Treating Warts: Vital parenting information from Eyewitness News

Children can get a wart anywhere, afterall they are a virual infection. There are several treatment options to consider for wart removal. For teenagers, it can be an embarrassing situation. Warts can go away on their own but they can linger for some time.

Dr. Joe Matusic, MD, Pediatrician
It generally lasts about 18 moths. I've seen some last a couple of months, some lasting a decade or more but they generally go away on their own. So we usually fix them if it bothers you, if it hurts its impinging a function or spreading rapidly.

As is the case with many illnesses, there are wives tales about how to treat warts.

Dr. Matusic
When you have someone buy it from you for a penny or rub a potato on it and put it in a bag outside. I think taking your mind off it may help because you're not irrating it.

Dr. Matusic's most trusted treatment method is liquid nitrogen. There are more over the counter methods, but he says giving the wart frostbite with liquid nitrogen, works most quickly. Although it feels like a strong pinch for up to a minute.

[he demonstrates the technique]
Dr. Matusic
You can see... nice directional spraying... freezing tissue. With this you can go and play in the mud, go swimming, do what ever you want.

There is no infection rate associated with the liquid nitrogen treatment. And Dr. Matusic says he has about a 97% success rate with this method.