The hard dry growth of the skin is known as wart. These are harmless in the beginning, but if not treated upon, can spread very quickly. Warts are as common disorder in childhood, just after infancy and are small benign tumours of the skin, in various shapes and sizes. Common warts are raised cauliflower like lesions, which occur most frequently on the hands. They may be either scattered or grouped and some can be either like thread or flat in shape. Eventually these warts dissolve on their own.

Symptoms of Warts:
Warts usually appear as rough elevation in the skin that occurs more frequently on the fingers, elbows, knees, face and scalp. They usually appear as small raised painless lesion with a rough-dry surface. Where there is pressure as on the soles of the feet, they may be hardly raised, but tend to be painful. They flourish in the moist areas of the body.

When warts occur on the feet, they are known as verrucae, which are most easily spread in swimming baths and bathrooms because the moist, warm atmosphere at these places is just right for this infection to be passed from person to person. Special `verrucae-socks` are worn if a verrucae is present.

Causes of Warts:
Warts are mainly caused by virus infection. Viruses usually penetrate the skin via small abrasions. Warts are unpredictably contagious and the patient may infect himself in different places. Thus, for instance, a patient may get wart on the lips, if he sucks a wart on the finger. Infection can also spread from one member of the family with a wart to other members. Constitutional factors also appear to be at the root of the troubles. These factors lead to some defects in the proper development of the skin surface in certain areas.

Treatment of Warts by Nature Cure:
Dietary measures can be helpful in treating warts, as it helps in subsiding the wart, as soon as it appears. The right kind of diet is an important part of the treatment of warts. To begin with, the patient should be kept on an all-fruit diet for about two or three days. During this period, he should take three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits such as grapes, orange, apple, pineapple, mango, pear and papaya. The warm-water enema should be taken to cleanse the bowels during this period and afterwards, if necessary.

After this diet, the patient may gradually embark upon a well-balanced diet of natural foods consisting of seeds, nuts, grains, fruits and vegetables. The emphasis should be on fresh fruits and raw vegetable salad. Further short periods on all-fruit diet at monthly intervals may be necessary until the skin condition improves. However, the patient should avoid tea, coffee, flesh foods, white flour sugar and all products made from them. He should also avoid refined foods, tinned and frozen foods, as well as spices, condiments and pickles.

Home Remedies:
Certain home remedies have been found beneficial in the treatment of warts. The most important of these is the use of castor oil. This oil should be applied generously over the affected parts every night. The treatment should be continued for several months. Milky juice of the figs is another valuable remedy. This juice should be extracted from the fresh, barely ripe fruits and applied on warts several times a day and should be continued for two weeks. Raw potatoes have been found beneficial in the treatment of warts. A potato should be cut and rubbed on the affected area several times daily, again to be continued for atleast two weeks for good results.

Onions irritate to the skin and they stimulate the circulation of the blood. Warts sometimes disappear when rubbed with cut onions. The herb dandelion is another valuable remedy for warts. The milk from the cut end of dandelion should be applied over the affected area two or three times daily. The herb marigold`s leaf juice can be applied beneficially over warts. The sap from the stem has also been found beneficial in the removal of warts.

The oil extracted from the shell of the cashewnut being acrid, vesicant and rubefacient, has proved useful in warts. It should be applied externally over the affected area in treating this condition. Certain other applications have also proved beneficial in treating this condition. These include juices of papaya and pineapple fruits and chalk powder mixed with water.

Treatment of Warts by Aromatherapy:
Add 3 drops lemon and 4 drops tea-tree in 30ml (1fl oz/6 tsps) olive oil for the treatment of warts.