- Warts and verrucas are caused by a virus that passes through skin contact and shared surfaces.
- A large study of schoolchildren linked new warts to family members and classmates with warts, but found no significant link with swimming pools.
- Your own towel, your own socks and shoes, and no picking are simple habits that help.
- Irish childcare guidance says children with a wart or verruca do not need to be kept at home.
- Most clear up on their own in time, so waiting is a reasonable choice if one is not bothering you.
How warts and verrucas spread
Warts and verrucas are caused by a virus and can pass from person to person, especially among children. A verruca is a wart on the foot, sometimes called a plantar wart.
The virus spreads through skin-to-skin contact or through surfaces that carry it, and spreading is more likely when skin is wet or damaged. The British Association of Dermatologists points to the floors of public changing rooms, shower cubicles and the areas around swimming pools as places where infected skin scales can be picked up.
Warts can also spread to nearby skin on the same person through scratching and rubbing. It can take months for a wart or verruca to appear, so it is often hard to know where it came from.
Home, school or pool: where children catch them
A study of 1,099 primary schoolchildren, published in 2013, tracked who developed new warts. A third already had warts at the start.
Children with a family member who had warts were about twice as likely to develop new ones. The risk also rose as more children in the same class had warts, while the researchers found no significant link between swimming pool use and new warts.
| Setting | What the evidence says | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Home | A family member with warts roughly doubled a child’s chance of new warts | Own towel, face cloth, socks and shoes; no picking or scratching |
| School class | The chance rose with the number of classmates who had warts | Hands off warts, no nail biting, no swapping socks or shoes |
| Swimming pool | No significant link in the study, though changing room floors can carry infected skin scales | A waterproof plaster over a verruca, and flip-flops in showers and changing rooms |
Stopping the spread at home
Family members with warts were one of the clearest links in that study, so small habits at home are worth getting right.
- Give everyone their own towel and face cloth, and do not share socks or shoes.
- Keep feet clean and dry, and change socks and shoes every day.
- Do not scratch or pick at a wart, and gently discourage children from biting their nails or sucking fingers that have warts.
- If you file down a verruca, keep that emery board or pumice stone for the verruca only and do not use it anywhere else.
- Do not use the same nail file or nail clippers on a wart and on healthy skin and nails.
- Get rid of skin filings hygienically.
At the swimming pool and changing rooms
HSE advice is to cover warts and verrucas with a plaster when swimming, and not to walk barefoot in shared public places if you have a verruca. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust suggests a waterproof sterile plaster and flip-flops in communal showers or changing rooms.
The British Association of Dermatologists also lists rubber verruca socks as an option. Swim England, which covers swimming in England, takes a different view, saying a waterproof plaster is enough during lessons and that plastic socks should be discouraged.
The advice is to cover a verruca for swimming, not to stop swimming.
In school and childcare
Guidance from the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre for childcare settings says exclusion is not necessary for warts and verrucas, so children do not need to be kept at home. It also says there is little benefit in covering them for swimming and PE.
Even so, HSE advice is still to cover warts and verrucas with a plaster when swimming. In a busy classroom, useful habits are keeping hands off warts, not biting nails and not swapping socks or shoes.
Warts are common and most people get them at some point, so there is no reason for a child to feel singled out.
Should you treat it or wait?
Warts and verrucas usually go away on their own, although this may take months or even years. The British Association of Dermatologists says up to 65% of viral warts, including verrucas, clear without treatment within two years, usually without leaving a blemish or scar.
British dermatology guidelines say that about half of children with warts are clear of them within a year, and around two thirds within two years. Guy’s and St Thomas’ puts the usual time for a child’s verruca at six to 12 months, and up to two years for adults.
For children, dermatology advice for parents says waiting for warts to go on their own is often the best thing to do. The British Association of Dermatologists also says a verruca that is not causing symptoms such as pain should be left alone. Treating one wart does not stop new ones appearing.
If you do want to treat one, ask at the pharmacy counter about over-the-counter options. In a large review of trials, salicylic acid cleared more warts than a placebo. The HSE notes that these treatments can take up to three months to work and do not always work.
Freezing, also called cryotherapy, is another option. The British Association of Dermatologists notes that it can cause discomfort, blisters and burns, and for that reason it is not usually recommended in children. Ideally it is repeated every three to four weeks, several freezes may be needed, and it does not always work.
If you are 16 or over and would like to find out more about freezing, see our wart and verruca removal page.
Wart and verruca freezing in Portlaoise
From Monday 9 November 2026 we offer cryotherapy with a CryoPen for adults and young people aged 16 and over. A session costs €50 and takes about 20 minutes.
When to see your GP
See your GP if:
- a wart bleeds, grows or changes colour
- a wart or verruca is still there after treatment and starts spreading
- you have diabetes or poor feeling in your feet
- you have a weakened immune system, for example because of medicines that suppress it
- your child is under 16 and has a wart or verruca that is bothering them
If you have diabetes or low immunity, do not try to treat a verruca yourself. Guy’s and St Thomas’ advises seeing a podiatrist instead.
Common questions
Can my child go swimming with a verruca?
Yes. HSE advice is to cover warts and verrucas with a plaster when swimming, and Irish childcare guidance says exclusion is not necessary. A large school study also found no significant link between swimming pool use and new warts.
Does my child need to stay off crèche or school with a wart or verruca?
No. HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre guidance for childcare settings says exclusion is not necessary. Encourage your child not to pick at it, not to bite their nails and not to share socks or shoes.
How long does a verruca last?
Guy’s and St Thomas’ says a child’s verruca usually goes within six to 12 months, and an adult’s can take up to two years.
Do I need verruca socks for swimming?
Not necessarily. The British Association of Dermatologists lists waterproof plasters or rubber verruca socks, while Swim England says a waterproof plaster is enough and discourages plastic socks.
Can I spread a wart to another part of my own body?
Yes. Warts can spread to nearby skin through scratching and rubbing. Avoid picking, and keep any file or pumice stone used on a wart for that wart only.
Can children have a verruca frozen at the pharmacy?
Our freezing service is for people aged 16 and over. The British Association of Dermatologists says freezing is not usually recommended in children, so for under 16s we suggest seeing your GP.
Sources: HSE (2026), HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (2012), NHS (2023), Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (2024), British Association of Dermatologists (2022), British Association of Dermatologists and British Society for Paediatric Dermatology (2021), British Journal of Dermatology (2014), Annals of Family Medicine (2013), Pediatrics (2013), JMIR Dermatology (2021), Swim England (2016)
