone to remove any excess hard skin.Freezing warts may also be effective. Many GPs and practice nurses are skilled at this. You can also get private treatment with cryotherapy from podiatrists. Liquid nitrogen is commonly used. The nitrogen is sprayed on or applied to the wart. Liquid nitrogen is very cold and the freezing and thawing destroys the wart tissue. To clear the wart fully it can need up to 4-6 treatment sessions, sometimes more. Each treatment session is a couple of weeks or so apart. You should avoid using Scholl Verruca Removal plasters with other verruca treatments unless your doctor has told you otherwise. Speak to your doctor or a pharmacist for advice. What should I do if I forget to apply Scholl Verruca Removal System when I should? Not every child develops a verruca, even in a shared environment such as a changing room or a swimming pool. Some children are more prone than others but no-one is sure why this is. Treatment for verrucas

If you become pregnant while using Scholl Verruca Removal System, speak to your doctor as soon as possible. Other safety information Try not to get the acid on the skin next to the wart, as it may become irritated. You can protect the nearby skin by putting some Vaseline® on the normal skin beforehand, or by putting on a plaster with a hole in it which just exposes the wart for treatment. There is no need to treat warts if they are not causing you any problems. Half the number of children with warts will find they have disappeared within a year without any treatment. Two-thirds will have gone within two years. Sometimes warts last longer, particularly in adults or if you have a weakened immune system (immunosuppressed), in which cases warts may persist for many years. If you have any concerns about any of the information presented in the leaflet, discuss them with our online medical team or speak to a pharmacist. Who should not use Scholl Verruca Removal System?

Treatment of warts and verrucas

Most warts and verrucas go away by themselves, so it’s often best just to leave them alone, especially in children. But if your wart or verruca is bothering you, there are some things you can try at home to help get rid of it. It’s important to be aware that these don’t always work. Duct tape

If you have a wart or verruca, taking the following measures may help to stop it spreading to other people. Don’t use salicylic acid preparations on your face or large areas of skin. This is because it can cause irritation and scarring. There are various lotions, paints and special plasters that contain salicylic acid. This acid burns off the top layer of the wart. You can buy salicylic acid at pharmacies, or your doctor may prescribe one.If these don't work, a podiatrist can offer treatment with stronger acid. This is a new treatment developed in the UK which uses precise doses of microwave energy delivered directly through a probe. This allows the energy to be targeted very precisely, heating and destroying the verruca. It only takes a few seconds and does not need local anaesthetic. Cryotherapy is the process of freezing your wart using liquid nitrogen so it falls off. Your doctor applies the liquid nitrogen to your wart using either a spray or a cotton bud. It takes between five and 30 seconds. You usually need to repeat the treatment every two to three weeks until the wart has gone, up to a maximum of six times. It sometimes leads to blistering or scarring of your skin and can be painful, so it is not recommended for younger children.

Make an appointment at your GP surgery

If warts on the hands and feet continue to cause difficulties there are a number of treatments that can be tried. People more likely to improve with treatment are younger people with common warts. People less likely to respond to treatment are those with mosaic warts older people, and those with a weakened immune system (immunosuppressed). Common warts can be managed as follows: There are many creams, gels and medicated plasters for treating warts and verrucas. You can buy these over the counter at a pharmacy. If you see a GP about a wart or verruca, they will usually suggest this first too.

Try to get as little as possible of the treatment on the surrounding area because it can cause irritation to healthy skin. Protect the skin around the wart with petroleum jelly or soft paraffin. Avoid getting the treatment on broken skin. On the seventh day, remove the tape, soak the wart in water and rub with an emery board or pumice stone. There’s some evidence that cryotherapy may help to remove warts and verrucas, but it hasn’t been shown to work any better than salicylic acid treatment. Not all GP practices carry out cryotherapy. And depending on where you live, it’s not always available on the NHS for wart and verruca treatment. This means you may need to pay to have the treatment privately.There are over-the-counter cryotherapy preparations that claim to remove warts and verrucas. These are a type of cryotherapy that you apply yourself at home. You can buy them at a pharmacy. They contain other gases that act to freeze the wart or verruca. However, there is very little evidence to support their use. They can’t freeze at temperatures as low as liquid nitrogen, so they’re unlikely to work as well. Specialist treatments