Verruca Vulgaris And Nail Biting (Warts)

Warts are contagious skin growths that can appear on many parts of our body that occur due to the Human papillomavirus (HPV). They typically appear on the hands, fingers, and near the fingernails. Specifically, warts often appear on the edge of the nail, even below the nail, on the cuticle, on the finger itself and possibly on the pad of the finger. Warts can also appear on other parts of the body like genitals from a different HPV strain.

Nail Biting

Relevant to nail biters is that verruca vulgaris (common warts) often appear on our hands and fingers that we bite which can introduce the virus to our mouth during nail biting. While warts on the tongue and lips aren’t common, they can occur and removal can be more difficult than on the hands since it typically involves a surgical procedure.

Warts enter our body when the HPV virus enters through a cut or other method like in our mouth or lips through nail biting. And HPV is just one of the infections that can enter our body through nail biting since the biting and picking can cut the skin and make it easier for bacteria to enter. Broken skin and hangnails can also assist in spreading infection.

Verruca Vulgaris Oral

Research has shown that we can transfer warts from our fingers or hands to our mouth from nail biting. While verruca vulgaris oral (mouth warts) is rare on the tongue, they can occur. Children have a tendency to put their fingers and hands in their mouth without much regard to cleanliness.

Further research shows the degree to which children pass warts from their hands onto other body parts:

The majority of mucosal warts are seen in those children who also have warts on hands. In such cases the virus may be transported to the lips and tongue during an act of chewing of warts on hands. 

NCBI

While it can be difficult to get kids to keep their hands out of their mouth, it’s important to get the warts treated as soon as possible before they either spread on your child or within your household.

Adult nail biters often show the same disregard for mouth health when we have warts as kids although we should know better.

Treatment

Warts on the hands and fingers are often hard to treat. While over the counter products might work, cryotherapy – freezing them with liquid nitrogen – is often the quickest and most effective way to get rid of them. Fingers tend to get wet from hand washing and sweat so warts have a good breeding ground. Cryotherapy tends to work within a week or so and in my experience, got rid of three warts I had on my fingers and thumb in one go.

As far as warts inside the mouth go, that’s usually a surgical procedure to remove them as it’s doubtful you’d find a doctor who would suggest cryotherapy in the mouth.

Summary

Nail biters should be particularly careful about putting hands in their mouth with a wart or other infectious and contagious conditions. Cuts in the mouth and the dampness of the mouth make it an ideal place for warts to spread as do the lips area.

While warts can go away on their own, my one situation with three warts on my hand had been there for over a year before I finally got rid of them at the doctor with cryotherapy.

In order to get rid of warts and stop them spreading to other areas, make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible to get them removed. In the meantime, don’t pick at or try to cut or remove the wart yourself. If it bleeds it can easily spread further.

You might put a bandaid on the wart to keep it from coming into contact with other parts of your body to avoid spreading the virus. Don’t use the same emery board or clippers or other personal care tools around the wart(s). And don’t share personal effects like towels, soap, shavers, etc with someone who has a wart or if you have one.