Wart Removal Cost

Warts are small growths on the skin caused by an infection of the upper layer of the skin with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Common warts appear mainly on the hands and arms, and plantar warts on the soles of the feet. Genital warts appear on and near the genitals.

The virus can be transmitted from person to person through direct or indirect contact when two people come in contact with the same surface, such as a floor or desk. Warts can appear at any age, but are more common in older children, being rare in the elderly.

About 50% of warts disappear after two years from their appearance, without the need for any treatment. However, warts are contagious and can spread to other parts of the body or to other people. That is why they must be treated immediately after their appearance.

How Much Does Wart Removal Cost?

The cost of wart removal depends on some factors such as the number of warts and their size, where are they placed on the body, and the treatment method used.

In general wart removal costs are covered by health insurance.

Warts are small growths on the skin that can cause pain, redness, and itching. The American Academy of Family Physicians offers a primer for how to treat them in your home or office with over-the-counter products like duct tape or betadine solution which will remove pesky warts quickly.

You might also like our articles about the cost of Keloid removal, sebaceous cyst removal, or Accutane to treat acne.

This home wart removal treatment with over-the-counter products will cost you around $35.

For intralesional immunotherapy, that is a pretty new wart removal method for which, in general, three treatments are necessary, you will have to pay around $200.

Pulsed dye laser therapy is a wart removal method that requires one to three treatment sessions and costs around $365 total.

Wart removal through freezing or cryotherapy costs around $615, including the initial visit and three to four treatment sessions.

Wart removal details

Treatment options for healing warts consist of: chemical solutions with salicylic acid, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde or lactic acid, cryotherapy or surgery.

The treatment of warts with salicylic acid or other chemicals is especially effective in the case of warts located on the hands and consists of the daily application of a gel, a solution or tincture to the lesion for a period of 3 months. This method is contraindicated in patients with plantar warts diagnosed with diabetes, as there is a risk of slow healing of the skin. Caution is also advised when applying such solutions, as they may cause irritation.

Liquid nitrogen cryotherapy is recommended for adults and adolescents who may experience pain from this procedure. This involves freezing the wart for 5-15 minutes, in several sessions, and then a blister forms which dries and falls off. Cryotherapy is not recommended for warts near the tendons or nails, as they may cause damage. Cryotherapy can also cause hyperpigmentation and scarring that can impr0ve over time.

Surgery is not recommended because the risk of recurrence of warts is very high in the case of such a method, as well as the risk of keloid scars. However, it can be an option for large mosaic warts.

What are extra costs?

It would much more expensive to treat multiple warts and sometimes, depending on the chosen treatment method, the cost may triple.

Some treatments may not work every time and multiple methos have to be tried in order to achieve the desired result. Bleomycin is a chemotherapeutic agent used as a last-resort treatment option for the warts that can not be removed through other methods. This costs around $500 and, in most cases, requires only one treatment session.

Important things to consider

The treatment of warts is done, ideally, as soon as possible during their evolution. However, no treatment is 100% effective in all patients with warts. In children, about 50% of warts disappear spontaneously in 6 months and 90% in 2 years. Warts persist longer in adults.

It is true that there are no scientific studies to support the effectiveness of natural remedies in treating warts, but they have been shown to be helpful in certain situations. If you decide to use these methods, however, seek the advice of a dermatologist beforehand. Apple cider vinegar, banana peel and orange peel, garlic and pineapple juice are among the natural remedies that can be helpful in treating warts. You can also use raw potatoes, dandelion stem juice, aloe vera gel, propolis and castor oil.

Warts: methods of prevention

To reduce the risk of warts developing, contracting them from infected people, or giving them to other individuals, consider the following recommendations:

Do not touch anyone else’s warts.
Do not share towels, clothes, shoes, socks, or other personal items with an infected person.
Do not scratch the warts, as this may cause warts to appear on other areas of the body.
Wear slippers to the pool and cover the warts with special patches if you swim in the pool.
Change your socks daily and use antiperspirants if your feet sweat frequently.

How can I save money?

You can remove the warts that do not appear on the face or genitals yourself at home using a duct tape that costs only $10. However, this treatment could take up to two months.

If you are patient enough you can let the warts clean on their own, but this may take months or even years.

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Alec Pow

Alec Pow is a thorough and methodical Financial and Business Analyst with over 15 years of experience in financial statement analysis, Foreign exchange derivative hedging instruments analysis, modeling, and risk management, with a long history of writing for big news publications like Forbes, MSN.com, Washington Post, and many more.