Warts are ugly skin growths that are caused by a human papillomavirus or HPV. Children are commonly afflicted by warts which may usually grow on the face, elbows, hands, or knees. They can be flat or somewhat raised and they often come out in clusters. Flat warts don't cause cancer, but they can easily be spread through contact.

Here's an easy to follow guide to flat wart removal:

The quickest way to prevent flat warts from spreading is by not picking on them. Picking on your warts will only spread them to other areas of your body which are not infected.

Check out your local drug store and get an over-the-counter medicine that can be used to treat flat warts. Normally, the composition of these medicines includes a chemical that dries up the outer portion of skin which makes it easier to peel it off.

If the warts still prove to be bothersome and annoying, schedule an appointment with your doctor. He can either freeze or burn the warts off, or hand you a prescription for medication that will best treat your warts.

If your prescription gets to be costly and impractical, you can always do your own research and check some alternative treatments. For starters, you can tape a small piece of the inside of a banana peel to the wart and sleep with it nightly for two weeks straight. You can also make a paste from crushed vitamin C tablets by adding a little water and applying it directly to the wart for two weeks. Another thing that you may try is placing some crushed or sliced garlic on the wart for a week while sleeping.

If all else fails, just wait for your flat warts to go away. When the warts are left alone, most of them will disappear on their own within two years.

Just remember that the secret to flat wart removal is persistence. Don't get tired of continuing the treatment until all traces of the wart infection are gone. Always use fresh towels and washcloths when bathing and drying off. Since this is caused by a virus that can easily be spread, you can as easily re-infect yourself as well. To be on the safe side, it is best to consider checking everyone in your household for warts so that you can treat everyone at once and help prevent re-infection.

Another great idea is to add vitamin C to your diet as supplements. It is beneficial as it helps give your immune system the extra strength to fight viral and bacterial infections of all sorts.

Bear in mind that the goal here is to catch your warts in its early stages. Flat wart removal will be quicker this way, and it will be a lot less likely to return. Take note, however, that when a wart is more pronounced or overly large, or show signs that it has already established itself on your skin, the treatment can take longer and can be a real pain. So nip it at the bud while you still can!