If you have warts, avoid touching other areas of your body. Not only can you spread warts to other people, you can spread them to other parts of your body, too. Even wet skin is more susceptible to HPV infection than dry skin is. Scratching your skin or shaving just before or after being exposed to warts increases your chance of getting them. If you have a cut on your foot or hand, you’re more likely to be infected with warts when you’re exposed to them. You can even become infected with warts in a public bathroom. For instance, you could pick up warts if you walk barefoot at a public pool or if you use a towel or bath mat that someone with warts used before you did. You may have also caught warts from a public area.

You probably caught your warts from another person, through skin-to-skin contact.

Warts are contagiousĪlthough warts are benign and aren’t serious, they can be highly contagious. The type of HPV involved in warts causes the keratin in your skin to build up, creating little mounds of hard flesh on affected areas, usually your hands or feet. Human papillomavirus isn’t just one virus: It’s a family of viruses that comprise about 150 varieties. Isn’t HPV considered a sexually transmitted disease? Doesn’t it cause cervical cancer? Isn’t it highly contagious? When you find out that warts are caused by HPV, you’ll likely get upset. If you have warts, here’s what you need to know about them.

The expert dermatologists and skin specialists at Specialists in Dermatology treat warts at our offices in Houston, Texas, and The Woodlands, Texas. Although they’re mainly a cosmetic problem, if you have warts, you may feel self-conscious and even ashamed. Warts, otherwise known as verruca vulgaris, are an extremely common skin anomaly that’s caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Can you get hpv from touching hands