The impulse to remove a bothersome skin growth like a wart can lead to the urge to simply pull it off. Warts are common, non-cancerous skin growths caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which leads to an overgrowth of skin cells. Attempting to pull a wart off is strongly discouraged because it creates immediate health risks and is often ineffective for long-term removal. The visible growth is merely the surface manifestation of a viral infection that requires careful management.
Immediate Physical Effects
Forcefully tearing a wart from the skin results in immediate, sharp pain because warts contain nerve endings. The physical trauma also causes significant bleeding. Warts contain small, thrombosed blood vessels, sometimes called “wart seeds,” which are easily damaged and torn open during forceful removal. This damage can lead to prolonged bleeding that may require sustained pressure to stop. The torn wart leaves a raw, open wound highly susceptible to contamination, so the area should be cleaned immediately with soap and water to manage bleeding and prevent complications.
Increased Risk of Infection and Scarring
The open wound created by pulling off a wart provides a direct entry point for environmental bacteria, dramatically increasing the risk of a secondary bacterial infection. Pathogens like Staphylococcus or Streptococcus can easily penetrate the torn skin barrier, leading to signs of infection such as increased pain, spreading redness, warmth, or pus-like discharge. Proper first aid involves gentle cleaning, applying an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment, and covering the wound with a clean bandage.
The violent tearing of tissue also raises the possibility of permanent scarring or discoloration. Scarring is a common complication when skin is damaged deeply, especially when the trauma is severe or when an infection develops. This damage can result in textural changes, such as an indentation, or pigment changes like post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
Why Warts Return or Spread
Warts are fundamentally a viral infection, and pulling off the physical growth does not address the underlying cause. The human papillomavirus remains embedded in the deeper layers of the skin, meaning only the visible, superficial portion of the wart is removed. Since the virus and infected cells are still present beneath the surface, the wart has a high likelihood of growing back in the same spot.
A more serious concern is the risk of autoinoculation, which is the process of spreading the infection to other parts of the body. When a wart is torn off, the exposed tissue and blood are rich with active HPV particles. These viral particles can easily transfer to surrounding healthy skin or be carried by hands, contaminated tools, or a towel to cause new warts elsewhere. Amateur removal methods fail to eliminate the virus entirely, allowing it to remain dormant and frequently causing warts to return or spread.
Safe and Effective Wart Removal
Instead of attempting self-removal, individuals should pursue established methods to safely eliminate the growth and the virus. Accessible over-the-counter treatments typically contain salicylic acid, which works by slowly peeling away the layers of the wart and stimulating an immune response. These products, available as liquids, gels, or medicated pads (often 17% concentration), must be applied consistently over several weeks.
For persistent, large, painful, or sensitive warts, professional medical treatment is the safest option. A doctor or dermatologist can perform in-office procedures such as cryotherapy, which involves freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen to destroy the tissue. Other professional methods include electrosurgery, which burns the wart tissue, or prescription-strength topical treatments. These professional options carry a lower risk of scarring and spreading the virus than picking or pulling.