A wart on the finger is a benign neoplasm that has a viral nature. The causative agent that provokes the appearance of such growths is the human papillomavirus. Warts are considered safe formations, becauserarely cause cancer. However, this fact does not mean that treatment is not required at all. This article provides detailed information about the etiology of the disease, external signs and modern methods of treatment.
Causes of warts on the finger
Warts are not uncommon, becauseThe human papillomavirus that causes them to grow is highly contagious and does not spare either adults or children. The causative agent, entering the skin, enters the tissues through the slightest damage and remains in the body forever. At the same time, different levels of viral load are observed at different times, d. m. th. the population of the microorganism either increases or decreases. For a long time, the disease can be asymptomatic. The incubation period can vary significantly in each case and ranges from 1-6 months to several years. All this, no doubt, affects the nature of external manifestations. So, an increase in the activity of the virus causes the appearance of the same warts on the fingers, legs, knees and other areas of the skin.
The surest way to get infected is direct contact with an already infected person. HPV is often sexually transmitted, so unprotected sex or promiscuous sex is the most likely cause of increased incidence. However, more often the growth of warts on the fingers is caused precisely by the contact of the upper limbs with infected surfaces, be it the hands of a virus carrier or objects that he has just used - a pen, cutlery, a. towel, book etc. Places with increased risk are considered all public spaces, but especially those with high levels of humidity.
Even a child from the mother can be infected. This happens during birth.
With the localization of warts on the fingers, the risk of self-infection increases, d. m. th. rapid spread of infection on the face and other parts of the body. The reason for this is the sensitivity of growths to frequent injuries, which lead to the release of a large amount of the pathogen on the surface, and the fact that the fingers are in contact with all other parts of the skin and can transfer the virus to them.
The reality is that the answer to the question of why warts appear on the fingers is quite vague and includes many provocative factors. First of all, the development of a viral infection is facilitated by a decrease in the immune status of an infected person, when the body becomes unable to resist the activity of the virus, to keep its population at the same level and preventuncontrolled growth of epithelial cells in the form of a wart on the finger or in other parts of the body. Even here, everything is unclear, because the decline of immunity has a number of reasons. This is an unbalanced diet, drug abuse, bad habits and emotional and physical overload.
What else causes toe warts? Various acute and chronic diseases, such as severe colds, diabetes mellitus, HIV, venereal diseases, skin pathologies, etc. , lead to pathogen activation. An individual feature such as hyperhidrosis or increased sweating also stimulates the development of pathogenic microflora.
Lack of daily care and lack of personal hygiene also allows HPV to infect more and more areas of the skin. Unwashed hands, untreated injuries, dehydrated and chapped skin, nail biting and scratching can all be the cause of finger warts.
What do finger warts look like?
Most people confuse warts with other skin growths such as callus, lichen planus, keratosis, molluscum contagiosum and often choose the wrong treatment options themselves or completely ignore the external manifestations of the disease, exposing themselves to the risk of spreading the infection. and others to the risk of infection.
In order not to make such mistakes, it is better to study in detail how the warts on the finger look, what types they are, and go to the hospital in time to make an accurate diagnosis and determine an effective treatment. regime.
Benign epithelial changes caused by HPV have a capillary network that feeds their cells. Because of this, when the integrity of the growth is damaged, small bleeding often occurs, which increases the risk of spreading the infection and wound infection. This is partly why it is highly discouraged to attempt to remove these hardened tissues.
Warts initially appear in a single amount - just one or two. But due to problems in the functioning of the immune system, more and more formations may appear. Sometimes they even merge together, so that an extensive skin lesion is formed.
It is worth considering that a rapidly growing focus indicates a strong activity of the pathogen and causes an urgent trip to the doctor. It is also worth going to the hospital to find out how to treat warts on the fingers in cases where the neoplasm begins to darken or redden, if there is a noticeable change in its structure and swelling, suffocation appears or there is an arbitrary removal of pathological fluid fromgrowth body.
Warts in color can be yellow, in tone with the skin, gray-brown. In some cases, black dots are visible on the surface - these are only places where thrombosis of small blood vessels has occurred.
The most common types of finger warts are as follows:
- Vulgar warts. The second name is common. They appear quite often not only on the inside of the palm, but also on the entire surface of the fingers, sometimes affecting the periungual space, where the skin is subject to tension and scratches. Flesh-colored formations are more common, but yellow-brown or gray ones are also found. The shape is nodular or domed. 2-7 mm in diameter. The construction structure is quite dense and a bit rough. The skin is drier than healthy. It can crack and cause pain.
- Flat surface warts. Their surface only slightly extends above the skin. The shape is rounded, although as they spread and merge, there are also protrusions with an uneven contour. The color can be brown and pale yellow. The diameter of a flat wart on the finger is from 3 to 4 mm. Their presence on the skin is usually not accompanied by pain.
- Deep flat warts. This type of skin formation often causes pain due to its structure. Outside the skin, the growths appear flat with a slight indentation in the center, but their root grows deeper into the layers of the dermis. This, of course, provokes a considerable daily concern, which, more often than other reasons, makes a person go to the doctor. The shape of deep formations is irregular, the color and size are usually the same as those of surface warts.
- Subungual warts. The name was not chosen by chance. Such growths occur exactly in the area under the free edge of the nail plate. Initially, the wart on the finger is flat and has a smooth surface, then it becomes rough and keratinized. With a low activity of the virus, they practically do not give symptoms, but with a significant weakening of health and the lack of proper hygienic treatment, they grow, penetrating the tissues under the nail, provoking the rejection of the plate from the nail bed. . In this case, we can no longer talk about just an aesthetic defect. Pain and suffocation appear, gradually the formation reaches the matrix and destroys it irreversibly.
Many believe that the treatment of such a disease is not mandatory if you try to strengthen the immune system so that the body can cope with it on its own. However, this view is largely wrong. After all, there are many reasons for the need to treat warts on the fingers and other parts of the body. First, such neoplasms are quite contagious, and a person with even one wart can infect several healthy people, in whom the disease can continue in a more serious form. Secondly, many children, teenagers and adults are simply very embarrassed by the presence of such skin formations, which, of course, causes the desire to find an effective way to remove a wart on the finger. What can we say about pain, sensitivity to injury and the risk of the oncological process.
Ways to treat finger warts
Modern medicine knows many effective ways to remove a wart on the finger. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages and should be used only as prescribed by a doctor and in combination with drug therapy, because the simple removal of growths by any method does not suppress viral activity and does not guarantee the absence of a recurrence of the disease in itthe near future.
Removal of warts on fingers in the clinic
At the meeting with a dermatologist, a detailed diagnosis is carried out, the results of which, in addition to the main health indicators, determine the strain of the virus that caused the disease, as well as the risk of developing an oncological process. Tests may often be required for co-morbidities, such as HIV, which can also cause finger warts and worsen the course of the disease.
As a result, multifaceted treatment is prescribed. It involves the removal of growths with one of the modern instrumental methods, including:
- Laser removal. The most popular method. It is offered by almost all clinics. Special equipment allows you to almost painlessly burn an epithelial tumor, preventing bleeding. The healing time of the crust is minimal. Tissues after such exposure are quickly restored, so there are practically no traces in the form of scars on the skin.
- removal of radio waves. The method is based on the power of radio waves, which simply cut the growths without bleeding. With the help of the radio knife, you can remove the warts on the fingers, practically without touching the healthy tissues. The procedure is quite expensive, but it is known to be very effective and safe.
- Electrocoagulation. The operating force is a current of different frequencies. It cauterizes the wart cells on the finger in seconds. At the same time, the vessels are closed, which prevents bleeding.
- Surgical method.It is not performed without local anesthesia, because. removal is done with a scalpel. It is appointed less often than other options. The main indication is a large lesion, if it is necessary to take material for histological examination, as well as the presence of deep growths on the skin and under the nail plate. During the procedure, healthy tissue is often damaged. After healing, scars often remain. The price of surgical intervention is calculated individually in each individual case.
- Cryotherapy. Widely used method. The body of the wart on the finger is eliminated by exposure to liquid nitrogen at ultra-low temperatures. This option is characterized by good performance, without pain, without the need for local anesthesia. However, during the recovery period - about 7-10 days - all the doctor's recommendations should be followed so that the treated areas heal quickly and without problems.
- Chemical method. Finger wart removal is performed using aggressive chemicals, such as trichloroacetic acid. It is better to entrust the application to a qualified specialist to prevent burns of healthy tissues. The impact must be very precise and only on the body of the construction. After healing, scars may remain. The cost of the procedure depends on the drug chosen and is calculated by the doctor individually.
No method provides a 100% guarantee of effectiveness and lack of repetition. The result depends not only on the type of wart, its location, but also on the qualifications of the medical staff and the equipment and preparations used. During the recovery period, an important role is played by the patient himself, who must follow all the doctor's instructions: treat the places for the removal of warts on the fingers every day, prevent injuries, hypothermia of the palms, take the prescribed drugs, eliminate bad habits and normalize diet. Only then you will not have to decide again how to get rid of a wart on your finger.
Treatment of warts on fingers with medicine
Competent medical treatment of warts on the fingers includes taking drugs whose action is aimed at suppressing a viral infection, increasing the immune status and restoring the balance of minerals, vitamins and other useful compounds.
Types of medical products intended for the treatment of warts on the fingers:
- Oral preparations. This category includes means of complex effects - antiviral and immunomodulatory. At the moment, there are no drugs that can completely kill the human papillomavirus, so one of the tasks of modern medicine is to simulate the natural immunity to increase the body's resistance and significantly reduce the viral load, stopping the growth of warts on the fingers and placesothers.
- External use. Some drugs are intended for antiseptic treatment, others accelerate tissue regeneration, others have a local antiviral and immunostimulating effect, others nourish skin cells, normalizing all metabolic processes.
- External cauterizing agents. They may contain both cauterizing acids and other ingredients that contribute to the destruction of growths. Use at home is associated with the risk of burns, so the procedure should be carried out very carefully. Some drugs act on the principle of cryodestruction, others on the principle of chemical destruction.
- Complexes of vitamins and minerals. They are prescribed to prevent the lack of nutrients in the body, to restore the metabolism and performance of individual organs and systems, including the immune system.
Folk remedies for finger warts
The effectiveness of traditional medicine does not settle disputes. Some argue that it is ineffective and people simply waste precious time by refusing to go to the doctor, others consider it the only correct way to safely cure most diseases.
In search of the right answer to the question of how to reduce a wart on the finger, it is better to use the golden mean. Consult a doctor and discuss with him options for complex therapy, including instrumental removal of growths, taking specific drugs for HPV and suitable folk remedies.
Folk folk remedies for the treatment of warts on the fingers:
- Plum compresses. Dissolve salt (20 g) in water (150 ml), add vinegar (20 ml) here, mix and immerse half of the pitted plum in this solution. Infusion time - 2 hours. Remove the plum, grate the pulp. Apply the resulting slurry to the warts and fix with a bandage or plaster for 2-8 hours.
- Thuja oil for warts. It is applied externally 4-5 times a day. Daily use of this drug ensures rapid recovery of epithelial cells.
- Tui tincture.Thuja leaves (20 g) are poured with vodka (100 ml). Insist 14 days. Lubricate the areas affected by warts on the fingers several times for 3 minutes. The procedure is repeated twice a day for 14-20 days.
- Coniferous tincture. Take young conifer twigs and juniper fruit in equal quantities. Mix and grind all the raw materials. Place 50 g of the resulting mixture in a glass container and pour 200 g of alcohol. Leave it for about 3 weeks. Strain and use to lubricate growths. It is enough to apply once a day.
- Infusion of lemon peel. Remove the peel of 1-2 lemons and chop, you can use a knife, you can use a meat grinder. Place the mass in a glass jar and fill it with table vinegar in a volume of 100-150 ml. Close the lid tightly. Let it insist for a week, do not forget to shake every day. Then remove the cake and treat the warts on the fingers with the resulting infusion, trying not to touch the healthy skin.
- Horse chestnut stew. To prepare, you need to boil 2. 5 liters of water, add horse chestnut leaves (120 g) and boil for 15 minutes on low heat, strain and pour the broth into a basin. When it cools down to 36-40 degrees, lower your palms into it. The duration of taking such a shower is 20 minutes. It is necessary to perform 8 procedures within 2, 5 weeks, d. m. th. repeat every 3 days before bedtime.
- Herbal infusion. Such a tool affects the whole body in one complex. But its most important property is the stimulation of immunity to fight the virus. Systemic reception stops the growth of warts on the finger. For preparation, mix and then grind 20 g of juniper needles, plantain leaves, chicory and dandelion roots, birch leaves, as well as 30 g of horsetail and nettle. Store in a glass container with a lid. For a decoction, take 20 g of the mixture, put it in an enamel pan, pour boiling water (500 ml) and leave for 60 minutes. Filter and consume internally before meals, 100-150 ml 3-4 times a day.
Regardless of what caused the weakening of the immune system and provoked the growth of epithelial tumors, warts that have appeared on the fingers and toes, on the elbows, knees, feet and in other places require special attention and proper treatment. Timely admission to the hospital, as well as the choice of adequate methods for the removal of growths and treatment of HPV, will allow you to recover faster and forget the unpleasant manifestations of a viral disease for a long time.