Yes, verrucas are contagious, but only mildly. The virus spreads by skin contact with contaminated surfaces or with another person’s verruca, and it needs wet or damaged skin to get in, which is why pool surrounds and changing rooms are the usual source. Most people exposed do not catch one. Covering the verruca, not sharing towels and socks, and keeping feet dry are enough to protect the people around you.
Key facts
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Contagious? | Yes, mildly; most people exposed do not catch one |
| How it spreads | Wet floors, shared towels, socks and shoes, and picking it |
| Contagious for how long | Until it has fully gone and the skin lines run across it again |
| Swimming | Allowed; cover it with a waterproof plaster or verruca sock |
| At home | Separate towels, daily sock changes, no bare feet in the bathroom |
How do verrucas spread?
A verruca is caused by the human papillomavirus, which lives in the top layer of infected skin. Flakes of that skin shed onto surfaces and carry the virus with them. It can survive on a damp floor for some time; nobody has a precise figure, but long enough for the next barefoot person to pick it up.
For the virus to cause a verruca it has to get through the skin, so the risk is highest when the skin is:
- Wet and softened, as after a swim or shower.
- Cut, cracked or grazed, including the tiny cracks of dry heels.
- Pressed against the surface, as the sole is when walking barefoot.
That combination explains the classic settings: swimming-pool surrounds, communal showers, changing rooms, gym mats and hotel bathroom floors. Shared towels, socks, shoes and bath mats do the same job at home.
Why do some people catch verrucas and others don’t?
The verruca virus is extremely common, and most adults have met it. Whether you develop a verruca after contact depends mainly on your immune system: children, who have not met the virus, catch verrucas easily; adults who had them as children usually do not. People whose immune systems are suppressed, by illness or by medicines such as those taken after a transplant, catch them more easily and clear them more slowly.
So exposure is almost unavoidable, and sensible precautions reduce the odds rather than eliminating them. That is why schools and pools no longer exclude children with verrucas.
Can you spread a verruca to other parts of your body?
The most common way a verruca spreads is across your own foot or to your other foot. Picking, scratching and filing a verruca shed virus onto the surrounding skin and onto your fingers. Satellite verrucas appear near the original one, and a mosaic patch of many small verrucas can form. Fingers that have picked at a verruca can develop a wart, and nail-biting can spread it around the mouth.
To avoid this:
- Do not pick or scratch.
- Use a separate emery board or pumice for filing and throw it away when the verruca has gone.
- Wash your hands after touching or treating it.
- Cover it with a plaster when the foot is bare.
Can you go swimming or to the gym with a verruca?
- Cover the verruca with a waterproof plaster or a verruca sock. The sock is a close-fitting latex or rubber sock that keeps the verruca away from the pool floor and other swimmers; it does not treat the verruca, and a plaster does the same job if it stays on.
- Flip-flops in changing rooms, showers and around the pool, on and off.
- Dry your feet well, including between the toes, before putting shoes on.
- Own towel, and do not stand on anyone else’s.
Pools in the UK generally allow swimmers with covered verrucas, and the NHS advice is to cover rather than to stay away. Our guide to verrucas in children covers school swimming lessons and PE.
How do you stop a verruca spreading at home?
- Separate towels and bath mats for the person with the verruca.
- Slippers or flip-flops in the bathroom rather than bare feet.
- Socks changed daily and washed at 60 degrees Celsius; the NHS advises daily changes.
- Do not share socks, shoes, towels, flannels or nail tools.
- Wipe the shower tray or bath after use if you want to be thorough; a normal household cleaner is enough.
Nobody needs to be isolated. Children can share a bed and a bath with siblings; it is the floors, towels and socks that matter.
How long is a verruca contagious?
A verruca is contagious as long as it is there. Once it has fully resolved, with the skin lines running across the area again and no black dots, there is no live infected skin to shed. Our guide to verruca stages shows what resolution looks like. There is no need to keep covering the area after that.
Does treating a verruca reduce the spread?
Yes, in two ways: it shortens the time the verruca is there, and the covering used during treatment keeps the virus off floors. Treatment also stops the self-spread that comes from picking at an untreated verruca. Our treatment guide compares the options and what UK podiatrists charge.
When to see a podiatrist
See a podiatrist if a verruca is spreading despite these precautions, if several have appeared, or if someone in the house has diabetes, poor circulation or a weakened immune system and has developed one. Use the listings on verrucatreatment.co.uk to find a clinic near you; 799 listed clinics say they treat verrucas. Look for “HCPC” on the listing and check the name on the HCPC register.
Sources
- NHS: Warts and verrucas
- Royal College of Podiatry: Verrucae
- UK Health Security Agency: Managing specific infectious diseases in schools and childcare settings