There are several tips that you can use that will help you to both prevent warts and to help keep them from spreading once they appear. The key is to avoid contact with the HPV that causes the wart in the first place.
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| Credit:wartalooza.com |
Wart Prevention Tips
1. Try to avoid contact, do not rub, scratch or pick at any wart to help prevent self-infection. The viral particles can be spread to other areas of the skin. Picking and scratching the wart can cause the skin to open, in turn leading to bleeding and the possibility for infection. HPV can also be spread simply by coming into contact with skin or blood that comes from a wart.
2. After touching a wart, you have to be able to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, then dry with a clean towel or an air drying unit. Hands can be exposed to HPV while touching doorknobs, hand rails, seats, tables and other areas in public that you may not even think twice about touching. Even shaking hands with others can cause transmission of warts, so you always want to wash your hands to prevent it from happening.
3. If you have a wart, you should cover it with athletic tape or a bandage to help keep it from spreading to other people or areas that are currently uninfected. Having a wart covered can also help you to avoid scratching. If you happen to have a cut or scratch on the skin, you need to be able to keep it covered until your wart heals so that you can minimize transmission of HPV and other warts forming.
4. Stay away from biting your nails if you want to reduce the possibility of developing warts, especially those such as periungal warts. Biting hangnails or fingernails can lead to small tears on the fingertips that will leave an opening for HPV to make its way in. If you start to notice that you or your child has a difficult time stopping nail biting, then it will be best to look for treatments that will slow or stop the habit in general.
5. Never share personal care items such as towels, razors, nail clippers and other items with other people so that you can keep the HPV from spreading even if you do not have any warts that are visible. If you shave over a wart, you are lifting up skin cells that can then be transferred to the razor. When someone else uses it, they are then going to be subjected to the wart virus. If you already have warts or you are prone to them, you should never allow anyone to use any of your personal care items.
6. Always keep your feet dry, because when they sweat the moisture can start to increase your chances of wart development. Be sure to apply foot powder or wear socks that will be able to absorb any excess moisture. If your feet sweat heavily, this is something that should be kept up with as warts can be hard to control if they have a warm and moist environment where they can thrive. Take the initiative to change your socks on a daily basis so that you are not left with damp feet. Allow your shoes to fully dry before you put them on again.
7. Be sure that you are wearing shoes at all times when you are in public areas, especially when it is a place that is frequented by others who may not have shoes on. This will include parks, public pools, public showers and more. If you have any open cuts or some sort of blistering, this is extremely important so that you can avoid exposure at all times. The plantar wart virus is spread easily through contact with any sort of infected surface. Warm, moist surfaces are always going to be the preferred environment for human papilloma virus, allowing for easy contraction in public areas.
8. Try to avoid irritating areas on the soles of your feet because warts can grow easily on skin that is broken or injured in some way. Wearing narrow high heels that are a bit too tight can lead to the sides of your toes or feet to irritation and sores that are created by constant rubbing, which will then be a break for the HPV to make its way in.
9. Work on boosting your immune system so that you can fight HPV and prevent warts from coming back. Everyone has a different immune system, so coming into contact with anyone who has HPV may impact you differently than someone else. You can try to keep your immune system nice and healthy as well by getting plenty of water into your body, eating right, getting enough sleep, cutting out stress and more. Some of the top super foods to help with immune boosting includes onion, garlic, berries and mushrooms.
10. Always use condoms during intercourse to reduce the risk of transmission. Keep in mind, however, that condoms do not cover all of the areas of the skin during sexual intercourse so you need to be mindful of exposure. HPV can actually live in areas of the genitals that are not going to be covered by a condom and having multiple sexual partners can increase your risks.
11. Avoiding oral sex will help you to cut down on the transmission of HPV and the development of warts in the throat or mouth. If you do engage in oral sex, always use a condom to try to cut down on your risk of exposure.
12. Never share sex toys and be sure that you cleanse any of your sex toys before storing them just to be on the safe side.
13. Getting a vaccine for HPV can reduce the chance to grow genital warts and can be helpful for prevention. Talk with your physician about your options for such a vaccination and how they work.
Should you end up having one then try to fight the warts the natural way. It often works and you will have many of the needed ingredients in your pantry anyway!
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