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Warts usually feel rough and are skin-colored. Moles can be various shapes and sizes, flat or raised. Moles are common, especially in light-skinned individuals. Warts and moles have different causes.
Cause of Warts
According to Mayo Clinic, direct contact with the human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause warts.
Wart Growth
The virus can cause a protein in the outside layer of the skin to grow too rapidly, creating warts.
Spreading of Warts
Warts can spread to other areas of the body, especially through cracks in the skin.
Contagiousness of Warts
Most commonly, HPV spreads from one person to another through skin contact. Sometimes the virus can be contracted by touching a surface, such as a towel, chair or tanning bed, that a person with HPV has touched.
Moles
The pigmentation in skin called melanin produces cells, which are normally spread out evenly. Sometimes the cells can grow in clusters, causing a mole. The cause of this has not been discovered. Moles can change color, but will not spread to other parts of the body or to other people.
Source:
American Academy of Dermatology: Warts
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