What are water warts?
Water warts are contagious both through sexual contact and through other forms of close physical contact.
What are water warts?
Water warts are also called mollusks and are caused by the virus Molluscum contagiosum. It is a harmless skin disease, but it can cause eczema.
How are water warts contagious?
Water warts are contagious both through sexual contact and through other forms of close physical contact.
The infection most typically occurs between children who infect each other in institutions or at home.
Between adults, warts are typically a sexually transmitted infection.
What are the symptoms of water warts?
It takes approx. 2-7 weeks, from when you become infected, until warts appear on the skin in the form of:
- Small pink or skin-colored bumps of approximately 2-5 mm with a depression in the center of each bump
- In some, the water warts itch, because the infection causes an eczema reaction, "mollusk eczema"
The number of water warts can vary from 1-30, rarely more. If people are sexually infected, the warts are on the skin on or around the external genitalia, in the pubic hair and on the inside of the thighs. Water warts can get worse if your immune system is weakened.
Untreated, water warts typically disappear after 6-9 months, but some people have water warts that persist for several years.
How are water warts tested and treated?
The appearance of warts is characteristic and the doctor gives the diagnosis by looking at it. Treatment is often not necessary, as it is a benign disease that goes away on its own.
The treatment may consist of scraping after anesthesia, freezing or applying liniment by a dermatologist. Especially when you have eczema or warts on the face.
What are the consequences of water warts?
Typically there are no consequences, but in the case of eczema, scars can occur due to scratching – and treatment can also leave small scars in some cases.