Warts: Signs and symptoms

There are a few different types of warts. The type is determined by where it grows on the body and what it looks like. The following describes the signs (what a person sees) and symptoms (what a person feels) for some of the different types of warts.

Common warts

also called vurruca vulgaris

Wart under a child's nose. Children frequently get common warts.

If you see a wart on your child's face, check your child's hands for warts. The virus that causes warts can spread from the hands to the face through touch or nail biting.
Common warts have these traits:

Grow most often on the fingers, around the nails, and on the backs of the hands.
Are more common where skin was broken, such as from biting fingernails or picking at hangnails.
Can have black dots that look like seeds (often called "seed" warts).
Most often feel like rough bumps.

Foot warts

also called plantar warts

Plantar warts. These warts appear on the sole of the foot and can be hard to treat.

Plantar warts have these traits:

Grow most often on the soles (plantar surface) of the feet.
Can grow in clusters (mosaic warts).
Often are flat or grow inward (walking creates pressure, which causes the warts to grow inward).
Can hurt, feels like you have pebbles in your shoe.
Can have black dots.

Flat warts

This type of wart has these traits:

Can occur anywhere. Children usually get them on the face. Men get these most often in the beard area, and women tend to get them on their legs.
Are smaller and smoother than other warts.
Tend to grow in large numbers — 20 to 100 at a time.