Warts and skin growths in Malaysia: who removes them, and when a check comes first

Wart, skin tag, seborrhoeic keratosis or mole: how do they differ?

A wart is the one that is infectious. It is a small, firm, rough lump caused by a virus, which the NHS describes as common enough that most people have one at some point. It can be skin-coloured or darker, flat or raised, and on the feet a plantar wart, called a verruca in the UK, has tiny dark dots in it.

The others are not viral. A skin tag is a soft growth that hangs on a narrow stalk, usually where skin rubs. A seborrhoeic keratosis is, in DermNet's words, a harmless warty spot that looks stuck on, and over nine in ten adults over 60 have one or more. A mole is a cluster of pigment cells, and an early melanoma can look like an ordinary one.

They overlap in appearance, which is the whole difficulty. The skin-tag article names warts and seborrhoeic keratoses as everyday impostors for a skin tag, and DermNet lists seborrhoeic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma among the things a wart can be mistaken for. The name is a diagnosis, and a doctor makes it by looking.

Why is a wart a virus, and why does it spread?

Warts come from the human papillomavirus. The American Academy of Dermatology calls a wart a common, non-cancerous growth caused by HPV, and says it is contagious: it can spread to other people and to other parts of your own body. DermNet adds the mechanism. The virus travels by skin contact and by autoinoculation, which means scratching or picking one can seed new warts nearby, sometimes in a line. The incubation period can be as long as twelve months.

The NHS notes that wet or damaged skin makes spreading easier, and its advice follows from that. Wash your hands after touching one, do not share towels or flannels, do not scratch or pick, and take care when shaving so a wart is not nicked.

Most warts clear by themselves in a healthy person, though the NHS says this can take months or years. The AAD says a weakened immune system, from a condition or a medicine, can stop that happening. Treatment is therefore a choice, and sensible reasons to make it are that a wart is painful, keeps coming back, spreads or bothers you.

Who removes warts in Malaysia?

The question is who has looked at the growth, and the same list of doctors applies in Malaysia as elsewhere.

• A GP. The NHS names the GP as the first stop, and a GP may freeze a wart.
• A government clinic or hospital doctor. A doctor at a klinik kesihatan can assess a wart and, where it is stubborn, large or on the face, refer to a hospital dermatology clinic. How the referral runs in practice is set by each facility, so ask there.
• A dermatologist. The AAD says a dermatologist can treat warts in the office, usually over a few sessions. The NHS lists a dermatologist for a wart that has not responded or is on the face.
• An aesthetic doctor. Some aesthetic doctors treat small growths, so ask which method is used and whether the growth is diagnosed first. Skin specialist or aesthetic doctor sets out how to check any doctor on the public register and what each kind of doctor is trained for.

Here is what The Retreat Clinic does and does not offer. Wart removal is not among the treatments listed on its site, and the clinic does not offer fractional CO2 laser, which is one of the lasers that can ablate a wart. It does not diagnose skin cancer and does not biopsy. A growth that needs either goes to a GP or a dermatologist. Dr Ong's role with a growth he is shown is to say that it needs looking at, and where to take it.

What are the usual methods?

Plain terms, from DermNet and the NHS.

• Salicylic acid. A paint, paste or patch that wears away the surface skin of the wart. It is applied daily and takes weeks. DermNet reports about 70% of warts resolved within twelve weeks of daily use. The NHS says pharmacy products can take up to 3 months and may irritate, and that a pharmacist can advise.
• Freezing (cryotherapy). Liquid nitrogen, repeated every one to two weeks. It is uncomfortable, it can blister, and DermNet reports about 70% success after three to four months. A hard freeze may leave a permanent pale mark, which matters more in darker skin.
• Curettage and cautery. The wart is scraped away and the base sealed with heat. DermNet reserves it for large or resistant warts, reports that about 20% return within months, and says it leaves a scar.
• Laser. Vaporising laser is listed for recurrent or resistant warts. The lasers listed for wart ablation are on the designated list of the Medical Device Order 2026, so who holds the laser matters, which the Medical Device Order explainer covers.

None of these kills the virus. DermNet says warts can come back if treatment stops early, so a second course is not a failure of the first.

Why are cutting a wart, or putting acid on the face, a poor idea?

Cutting first. A wart is infectious, and cutting or picking it is how the virus gets seeded into the next patch of skin. The NHS lists scratching and picking under what not to do. A blade also leaves no clear record of what the growth was. If it was not a wart, nothing is left to examine, the same problem the mole article sets out for lasers.

The face next. The NHS says pharmacy wart creams, plasters and sprays should not be used on the face, and that a wart on the face is a reason to see a GP, with a dermatologist the next step if treatment fails. The reason given for the products generally is that they can irritate the skin. The sources read do not quantify scarring from home acid on the face, so none is claimed here. What they support is leaving facial growths to a doctor.

Seborrhoeic keratoses and skin tags are not warts, so wart paint has no business on either. The NHS says do not remove a skin tag yourself, because of infection, bleeding and scarring.

When does a check come first?

Before any removal, get a growth looked at if it:

• bleeds, crusts or will not heal;
• changes in size, shape or colour;
• grows quickly;
• is on the face, or is one you are unsure is a wart;
• keeps coming back after treatment;
• appears in someone with a weakened immune system.

The NHS gives the first, second, fourth and fifth of these as reasons to see a GP, the AAD gives the last, and DermNet says a biopsy is sometimes needed when a squamous cell carcinoma cannot be excluded by looking. A mole that changes is a question for a GP or a dermatologist, and the mole article lists the signs.

Genital warts are a separate condition. See a GP or a sexual health clinic.

The honest limit

Most warts are harmless and most will go. The reason to act is a growth that is painful, spreading, in a place that matters or in doubt, and the doubt is settled by a doctor looking before anyone burns, cuts or paints.