Do you have warts? Then you aren’t alone. Warts affect approximately one out of 10 people. For children and teenagers, that rate is much higher at 33%.
Although warts are quite common, you no doubt want the small, coarse excrescences on your hands, feet, knees or elbows gone. Thanks to Twin Cities Foot & Ankle Clinic’s Swift microwave therapy, your wish can be easily granted!
But what exactly causes warts – and how does the aptly named Swift treatment eliminate them so effectively?
What Causes Warts?
Warts are caused by exposure to human papillomavirus, or HPV. Although HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, warts are also transmissible by touch alone. Once HPV enters a small cut on the skin, it can cause a skin infection which produces a wart.
Direct skin contact can transmit any of the several different types of HPV that cause warts. Indirect skin contact can transmit HPV as well, which is why people who frequent communal showers are more likely to get warts.
Are Warts Dangerous?
Fortunately, the vast majority of warts are completely harmless. Thanks to your body’s immune system, which actively seeks out and kills HPV, a wart will typically go away naturally within one or two years. You should seek medical attention if a wart is painful or showing signs of infection. Otherwise, you can safely ignore it without any risk to your health.
How Are Warts Removed?
Although the podiatrists of Twin Cities Foot & Ankle Clinic categorically abstain from judging anyone’s physical appearance, you may not feel very tolerant toward your own warts. Most people feel that way, which has driven dermatologists to develop multiple treatments for wart removal.
- Chemocautery is essentially chemical cauterization. The doctor carefully applies prescription-strength acid to the wart to dissolve it.
- Cryosurgery is the method of destroying skin lesions via localized application of freezing temperatures. Essentially, a doctor applies -320° F liquid nitrogen to the wart to destroy it and the underlying skin.
- Excision is simply a physician’s word for cutting. Among other things, surgery is a common treatment for a wide variety of unwanted and potentially harmful growths.
- Pulsed dye laser, which is commonly implemented to remove a number of different birthmarks, is also suitable for wart removal. It emits bright light which kills abnormal blood vessels, including those which HPV has infected.
That list of treatments isn’t exhaustive. Indeed, it omits what is arguably the most effective and comfortable solution to wart removal ever devised: microwave radiation. It is the type of energy emitted by the Swift system, which is currently used to treat warts and other soft tissue lesions by dermatologists and podiatrists alike.
How Does Swift Wart Removal Treatment Work?
The Swift system’s applicator device emits a small amount of microwave energy. Although gentle, the small bombardment of electromagnetic radiation is sufficient to excite the water molecules within the wart until they begin quickly brushing up against one another. The resultant friction is warm enough to destroy the root of the wart – as well as eradicate the HPV living inside it.
Is Swift Treatment Dangerous?
Not at all. The Swift’s applicator device emits extremely weak microwave energy. It is incapable of producing harmful heat, and the radiation it creates is comparable to that of a cell phone. Swift treatment inflicts no damage to surrounding skin, just like it carries zero adverse side effects. The FDA fully cleared the Swift system for noninvasive treatment of soft tissues in 2018 for these and other reasons.
Is Swift Treatment Fast?
Extremely so, yes. Because the Swift device’s applicator does not have to penetrate the skin, there is no need for anesthetic or post-procedural dressing. A single Swift treatment typically lasts no longer than 10 minutes. The majority of warts are completely removed after three or four treatments, which may be each scheduled one month apart. Better yet, any discomfort caused by Swift treatment normally subsides before the patient leaves the office.
Dr. Sperling and Dr. Felton only began offering Swift treatment at Twin Cities Foot & Ankle Clinic after careful study and review. Doctors of medicine must exercise enormous caution before they brand any treatment as “revolutionary,” although the Swift system’s results truly do warrant that label.
If you would like to experience just how quickly, comfortably and completely the Swift system removes warts, then we welcome you to contact us today to schedule your initial consultation and treatment at our clinic in Golden Valley, MN!