Plane warts
- flesh coloured or pigmented, well-defined, very slightly raised, flat-topped lesions
- the surface of a plane wart is smooth or very slightly roughened
- plane warts may occur anywhere but especially occur on the hands, limbs and face
- plane warts may be misdiagnosed, especially on the face, where they are liable to be treated with topical steroids, in which case they spread
- they may exhibit the Koebner phenomenon - occur in lines corresponding to scratch or other such trauma
Management:
- seek expert advice
- do not respond well to topical preparations
- in general, eventually disappear spontaneously and lesions on the limbs are often best ignored
- facial lesions may be treated with topical freezing techniques such as liquid nitrogen (used by an experienced practitioner for a short exposure). Salicylic acid (cream) and curettage and light cautery are other options (1)
- post-inflammatory pigmentation may occur in patients with pigmented skin and may take months to resolve
Reference:
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