Is Shaving Warts an Effective Way to Get Rid of Them?
Is It Safe to Shave Off the Warts on My Face Or Legs?
Your warts are spreading. You’ve noticed that they’re worse wherever you’ve shaved. Could that have something to with it? If so, what can you do about it? You have to shave. You also want to get rid of the ugly growths, especially those on your face. You’ve heard that wart removal can leave scars, which you don’t consider to be an improvement over the warts. You’ve decided that you’ll keep shaving warts, with the hope that they’ll eventually go away a little …show more content…
bit at a time. Keep reading to learn better ways than shaving to eliminate your warts.
*Is Shaving a Cause of Warts?
Warts are caused by a virus that infects the upper layer of your skin. Once infected, your skin cells begin growing abnormally. The growth protrudes from your skin, and you see it as a wart. Warts can be removed in a variety of ways, but they can’t be permanently destroyed until the virus is eliminated.
The virus DNA becomes a part of each cell in the wart. That makes every cell in the wart contagious. If you want more information about are warts contagious, you’ll find it in this article.
Shaving doesn’t cause warts, but it does shave the top off your warts. That releases all the contagious cells. If there is a break in your skin, even one so small you can’t see it, the infected cells can invade and start a new wart.
*Shaving My Legs Gives Me Warts
The virus that causes warts is opportunistic. It will create new infections anywhere and everywhere it can find an entry in your skin. It’s easy for shaving to result in tiny nicks or scrapes in your skin, and if you have even one wart on your leg, you’ll potentially find more of them appearing.
Ways you can help prevent leg warts from spreading include:
Removing the growths
Keeping the growths covered with tape
Carefully shaving around the growths
Sterilizing your razor between uses
When you do shave, do so very carefully to minimize the nicks in your skin.
Not Every Growth Is a Wart
Skin is tough, but it’s also susceptible to a variety of growths. Common ones include:
Age spots, which occur as individuals mature. They are unsightly, but harmless.
Angiomas, which are small red growths. They are composed of capillaries and are harmless.
Freckles, especially in blondes and redheads. They result from exposure to the sun and are harmless.
Moles, which can appear in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. All moles should be evaluated by a medical professional, as some are cancerous.
Seborrheic keratoses, which are often round and can look like warts. They are harmless, but easily irritated so individual usually opt to have them removed.
Skin carcinomas, which must be examined by a doctor as soon as you notice them. They change in size, shape, and color. Skin tags are another harmless skin growth. This article explains how to distinguish skin tags vs warts.
It doesn’t matter what kind of growth appears on your skin, you should avoid trying to shave it off. Most will bleed profusely and you risk infection. You’ll often end up with a worse lesion than you started with and may require medical attention.
Warts grow only in the upper layer of your skin.
*Shaving My Face Causes Warts
It’s important to avoid shaving the top off a wart. If you do, contagious cells from the wart can start new warts nearby. The infectious cells can also live for a time on your razor and can infect any other part of your skin it touches.
Other tips include, but aren’t limited to:
Keeping your skin moisturized. Dry skin can crack or split, which provides entry for the virus
Avoiding skin care products that can irritate your skin
Refraining from scratching or picking at an existing wart
Washing your hands thoroughly before and after touching your face
If possible, stop shaving until the wart is removed.
Go Shopping for Wart Removers
Most pharmacies, grocery stores, and department stores carry a selection of wart removal products. Many contain salicylic acid in various strengths and formulations. Salicylic acid erodes warts layer by layer, and effectively removes warts for most people.
You can also purchase over the counter wart freeze products. These aren’t as strong as the liquid nitrogen used by dermatologists, but they will eliminate some warts.
Read all the labels, especially if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, as not all ingredients are safe for children. Other ingredients can cause allergic reactions in some people.
*Shaving My Private Areas Causes Warts
The skin in your private areas is very sensitive and easily irritated even during pleasurable activities. Warts thrive on warm and moist skin and they quickly make themselves at home in and around your genitals, pelvic area, and inner thighs. It’s almost impossible to avoid nicking your skin when you shave pubic hair.
To help prevent the growth of more warts “down there”:
Refrain from shaving those areas until your existing warts are gone
Practice excellent hygiene, but avoid rubbing or irritating your skin
Keep the area dry
If you use skin care products, use the gentlest available and apply carefully
Use a new razor each time you shave and avoid shaving over the warts
Most wart removal products are too harsh for your private areas and will further irritate your skin. You’ll probably need to consult a medical professional for effective removal.
Raid Your Pantry and Refrigerator to Remove Warts
Over the years, individuals have experimented with many ways to rid themselves of warts. Nearly every food item has been tried with varying degrees of success.
These might work for you:
Crush some garlic and mix with water to make a paste. Place the paste on your wart and cover with a bandage. The garlic will slowly burn off the wart.
Secure a piece of fresh pineapple to your wart. The enzymes will dissolve the wart.
Secure a piece of any citric fruit or other acidic food to your wart. The acid will erode the wart.
Home remedies have the advantages of being inexpensive, easy to obtain, and gentle. The main disadvantages are that they don’t always work, and when they do work, it’s very slowly.
*Will My Genital Warts Spread If I Shave My Pubic Hair?
Shaving any wart can lead to further infection, and genital warts are no exception. Warts are nourished by the same network of nerves and blood vessels that feed your skin. Shaving off the top of a wart can be painful, but it also leads to bleeding. Warts are very contagious and any tissue you shave off can infect healthy skin.
The wart-causing virus only infects skin.
It doesn’t enter your blood stream. But when you cause a wart to bleed, the blood can transport infected skin cells to wherever it flows. If otherwise healthy skin is irritated, the infected cells can cause the warts to spread. You can learn more here about how do warts spread.
Anatomy of A Wart
Warts are tumors that grow in the top layer of skin. Because of the shreds of tissue that can be visible when warts are removed with DIY surgery, people have come to believe that warts have roots. They do not. A wart that has been correctly scooped out will have a round and smooth bottom. The hole, or crater, left in your skin will also be smooth.
Warts are contagious and easily spread. Many of them have little black dots in them, leading people to believe that warts have seeds. They even refer to them as seed warts. This is another mistaken belief. The dots are the ends of blood vessels and do not cause infection.
Removal of Warts
Trying to shave off your warts is not a good way to remove them. You’ll also probably experience pain and excessive bleeding if you try to otherwise cut or dig out your warts. Aside from all that, you will potentially end up with scars that look worse than the wart
looked.
Experts recommend having the wart removed. The fastest and best way of wart removal is to consult a skin specialist. He or she will select the method best suited for the number of warts you have and where the growths are located. Procedures include, but are not limited to:
Destroying with a laser beam
Burning or freezing off the tissue
Surgically removing
Applying prescription-strength creams
The cost of the procedures vary. Some may leave a scar.
You may choose to try home remedies or over the counter products before contacting a doctor. You can select from dozens of remedies or products. Most are not suitable for warts located in sensitive areas, such as your genitals, or on your face.
Warts are caused by the human papilloma virus, or HPV. There is presently no cure for HPV. Regardless of how you choose to remove your warts, they can recur as long you have an HPV infection. Your immune system is the best defense against HPV. Keeping your immune system strong with good lifestyle habits can keep you from becoming infected and will suppress the virus if you are infected.