A wart on the finger is a benign neoplasm of a viral nature. The causative agent that provokes the appearance of such growths is the human papillomavirus. Warts are considered safe formations, because. rarely cause cancer. However, this fact does not mean that treatment is not necessary. This article provides detailed information about the etiology of the disease, external signs and modern methods of treatment.
Causes of warts on finger
Warts are not uncommon, because. the human papilloma virus that causes its growth is highly contagious and spares neither adults nor children. The causative agent, getting into the skin, is introduced into the tissues at the slightest damage and remains in the body forever. At the same time, different levels of viral load are observed at different times, that is, the population of the microorganism 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 undoubtedly affects the nature of external manifestations. Thus, an increase in the activity of the virus causes the appearance of these same warts on the fingers, feet, knees and other areas of the skin.
The safest way to get infected is direct contact with an already infected person. HPV is often transmitted sexually, so unprotected sex or promiscuous sex is the most likely cause of the increased incidence. However, most often, the growth of warts on the fingers is caused precisely by contact of the upper limbs with infected surfaces, be it the hands of a virus carrier or objects that he just used - a pen, cutlery, a towel, a book, etc. All public places are considered places of increased danger, but especially those where there is a higher level of humidity.
Even a mother's baby can be infected. This happens during childbirth.
With the location of warts on the fingers, the risk of self-infection increases, that is, the rapid spread of infection to the face and other parts of the body. The reason for this is the susceptibility of growths to frequent injuries, which lead to the release of a large amount of the pathogen to the surface, and the fact that the fingers are in contact with all other integuments 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 rather ambiguous and involves many provoking 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, maintain its population at the same level and prevent the uncontrolled growth of epithelial cells in the form of a wart on the finger or other parts of the body. Here, too, everything is ambiguous, because the decrease in immunity also has several reasons. This is an unbalanced diet, drug abuse, bad habits and emotional and physical overload.
What else causes warts on fingers? Various acute and chronic diseases, such as severe colds, diabetes mellitus, HIV, venereal diseases, skin pathologies, etc. , lead to activation of the pathogen. An individual feature, such as hyperhidrosis or increased sweating, also stimulates the development of pathogenic microflora.
Lack of daily care and poor personal hygiene also allow HPV to infect more and more areas of the skin. Unwashed hands, untreated wounds, dehydrated and worn skin, nail biting and burrs can all be the cause of finger warts.
What do warts on fingers look like?
Most people confuse warts with other skin growths such as calluses, lichen planus, keratosis, molluscum contagiosum and often choose the wrong treatment options on their own or completely ignore the external manifestations of the disease, exposing themselves to the risk of spreading infection, and others to the risk of infection.
In order not to make such mistakes, it is better to study in detail what warts on the finger look like, what are their types and go to the hospital in a timely manner to make an accurate diagnosis and determine an effective treatment regimen.
Benign epithelial changes caused by HPV have a capillary network that nourishes their cells. Because of this, when the integrity of the growth is damaged, minor bleeding often occurs, which increases the risk of spreading infection and wound infection. This is, in part, why it is highly discouraged to attempt to cut through these hardened tissues.
Warts first appear in a single quantity - 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, forming an extensive skin lesion.
It is worth considering that a rapidly growing focus indicates strong activity of the pathogen and causes an urgent visit to the doctor. It is also worth going to the hospital to find out how to treat warts on the fingers in cases when the neoplasm begins to darken or redden, if there is a visible change in its structure, and swelling, suppuration appears, or if there is an arbitrary removal of fluid growth body pathology.
Warts in color can be yellowish, in tone with the skin, grayish-brown. In some cases, black dots are visible on the surface - these are just places where thrombosis of small blood vessels has occurred.
The most common types of finger warts are as follows:
- common warts🇧🇷The second name is common. Often they appear not only on the inside of the palm, but also on the entire surface of the fingers, sometimes they affect the periungual space, where the skin is subject to stress and burrs. Flesh-colored formations are more common, but yellowish-brown or grayish ones are also found. The shape is nodular or domed. In diameter 2-7 mm. The structure of the buildup is quite dense and slightly rough. It is drier than healthy skin. It can crack and cause pain.
- Superficial flat warts🇧🇷Its surface protrudes only slightly above the skin. The shape is rounded, although as they spread out and merge, bumps with an irregular outline also appear. Color can be brown and pale yellow. The diameter of a flat wart on the finger is 3-4 mm. Its 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 look flat with a slight indentation in the center, but their root grows deeper into the layers of the dermis. This, of course, causes considerable daily discomfort, which, more often than not, causes a person to go to the doctor. The shape of deep formations is irregular, the color and size are usually the same as those of superficial warts.
- subungual warts🇧🇷The name was not chosen by chance. Such growths occur precisely in the area under the free edge of the nail plate. At first, the wart on the finger is flat and smooth, then it becomes rough and keratinized. With low activity of the virus, they have practically no symptoms, but with a significant weakening of health and the absence of proper hygienic treatment, they grow, penetrating into the tissues under the nail, provoking the rejection of the plate from the nail bed. In this case, it is no longer possible to speak only of an aesthetic defect. Pain and suppuration appear, gradually the formation reaches the matrix and irrevocably destroys it.
Many believe that treatment of such a disease is not mandatory if you are trying to strengthen the immune system so that the body can cope on its own. However, this view is largely erroneous. After all, there are many reasons for the need to treat warts on the fingers and other parts of the body. Firstly, these neoplasms are quite contagious, and one person with at least one wart can infect several healthy people, in which the disease can occur in a more severe form. Secondly, many children, adolescents and adults are simply very embarrassed by the presence of such skin formations, which, of course, causes a desire to find an effective way to remove a wart on a finger. What can we say about pain, susceptibility to injury and the danger of the oncological process.
Ways to treat warts on finger
Modern medicine knows many effective ways to remove a wart on your finger. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages and should be used only under a doctor's prescription and in combination with drug therapy, because simply removing growths by any method does not suppress viral activity and does not guarantee the absence of recurrence of the disease in the near future.
Removal of warts on the fingers in the clinic
During consultation with a dermatologist, a detailed diagnosis is made, the results of which, in addition to the main health indicators, determine the strain of the virus that causes the disease, as well as the risk of developing an oncological process. Often, tests may be required for concomitant illnesses such as HIV, which can also cause finger warts and aggravate the course of the disease.
As a result, multilateral treatment is prescribed. It includes the excision of growths by 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 for scabs is minimal. Tissues after such exposure are quickly restored, so there are practically no traces left in the form of scars on the skin.
- radio wave removal🇧🇷The method is based on the power of radio waves, which simply cut the growths without bleeding. With the help of a radium knife, you can remove warts on your fingers, practically without touching healthy tissues. The procedure is quite expensive, but it is recognized as highly effective and safe.
- electrocoagulation🇧🇷The acting force is a current of various frequencies. It cauterizes the wart cells on the finger in a matter of seconds. At the same time, the vessels are sealed, which prevents bleeding.
- Surgical route.It is not performed without local anesthesia, because. Removal is done with a scalpel. Named less frequently than other options. The main indication is a large lesion, if it is necessary to remove material for histological examination, as well as the presence of deep invaginations in the skin and under the nail plate. During the procedure, healthy tissues are often injured. After healing, scars usually remain. The price of surgical intervention is calculated individually in each individual case.
- cryotherapy🇧🇷Widely used method. The body of the finger wart is eliminated by exposure to liquid nitrogen at ultra-low temperatures. This option is characterized by good performance, painless, without the need for local anesthesia. However, during the recovery period - about 7-10 days - all the doctor's recommendations must be followed so that the treated areas heal quickly and smoothly.
- chemical method🇧🇷Removal of a wart on the finger is carried out using harsh chemicals, such as trichloroacetic acid. It is better to entrust the implementation to a qualified specialist in order to avoid burning healthy tissue. The impact must be very accurate and only on the body of the build-up. After healing, scars may remain. The cost of the procedure depends on the chosen drug and is calculated by the doctor individually.
No method offers a 100% guarantee of effectiveness and absence of recurrence. The result depends not only on the type of wart, its location, but also on the qualification of medical personnel and the equipment and preparations used. During the recovery period, the patient himself plays an important role, who must follow all the doctor's instructions: daily treat the places to remove warts on the fingers, prevent injuries, hypothermia of the palms, take prescribed drugs, eliminate bad habits and normalize the diet. Only then will you not have to decide again how to get rid of a wart on your finger.
Treatment of warts on fingers with medications
Competent medical treatment of warts on the fingers involves taking drugs whose action is aimed at suppressing a viral infection, raising the immune status and restoring the balance of minerals, vitamins and other beneficial 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; therefore, one of the tasks of modern medicine is to simulate natural immunity to increase the body's resistance and significantly reduce the viral load, preventing the growth of warts on the fingers and elsewhere.
- 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 cauterizing acids and other components that contribute to the destruction of growths. Use at home is associated with the risk of burns, so the procedure must be carried out very carefully. Some drugs act on the principle of cryodestruction, others on the principle of chemical destruction.
- Vitamin and mineral complexes🇧🇷They are prescribed to prevent nutrient deficiency in the body, restore metabolism and performance of individual organs and systems, including the immune system.
Folk remedies for warts on the finger
The effectiveness of traditional medicine does not diminish disputes. Some argue that it is ineffective and people simply waste precious time by refusing to go to the doctor, others consider that it is the only correct way to safely cure most illnesses.
In search of the right answer to the question of how to reduce a wart on a finger, it is better to use a compromise. Consult a doctor and discuss with him the options for complex therapy, including instrumental removal of growths, the use of specific drugs for HPV and suitable folk remedies.
Popular 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, stir and dip half the pitted plum into this solution. Infusion time - 2 hours. Take out the plum, mash the pulp. Apply the resulting paste to the warts and fix with a bandage or plaster for 2 to 8 hours.
- Thuja oil for warts🇧🇷It is applied externally 4-5 times a day. Daily use of this remedy ensures a quick 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.
- conifer tincture🇧🇷Take young branches of conifers and juniper fruits in equal amounts. Mix and grind all raw materials. Put 50 g of the resulting mixture in a glass dish and pour 200 g of alcohol. Leave for about 3 weeks. Strain and use to lubricate the growths. Just apply 1 time a day.
- Lemon Peel Infusion🇧🇷Peel off 1-2 lemons and chop, you can use a knife, you can use a meat grinder. Put 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 it every day. Then take out the cake and treat the warts on your fingers with the resulting infusion, trying not to touch healthy skin.
- Horse Chestnut Decoction🇧🇷To prepare it, you need to boil 2. 5 liters of water, add horse chestnut leaves (120 g) and boil for 15 minutes over 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 this bath is 20 minutes. It is necessary to carry out 8 procedures in 2. 5 weeks, that is, repeat every 3 days at bedtime.
- herbal infusion🇧🇷Such a tool affects the whole body in a complex. But its most important property is the stimulation of immunity to fight the virus. Systematic reception prevents the growth of warts on the finger. For preparation, mix and grind 20 g of juniper needles, plantain leaves, chicory and dandelion root, birch leaves, as well as 30 g of horsetail and nettle. Store in a glass container with a lid. For the decoction, take 20 g of the mixture, place it in an enameled baking dish, pour boiling water (500 ml) and leave for 60 minutes. Filter and consume inside before meals, 100-150 ml 3-4 times a day.
Regardless of what caused the immune system to weaken and epithelial tumors to grow, warts that appear on fingers and toes, elbows, knees, feet, and elsewhere require special attention and proper treatment. Timely admission to the hospital, as well as choosing the right methods for removing growths and treating HPV, will allow you to recover faster and forget about the unpleasant manifestations of a viral disease for a long time.