A wart on a finger is a benign tumor that has a viral nature. The agent that provokes the appearance of such tumors is the human papillomavirus. Warts are considered safe formations because. rarely causes cancer. However, this fact does not mean that treatment is not needed at all. This article provides detailed information about the etiology of the disease, external signs and modern methods of treatment.
Causes of warts on fingers
Warts are not unusual because. The human papillomavirus that causes their growth is highly contagious and spares neither adults nor children. The causative agent, which gets on 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, i. e. i. e. the population of the microorganism either increases or decreases. The disease can be asymptomatic for a long time. The incubation period can vary greatly in each case and ranges from 1-6 months to several years. All this undoubtedly affects the nature of external manifestations. Thus, the increased activity of the virus causes the appearance of the same warts on the fingers, feet, knees and other areas of the skin.
The most reliable way to get infected is through direct contact with an already infected person. HPV is often sexually transmitted, so the most likely cause of increased incidence is unprotected sex or sex. However, most often, the appearance of warts on the fingers is caused by the contact of the upper extremities with infected surfaces, whether it is the hands of the virus carrier or objects that he has just used - a pen, cutlery, a towel, a book, etc. All public spaces are considered places of increased danger, but especially those with an increased level of humidity.
Even the baby can get infected from the mother. This happens during childbirth.
Localizing warts on the fingers increases the risk of self-infection, i. e. i. e. rapid spread of infection to the face and other parts of the body. This is due to the increased susceptibility to frequent injuries that release a large amount of the pathogen to the surface, and the fact that the fingers come into contact with all other elements of the skin and can transmit the virus to them.
The reality is that the answer to the question of why warts appear on the fingers is quite ambiguous and includes many provoking factors. First of all, the development of a viral infection is promoted by the weakened 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 the virus. 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 a number of reasons. This includes an unbalanced diet, drug abuse, bad habits, and emotional and physical overload.
What else causes finger warts? Activation of the causative agent is determined by various acute and chronic diseases, such as severe colds, diabetes, HIV, venereal diseases, skin pathologies, etc. . The development of pathogenic microflora is also stimulated by an individual characteristic, e. g. , hyperhidrosis or increased sweating.
Lack of daily care and personal hygiene also allows HPV to infect more and more areas of the skin. Finger warts can be caused by unwashed hands, untreated injuries, dry and rough skin, nail biting and indentations.
What do finger warts look like?
Most people confuse warts with other skin formations, such as calluses, lichen planus, keratosis, molluscum contagiosum, and often choose the wrong treatment methods themselves or completely ignore the external manifestations of the disease, causing the risk of spreading the infection. and others to be infected.
In order not to make such mistakes, it is better to thoroughly study what warts on the finger look like, what types they are, and go to the hospital in time for an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. mode.
Benign epithelial changes caused by HPV have a capillary network that feeds their cells. For this reason, when the integrity of the growth is violated, small bleeding very often occurs, which increases the risk of infection and wound infection. In part for this reason, attempting to cut these hardened tissues is strongly discouraged.
Warts first appear in one quantity - just one or two. However, due to problems with the functioning of the immune system, more and more formations can appear. Sometimes they even merge, resulting in an extensive skin lesion.
It is worth considering that the rapidly growing concentration 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 turn red, if changes in its structure are visible, swelling, abscess or arbitrary. removal of pathological fluid from the growth body.
Warts can be yellowish, skin-colored, 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 warts on fingers are:
- Vulgar warts. The middle name is common. They quite often appear not only on the inner side of the palm, but also on the entire surface of the fingers, sometimes affecting the periungual space, where the skin is stretched and cracked. Body-colored formations are more common, but brownish-yellowish or grayish ones are also found. The shape is nodular or domed. Diameter 2-7 mm. The construction structure is quite dense and somewhat rough. It's more dry than healthy skin. May crack and cause pain.
- Superficial flat warts. Their surface only slightly protrudes above the skin. The shape is rounded, although as they spread and converge, growths with an uneven outline also appear. The color can be both brown and light yellow. The diameter of one flat wart on a finger is 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. Behind the skin, growths appear flat with a small depression in the center, but their roots grow deeper into the dermis. This, of course, provokes considerable daily discomfort, which more often than other reasons forces a person to consult a doctor. Deep formations are irregular in shape, color and size are usually the same as surface warts.
- Pubic warts. The name was not chosen by chance. Such growths appear precisely in the area under the free edge of the nail plate. At first, the wart on the finger is flat and has a smooth surface, then it becomes rough and keratinized. With low viral activity, they practically do not cause symptoms, but when health is greatly weakened and in the absence 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, it is no longer possible to talk only about an aesthetic defect. Pain and abscess appear, gradually the formation reaches the matrix and irreversibly destroys it.
Many believe that the treatment of such an ailment is not mandatory if efforts are made to strengthen the immune system so that the body can take care of itself. However, this opinion is fundamentally wrong. After all, there are many reasons why you need to treat warts on your fingers and other parts of your body. First, such tumors are quite contagious, and a person with even one wart can infect several healthy people, who may develop the disease in a more serious form. Secondly, many children, teenagers and adults are simply very embarrassed by such skin formations, which, of course, causes a desire to find an effective way to remove a wart on a finger. What to talk about the pain, the tendency to injure and the danger of the oncological process.
Ways to treat warts on fingers
Modern medicine knows many effective ways to remove a wart on a finger. Each of them has both advantages and disadvantages, so it should be used only according to the doctor's instructions and in combination with drug therapy, since the mere removal of growths in any way does not suppress the activity of the virus and does not guarantee that the disease will not recur. illness in the near future.
Removal of warts on fingers in the clinic
After visiting a dermatologist, a detailed diagnosis is performed, the results of which, in addition to basic health indicators, determine the strain of the virus that caused the disease and the risk of developing an oncological process. It may often be necessary to perform comorbidities, e. g. , HIV, tests, which can also cause warts on the finger and worsen the course of the disease.
This leads to multidisciplinary treatment. This includes excision of growths with one of the modern instrumental methods, including:
- Laser removal. The most popular way. Almost all clinics offer it. Special equipment allows you to burn the epithelial tumor almost painlessly, preventing bleeding. The healing time of crusts is minimal. After such exposure, tissues are quickly restored, so there are practically no traces in the form of scars on the skin.
- elimination of radio waves. The method is based on the strength of radio waves, which simply cut out growths without bleeding. With the help of a radio knife, you can remove warts on your fingers, practically without touching healthy tissues. The procedure is quite expensive, but recognized as extremely effective and safe.
- Electrocoagulation. The acting force is a current of varying frequency. It softens the wart cells on the finger in seconds. At the same time, the vessels are sealed, which prevents bleeding.
- Surgical method.This is not done without local anesthesia, because. removal is performed with a scalpel. Assigned 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 in the skin and under the nail plate. Healthy tissues are often damaged during the procedure. Scars often remain after healing. The cost of surgical intervention is calculated individually in each individual case.
- Cryotherapy. A widely used method. The body of the wart on the finger is removed under the action of liquid nitrogen at an extremely low temperature. This option is characterized by good performance, painlessness, and does not require local anesthesia. However, during the recovery period - about 7-10 days - it is necessary to follow all the doctors' recommendations so that the treated areas heal quickly and without problems.
- Chemical method. Warts on the finger are removed using aggressive chemicals such as trichloroacetic acid. It is better to entrust the implementation to a qualified specialist in order to avoid burns to healthy tissues. The blow must be very accurate and only to the body of the cluster. Scars may remain after healing. The price of the procedure depends on the selected drug and is calculated by the doctor individually.
No method provides a 100% guarantee of effectiveness and non-recurrence. The result depends not only on the type of wart, its localization, 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: take care of the finger wart removal sites every day, avoid injuries, hypothermia of the palms, take the prescribed medicines, eliminate bad habits and normalize the body condition. diet. Only then you will not have to decide again how to get rid of warts on your finger.
Treatment of finger warts with drugs
Competent medical treatment of warts on the fingers includes the use of drugs aimed at suppressing viral infection, strengthening the immune state and restoring the balance of minerals, vitamins and other beneficial compounds.
Types of medical products for the treatment of finger warts:
- Oral preparations. This category includes means of complex action - antiviral and immunomodulating. Currently, there are no drugs that can completely destroy the human papillomavirus, so one of the tasks of modern medicine is to imitate natural immunity in order to increase the body's resistance and significantly reduce the amount of viruses, stopping the growth of warts on the body. fingers and other places.
- External use. Some drugs are intended for antiseptic treatment, others accelerate tissue regeneration, others have local antiviral and immunostimulating effects, others nourish skin cells, normalize all metabolic processes.
- Cauterizing external factors. They can contain both 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 with great care. Some drugs work on the principle of cryodestruction, others on the principle of chemical destruction.
- Vitamin and mineral complexes. They are prescribed to prevent nutrient deficiencies in the body, to restore metabolism and the functioning of individual organs and systems, including the immune system.
Folk remedies against warts on the finger
The efficacy of traditional medicine is not without controversy. Some argue that it is ineffective and people simply waste valuable time by refusing to see a doctor, others believe that it is the only correct way to safely cure most diseases.
When looking for the right answer to the question of how to reduce a wart on a finger, it is better to use the golden mean. Consult a doctor and discuss with him the options for complex treatment, including instrumental removal of tumors, the use of HPV-specific drugs and appropriate folk remedies.
Popular folk remedies for treating warts on fingers:
- Plum compresses. Dissolve salt (20 g) in water (150 ml), add vinegar (20 ml) here, mix and dip half a pitted plum into this solution. Infusion time - 2 hours. Remove the plum, mash the pulp. Apply the resulting slurry to the warts and fix them 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 tool ensures rapid recovery of epithelial cells.
- Tui tincture.Thuja leaves (20 g) are poured with vodka (100 ml). Claim 14 days. Lubricate the areas affected by finger warts several times for 3 minutes. The procedure is repeated twice a day for 14-20 days.
- Coniferous tincture. Take young conifer branches and juniper fruits 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 for about 3 weeks. Strain and use to lubricate the growths. It is enough to apply 1 time a day.
- Lemon peel infusion. For 1-2 lemons, remove the peel and chop it, you can use a knife, you can use a meat grinder. Pour the mass into a glass container and fill it with table vinegar to a volume of 100-150 ml. Close the lid tightly. Leave for a week, do not forget to shake every day. Then remove the cake and treat the warts on your fingers with the resulting infusion, trying not to touch healthy skin.
- Horse chestnut decoction. To prepare, you need to boil 2. 5 liters of water, add horse chestnut leaves (120 g) and cook for 15 minutes on low heat, strain and pour the broth into a bowl. When it cools down to 36-40 degrees, lower your palms into it. The duration of such a bath is 20 minutes. In 2. 5 weeks, it is necessary to perform 8 procedures, i. e. i. e. repeat every 3 days before going to bed.
- Herbal infusion. Such a tool has a complex effect on the whole body. However, its most important feature is the stimulation of immunity to fight the virus. Systematic reception stops the growth of warts on the finger. To prepare, mix and grind 20 g of juniper needles, plantain leaves, chicory roots and dandelion, 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, put it in an enamel pan, pour boiling water (500 ml) and leave it for 60 minutes. Filter and use internally before meals, 100-150 ml 3-4 times a day.
Regardless of what caused the weakening of the immune system and the growth of epithelial tumors, warts that appeared on fingers and toes, elbows, knees, feet and other places require special attention and proper treatment. Timely admission to the hospital, as well as the choice of appropriate methods of tumor removal and HPV treatment, will allow you to recover faster and forget about the unpleasant manifestations of the viral disease for a long time.