Common Warts - These usually appear on the fingers around the nails and on the back of the hand. They are often in groups, are hard, round or oval, and have a rough surface. They are more common where your skin has been broken, for example where fingernails are bitten or picked at. They are usually painless. Children and young adults are the most commonly affected.

Planter Warts or Verrucas - These appear on the sole of the foot, or underneath the toes. They can be single, or can occur in clusters, where they are known as mosaic warts. Most verrucas don't stick up above the surface like common warts do because the pressure of walking flattens them and pushes them back into the skin. They can sometimes be painful because of this. They usually have black dots or "roots" - which in fact are tiny clotted blood vessels. This distinguishes them from corns , which have no roots.

Flat or Plain Warts - These are smaller and smoother than other warts, and grow in large numbers, twenty is not uncommon. In children they are mostly on the face. In adults they are common in the beard are in men, and on the legs in women. Irritation from shaving possibly accounts for this.

Genital Warts - These warts are most common in young adults, and are almost always sexually acquired. They present as painless, soft lumps anywhere in the genital area. Sometimes they can be a little itchy. They are different from other warts. They themselves are harmless, but the virus which causes them is usually sexually acquired, and there is always the worry that other infections may have been contacted at the same time. For that reason a person with genital warts should really attend their doctor, or a clinic, to be checked out.