Warts - harmless pests
They are small, disgusting, annoying - but medically completely harmless: warts, or more precisely plantar warts.
First of all, it is important to realise that Warts are a viral infection. The viruses hatch under the skin and then form a thick horny layer for their own protection. And that is the main problem: this horny layer protects the wart from most treatment agents, because they only penetrate the horny layer and not where you actually want to treat the wart.
Generally speaking, it is important not to treat warts. Sooner or later they will disappear on their own. The problem is that you don't know when it will be later - it could be three weeks, three months or even three years.
As long as the warts don't bother you dramatically, e.g. because they cause pain when walking or simply look very unattractive, you don't really need to do anything. If you really want to treat them, we do this in the practice by applying a plaster with salicylic acid, which softens the horny layer. This layer is then scraped off, as this is the only way to treat the wart, as this is the only way to really get at it. What you can then do is ice the wart or treat it with a tincture.
A very good naturopathic remedy is celandine. This grows near streams and rivers and if you break open its stem, a really orange-coloured juice comes out - this is often a very good wart remedy.
What parents always want to know is why the child gets warts or how this can be prevented. I like to refer to my former Allgäu colleagues. On the one hand, they always said that a child gets warts "because that's just the way it is. There's nothing we can do." And on the other hand, their favourite "treatment method" is to pray warts away. This perhaps shows quite well how important the medical significance of the topic actually is.
So, don't despair. As a rule, just wait and see and otherwise consult your paediatrician.
Further interesting tips
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This is a regular topic of discussion in paediatricians’ surgeries, but the immediate trigger for this tip from the doctor was actually an adult: Jamal Musiala, a professional footballer at FC Bayern, caused quite a stir when he slumped to the ground, looking dazed, twice in quick succession during a match. The diagnosis: absence seizures. Here’s a brief summary of what you need to know about this from a paediatrician’s perspective.